Opening:
The Decemberists, yet another of my more recent musical discoveries, released “The Hazards of Love” earlier this year, and having just been turned on to them, I just checked it out. “Wow” is the quickest way to describe this album.
There aren’t a ton of young bands out there who could produce a concept album like this and have it not suck. Listening to it the first time around, I was completely blown away by the structure of the album. It’s not just a collection of songs, it’s actually written in such a way that there is a story within the album. This is Pink Floyd kind of shit, and to say The Decemberists have hit a home run here would be an understatement. There isn’t a hit in baseball that describes this album.