Review:

on 2011-09-26 CharlesMartel Said:

The Decemberists' fourth album is their first for a major label, Capitol, as yet another well-placed indie band graduates to the Premier League. Does this signal any change of direction for the band? "The Crane Wife" has the potential to spell either the end of the band as credible indie folk-rockers, or signal their arrival as a musical force in their own right.

The Decemberists' style has not always been to the liking of some. They always struck me as being out of their time, more at home in a simpler, homesteader or fisherman's era, an impression is not dispelled by the hand-drawn portraits of the band, inside the album cover, dressed in mid-nineteenth century American Sunday best wear. The music too has always looked back to that age, employing the same sort of rhythms and melodies and covering themes which would be strikingly familiar to a person from that era.

Indeed, the themes on this album seem to have changed little from their other albums which I found rather dull and uninteresting after a few listens. As befits the frontier-era America which seems to obsess the band, the characters comprise everything from soulless sadists riding at night to scare children in "Shankill Butchers", through more run-of-the-mill criminals ("The Perfect Crime"), to lovers, soldiers and assorted neer-do-wells. Yet the listener is first drawn to the title tracks, which comprise, oddly, part three as the opener to the album, and parts one and two as a combined song, the penultimate track.

The album's title derives form an old Japanese folk tale about a poor sail maker named Osamu who one day found an injured crane and brought it back to health. He then married a woman called Yuriko who could weave wonderful magic fabrics, but who made him promise never to watch her do it. Overcome by curiosity he one day sneaked a peek and saw that his wife was the crane he had saved, weaving fabrics from her own feathers. The promise broken, she flew away. Quite why the band chose to order the tracks, and therefore present the story in the order they did, is unusual to say the least. I am not sure if it works.

However, with the penultimate track being so long, attention is then drawn to the second track on the album, a ten minute-plus epic in three parts called "The Island". Could the Decemberists have succumbed to the dreaded pretentiousness of prog rock? Well, thankfully no, despite the almost ELP-like feel to some of the synthesiser passages at times on the track. As always, the Decembrists have something to say, and if takes them ten minutes to say it then its going to take ten minutes.

However, changes are noticeable on this album, setting it apart from its predecessors, though I doubt this is a result of the influence of the record company on creativity - any such influence would have more likely pushed the band in the opposite direction. That change is the expanding of the musical horizons, the drawing on a greater breadth of musical styles than before. In addition to the prog-rock synthesiser influence, there can be found a traditional blues arrangement on "The Perfect Crime" and, would you believe it, a stripped down version of the riff on Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" backing a note-for-note lyrical arpeggio which matches the same band's "No Quarter" exactly on "When the War Comes". But then, the Decemberists haven't gone hard rock either.

All of this combines to make "The Crane Wife" the Decemberists most enjoyable output to date. Here are imaginative tales, well told but never overpowering. And the band is capable, and comfortable, in deploying a variety of musical instruments, ranging from synthesisers to what sound like washboards. It may seem petty then to pick on certain faults which appear on this album, as with all their others, and which let the album down in my view. And the major fault remains Meloy's voice. That voice lacks sufficient depth to carry some of the soaring melodies to which he aspires. With Laura Weirs dueting as the female love in "Yankee Bayonet", her more competent delivery really highlights Meloy's own shortcomings. As a result, the songs seem flatter than they ought to be. In addition, while I can overlook his inability to pronounce r properly, I find it irritating that when he does pronounce it, he doesn't need to  listen to the way he sings Valencia as Valenciar in the song of the same name.

Still, we should ultimately be thankful that the essential characteristics of the band have not been significantly watered down by their signing to a mainstream record label. This album, while a milestone because of that change, is not the quantum leap it could be. But maybe that will come later.
Rating: 7/10

Review:

on 2007-02-24 mschmitt Said:

With accordion and bouzouki alongside, The Decemberists signed onto Capitol Records to release their fourth album, The Crane Wife. In the eyes of many, The Decemberists – a band who enjoys dressing in American Civil War styled outfits – lost all their indie-rep by making the jump to a big-label. The Crane Wife shouts clearly from the roof-tops that it matters not what label backs you, it’s the music that matters. The running story within The Crane Wife is loosely based on an old myth from Japan, which is cut and jumbled throughout the album (the ending opens the album, the beginning ends it), and basically intermixes a man, a crane, and a wife. The Crane Wife, Parts 1 & 2 rounds out the better part of eleven minutes, and is clearly divided into two distinct songs squished into one. Emotional, loving, hopeless, hopeful, and wonderfully clandestine throughout, The Crane Wife story is backed by The Decemberists’ call-card folk instrumentals. While The Crane Wife, Parts 1 & 2 is the lyrical and ballad masterpiece of the album (if not The Decemberists’ entire discography), this story-line is only a slice of the album. Following their American Civil War-style dress are a number of songs that could fit perfectly into the time period, including When The War Came. A powerfully repetitive instrumental-line supports Colin Meloy’s haunting lyrics. Sweeping melodies and spine-chilling choruses push The Decemberists’ work beyond mediocrity into breath-taking emotional pieces. Shankill Butchers displays The Decemberists’ love of folklore of yore, singing as a lullaby of the gang of murders that will come and rip "Your ribbons / From your curls" if children do not listen to their parents. The Decemberists prove that signing to a major label does not mean that they will give up their wonderfully odd indie roots. The Crane Wife is a masterpiece of lyrical and song-writing. Always original, songs like O Valencia!, Summersong, and Sons & Daughters are wonderfully uplifting yet emotionally down-trodden folk-melodies that should be played again and again. The Crane Wife is yet another masterpiece from The Decemberists, if not their best work.
Rating: 9/10

Review:

on 2007-01-10 AndyFromJersey Said:

I am not what one would call a fan of The Decemberists. I don’t particularly care that front man Colin Meloy has taken a degree in English, or that it has consistently showed. And I sort of resent their clever, creative, yet still warmly welcoming and personal brand of reconstruction-cum-early industrial revolution era folk sensibility--the kind that shows through the very character of the band, their artwork, and their promotion, even though it’s only in the music about half the time. Perhaps it’s all the fourteen year old girls. That said, it’s difficult for me to call The Crane Wife anything short of, well, an indie rockin’ masterpiece.
The album opens with “The Crane Wife Part 3,” obviously an interesting choice considering the name of the record, and weirder still when you consider that the penultimate track is titled “ The Crane Wife 1&2.” This is a bittersweet tune in true Decemberists fashion: fans will appreciate that their signature pop with folky overtones is still very prominent on this album. The track serves as both a preface and an epilogue, creating a beautiful testament to the fact that whenever is telling you a story of any kind, it’s because that story has already happened. “And I will hang my head, hang my head low,” the lyrics promise, and it’s easy to relate to the narrator and the woman he loves but will never see again.
However, Meloy does not dwell, as the story must continue. The second track, one of two that clocks in at well over twelve minutes in length, is a bit of an unusual rocker for The Decemberists, but is very well executed. The whole thing has a very heavy seventies feel, minus all the marijuana, as well as some keyboard licks that prompted me to say, “Holy shit! This sounds just like The Doors!”
While I don’t want to understate the rest of the album, it’s difficult to follow up the first two tracks. The band manages, though. This part of the record is where the singles “Yankee Bayonet” and “O! Valencia!” come into play, stringing along the middle of the story with (thank god) no filler. There are a couple more rockers, which rock, “The Shankill Butchers,” which I read somewhere is really about a cult or terrorist cell or something, and “Summersong,” which is pure Decemberists pop, complete with the usual keys and accordion accompaniment. Now comes “The Crane Wife 1&2,” the second ultra long track, about which it is difficult to say much besides “lovely.”
Finally, the album ends with the incredibly moving six eight timed march, “Sons and Daughters.” The songs central theme is almost that of a revolution that will never die; there will always be tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. There is a constant accordion drone accompanying what becomes a four part harmony of Colin Meloy and various other band members and guests singing “When we arrive, sons and daughters, we’ll make our homes on the water/We’ll build our walls aluminum/We’ll fill our mouths with cinnamon.” After about three and a half minutes, the song shifts gears, retaining its indigenous American quality but switching over almost to a song of protest with the same never-say-die sentiment. The album’s heartbreaking finale comes with the whole band singing in unison: “Hear all the bombs fade away.” As the final chord is struck to simply echo out, I feel the world and all its faults fade away.
Rating: 9/10

Review:

on 2006-11-25 A_is4_Amanda Said:

There's been a lot of talk about The Decemberists new sound on this album, usually the criticsm is related to the new 'pop' sound with cheery balads like "O Valencia" and "Yankee Bayonet". I think that this talk is shallow, and doesn't give the album the credit it deserves. The band really showcases all of its talents in the album with an array of new sounds. They have a heavy metal edge in "When the War Came", and softer sweeter sounds in "The Crane Wife 1&2" and "The Crane Wife 3" in which Meloy's Japanese folk tale inspiration does not let down. The albums are daring and more mature, with a blend of strange and whimsical instruments like the 'hurdy-gurdy'. The lyrics and stories are all fantastical making full use Colin's English Major background.
Rating: 9/10