The King Is Dead

The Decemberists | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 18, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B0049OSQ18
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (153 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #874 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #51 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Indie Rock
  • #65 in Music > Pop > Adult Alternative

Editorial Reviews

2011 album from the Portland-based Alt-Rock/Folk band. The King Is Dead is a mostly-acoustic set of concise, Americana-based songs, that marks a deliberate turn towards simplicity after the band's wildly ambitious and acclaimed 2009 song-cycle The Hazards Of Love. Produced once again by Tucker Martine, The King Is Dead features special guest appearances by Americana luminary Gillian Welch and legendary R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck. The album showcases the ways in which The Decemberists sound just as glorious in simple, stripped-down compositions as they do on the elaborate structures that have defined their work for years. The album was recorded in a converted barn at Pendarvis Farm, an 80-acre estate of lush meadows, forest, and Mt. Hood views outside of Portland.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

137 of 153 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Escape a little closer to home January 18, 2011

By Evan Staley

Format:MP3 Music

It took this album to make me admit I haven't loved The Decemberists more recent work as much as I would have liked. For all the great moments on The Hazards of Love and The Crane Wife (and there are many), there were also copious amounts of convolution and sort of awkward prog rock (see: The Island/...). The result was never strong enough to rob The Decemberists of their title as my favorite band, it just left me feeling like I should still be loving them more.

One listen of The King is Dead is all it took for me to remember why I still love this band, and it took none of the effort I had to invest in their bigger albums. The Decemberists, to me, don't write pretty music or clever lyrics as much as they conjure up a portal to somewhere far more romantic and beautifully tragic. Songs like Grace Cathedral Hill or On The Bus Mall still never fail to pull me into their worlds. This time around, things are far simpler than they ever have been, but the effect is similar. There are no long songs, nothing that will require 15 minutes of focus and a dictionary to figure out, nothing set in the late 1800s, and no tragically doomed romance. The result is a beautifully coherent album that may not pull you out of reality like their past works, but it will wrap this world in a gauzy glow for the sublime 40 minutes it sticks around.

I'm once again very excited to see where they go from here, but so grateful to have this in the meantime.

4.5/5

60 of 70 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Decemberists - Long live the king January 18, 2011

By Red on Black TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

"The King is Dead" the new and sixth album by Portland's finest "The Decemberists" sees Colin Meloy and chums return with an album of much more straightforward songs than their previous theatrical concept outing "The Hazards of Love". The consequence for this reviewer is unadulterated pleasure since while Hazards was an impressive piece of work it is the Decemberists of the "Picaresque" era which really starts the pulses racing. Having listened to this album for two weeks streaming on NPR you will find a hugely accessible and accomplished set full of crisp Americana based songs with enough hooks to catch mackerel as evidenced by the thumping opener "Don't carry it all". In the background throughout "TKID" you will also detect the influence of two master musicians namely the jangle guitar miester Peter Buck from REM and one of gods representatives on earth, Gillian Welch the great Appalachian style country singer who sings on seven of the ten tracks.

Listen to the huge alt country ballad "Rise to me" or the gentling rolling "All arise" full of guitars, fiddle, accordion, harmonica and pedal steel to detect Welch's direct influence and it is a force for good. Not that this greater simplicity has blunted Meloy's wordy gymnastics. Anyone who can rhyme "enzymes" with "fault line" deserves a pat on the back as does the use of REM style "Reckoning" era motifs in the brilliant "Calamity song". The rootsy "Rox in the box" sounds like a nod to Mike Scott and his folk fest "Room to roam" and for good measure the Decemberists throw in a snatch of the folk standard "Raggle Taggle Gypsy" to add spice. Meloy's acoustic guitar picked ballads are always lovely and sumptuous and "January Hymn" is one of his finest yet and will one day figure on the "Best of the Decemberists". To add icing to the cake they partly reprise it with the equally sublime "June Hymn" later in the album. Another of the album's many highlights "Down by the water" starts with a haunting Springsteen like harmonica and brilliant backing vocals from Welch and combines with faint echoes of REMs "The One I love" tantalizing in the background. It's stirring stuff and destined to rock summer festivals. Meloy also admits that the excellent "This is why we fight" owes a huge debt to the Smiths with its Johnny Marr guitar lines and rousing pace (perhaps the title of the album also tips a nod to the Smiths epic "the Queen is dead"?). The brakes are put on however for the final track the ever so gentle "Dear Avery" where Welch enlists her musical partners Dave Rawlings and fellow Portlander Laura Viers to provide backing vocals.

"The King is Dead" is an understated album devoid of complexity, twelve minute prog epics and Gentle Giant like chord progressions. As such if this is what attracts you to this great band then some disappointment will follow since the template here is Neil Young's simple wonder "Comes a time" which has provided Meloy with the source inspiration for the mood of the album. This is very much the Decemberists "Americana" roots album, strong on songs, melodies and with choruses designed to infiltrate your head with greater effectiveness than a Paul McKenna hypnotist session. It is a real pearl of an album and proves what a great songwriter Colin Meloy has become. All in all a fantastic opener for 2011.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Addition to the Decemberist Catalogue January 20, 2011

By C. Hagen

Format:MP3 Music

This album is amazing. It's accessible, beautiful, and evergreen.

I loved the previous album (The Hazards of Love), but there was something about it that made it difficult to simply turn on in the middle of the day or during a party. It needed a full audience with full attention. The Kind is Dead works on every level for any listener.