Customer Reviews

Colin Meloy Sings Live!

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Colin's under-rated guitar skills get the attention they need in this album. This is a must have performance for anyone who is a fan of the Decemberists.

Meloy carries an excellent persona, and this live album is no exception. I'm normally not one one for live albums because of the immediate imperfections one is able to point out, but he dissolves them skillfully. A lot of the material is acoustic versions of The Decemberists (his main band) work up until the album Picaresque.

While I enjoy the songs themselves, I think his in between dialogue is where he gets me. He's funny, witty, and entertaining to listen to. He performs for the audience to be entertained, not to bask in his eternal artistic glory. Very few musicians seem to grasp this these days.

I highly recommend this album. I bought one for my older brother last Christmas. Only reason I didn't give this a 5/5 is because I don't feel like all the songs are top notch.

I'm very impressed with how well some very well known Decemberist songs translated to this acoustic performance. Colin Meloy is an extremely talented performer!

There are not many artists that can entertain an audience by simply singing and playing the guitar as a solo act, but Colin Meloy is one of them (Willy Porter & Tony Furtado are a couple others).

This album contains recordings of live performances in intimate settings, where he interacts very well with the audiences by virtue of his clean, crisp, acoustic guitar playing, his stellar vocals, and his witty sense of humor.

This is a must for acoustic fans, whether or not you are familiar with Decemberists' music. If you are a Decemberists' freak, you may somewhat miss the accompanying influences of other mainstay instruments such as the floor bass, accordian, violin, and keyboards, too name a few. But Meloy keeps your attention throughout the CD with his captivating lyrics and trademark vocal intonations.

This is a very entertaining CD that won't, of course, rock the house down, but will keep you humming along and reaching for the "replay" button.

I haven't got this absorbed by an album since 1990, a great year that featured Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic by The Sundays and Cake by The Trash Can Sinatras.

While I wasn't surprised to like Meloy's songs, they ended up hitting me in the gut much more deeply than his studio versions with The Decemberists. There is a rawness (forgive my cliche) and an immediacy that goes into the bone. In particular, "I Dreamt I Was an Architect" and "The Bus Mall" have a melancholy power that really caught me off guard. Paring down to acoustic guitar, the music forces you to listen to the lyrics and the genius of Meloy's writing shines. Highly recommended. Those who appreciate this album might want to look to the aforementioned albums and another album, Glow, by a band by the name of The Innocence Mission.

You're not going to hear a ton of new music on this album -- the majority of tracks are off of previously released albums. But if you're a Decemberists fan, you'll love it anyway. It's just... fun. Meloy's understated style of humor is sprinkled throughout, and the previously mentioned "Dracula's Daughter" track is a perfect example.

Even after hearing this album dozens of times, I find that it still gets at least as much play time as all of my other Decemberists albums. And that's saying a lot, because my other Decemberists albums get a LOT of play time.

What can I say - he writes as well here as for the Decemberists. I also enjoy the unplugged nature of the recording - you can really appreciate the lyrics.