Colin Meloy Sings Live!

Colin Meloy | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 8, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Kill Rock Stars
• ASIN: B0013P6TK6
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,430 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #99 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Chamber Pop

Editorial Reviews

A fourteen-song set documenting The Decemberists' lead singer/songwriter's 2006 solo tour. Meloy was heralded by Rolling Stone as "a master of improbable juxtaposition: arcane, detailed fictions of star-crossed passion and avenging bloodshed dressed up in indie rock jangle, la-de-da choruses, and vintage prog-rock bombast" in a review of The Decemberists' show in NY's Central Park last spring. By contrast, the live solo album presents him in a stripped down, acoustic setting. Of the thirteen Meloy originals, two are previously unreleased compositions, "Dracula's Daughter" and "Wonder". Along the way, he employs snippets of songs from The Smiths, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, and REM. The collection also captures ample between-song banter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, it works, May 2, 2008

By 

John Provis - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Colin Meloy Sings Live! (Audio CD)

On this album (a collection of live recordings), Colin Meloy manages to do something that takes quite a bit of talent: taking songs from a full band with diverse and sometimes pretty deep instrumentation, and make them work in the singer/acoustic guitar format. It doesn't quite have the quirkiness of the full Decemberists lineup, but it doesn't need to - Meloy obviously knows which bits of the songs absolutely need to be there to back up the vocals, and puts them there while leaving out everything else. He's obviously enjoying himself (as shown by "Dracula's Daughter", described as 'the worst song I ever wrote' but played with a wink), and he quotes a couple of sections of well-known and less well-known songs almost seamlessly into the middle of his own songs. Particular highlights for me are "We Both Go Down Together," and the 12-minute version of "California One / Youth And Beauty Brigade" with just a little bit of the Smiths thrown in for good measure. All in all, it's a great album.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great album for Decemberists fans, February 2, 2009

By 

C. W. Hacker (Placentia, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Colin Meloy Sings Live! (Audio CD)

I love all of the albums from The Decemberists. Though a big draw is the instrumentation, the main attraction is the lyrics and I do really like Colin Meloy's voice, so of course I didn't hesitate too much in listening to this album. As someone else put it, it does work really well, even without the extra instrumentation.

Though recorded across several concerts it is put together like one coherent show, so if you listen to it straight through it's a nice experience. However, I imagine after the twentieth time some of the banter - which I like and think is amusing - might get old. Fortunately, the longer bits are separate tracks, so you can skip them.

The music is all excellent, great guitar work and his singing is in top form. Of course, we expect this being that they must have chosen the best performances from the recorded shows to compile here :)

The best part for me is that while some of my favorite Decemberists songs are here and sound great, some of those that I didn't like or pay attention to as much on the albums work better here. Specifically, I'm referring to Red Right Ankle and The Gymnast, High Above The Ground. I liked these songs on the albums, but often found myself skipping them for whatever reason. Hearing them on this album made me appreciate them much more. There are no poor tracks here. The non-Decemberists songs are very good, with a similar but slightly different feel, as you would expect. The weakest song is probably the opener, Devil's Elbow, but I still do like it. Just not as memorable as most.

Bottom line, any Decemberists fan should have this, but I wouldn't give this to someone as their introduction or only exposure to the band.

5.0 out of 5 stars Colin Live, August 15, 2011

By 

Garp10 "biersampler" (San Saba, TX) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Colin Meloy Sings Live! (Audio CD)

I was very pleased at the excellent sound quality and the number of great songs on the album. This is an excellent addition to my (still small) Decembrists collection. I'm very pleased with it.