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On The Hazards Of Love

Here is a post. It is going to tell you what I think about The Hazards Of Love. It is divided into parts that I am too lazy to connect.

Rock Opera

The Hazards Of Love is a rock opera that sometimes sounds like a musical. It tells the story of William, a shapeshifter who dwells in the taiga and can inhabit the form of a fawn, who one day falls for a river maiden called Margaret. After a tryst or two, Margaret finds herself pregnant, while William incurs the wrath of the jealous forest Queen. Along the way, a really evil man, the Rake, gets involved somehow. And all you need to know is that at the end of this starcrossed lovers story, William and Margaret fulfil their destiny.

Rocking Arrangements

This story is spun into a massive hour-long song cycle that oscillates between folk song and hard rock, with all sorts of other genres fitted in snugly in between. The entire song cycle proceeds using a number of melodic motifs arranged into a musical sort of format, with variations each time. In general, it all works out quite well. I was particularly impressed with the opening, actually, with a wonderful, flowing stretch of songs from Prelude to The Hazards Of Love 2 (Wager All).

Write Right

Some of the writing really sparkles. The Rake’s Song, in particular, is a stand-out, with clever turns of phrase (“I was wedded and had whetted my thirst”) and sometimes devilish humour. It even has a bit of foreshadowing stuffed into it at the end, and overall, really shines.

That’s not to say the rest of the writing isn’t any good. There are stretches in which we see Colin Meloy at his lyrical best, and it’s just about everything you would expect of a Decemberists album.

Sometimes, though, the writing did leave me a bit cold. Parts of (Wager All) reminded me of Disney cartoons, for instance. It does occasionally feel as if he doesn’t have as much material as he would have liked, and some bits feel a bit rough around the edges.

Sounds Good

Whether it be the guitar-Hammond exchange at the end of The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing or the opening The Hazards Of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won’t Wrestle The Thistles Undone), this is the best the band has ever sounded on record, as if expanding on the brilliant production of The Crane Wife.

Rock Band

The band, too, is in excellent form. Chris Funk’s remarkable guitar work and Jenny Conlee’s lovely Hammond organ displays are the most outstanding. Guest performances by Shara Worden, who puts in a performance as the Queen that I absolutely adore, and Becky Stark, who plays Margaret to perfection, are spot-on.

My Melody

The songs mostly don’t manage to stand on their own, which, given the nature of the album, is to be expected.

A few of the tracks really stuck with me. The Hazards Of Love 1 was a great opening, and Won’t Want For Love (Magaret In The Taiga) shortly after that is a track I really love. If there was a chorus to the entire album, it’s the motifs established by The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid, in which William and the Queen have an unhappy exchange. The Rake’s Song comes across as one of the strongest of the lot, and is certainly one of the few that can hold its own like a normal single. I found Annan Water captivating, and the ending section, with The Wanting Comes In Waves (Reprise) seguing into The Hazards Of Love 4 (The Drowned), was quite successful.

Last Thoughts

The Hazards Of Love is most certainly not for everyone, although that could be said about every other Decemberists album. It has a few rough spots too, sometimes seeming as if it stretches itself a bit thin. If you’re a Decemberists fan, you’ll most likely love it, and if you’re not, then you might want to give it a shot if you’re in the mood for something different. Me? I really like it.

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© 2009 a modest odyssey.