Picaresque
by The Decemberists
User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 127 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 115 out of 127
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 127
  3. Negative: 9 out of 127

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  1. PresidentBush
    Jul 9, 2006
    0
    crap
  2. BorisH
    Sep 22, 2005
    3
    I liked this better when it was called NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL!
  3. AnthonyD
    Apr 26, 2005
    3
    Pseudo-intellectual and pretentious, the latest album from the Decemberists is more of the same from this castrated group. The lyrics are carefully crafted and literate but fail to inspire in even the slightest way. Meloy's whiny, phoney vocals and the bands pompous orchestral blathering is barely tolerable, let alone enjoyable or interesting. Meloy should just write a novel and save Pseudo-intellectual and pretentious, the latest album from the Decemberists is more of the same from this castrated group. The lyrics are carefully crafted and literate but fail to inspire in even the slightest way. Meloy's whiny, phoney vocals and the bands pompous orchestral blathering is barely tolerable, let alone enjoyable or interesting. Meloy should just write a novel and save our culture from this derivitive fluff.… Expand
  4. Jake
    Mar 23, 2005
    0
    no....No.....NO!!!!!!!!! Someone needs to put this bleating donkey and his insufferable band of assorted a-ses out of their misery....

Awards & Rankings

55
#55 Best Album of 2005
58
#58 Most Discussed Album of 2005
73
#73 Most Shared Album of 2005

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Universal acclaim - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 32
  3. Negative: 1 out of 32
  1. Entertainment Weekly
    91
    [Meloy's] lyrics skip across history... and overflow with mellifluous rhymes. [25 Mar 2005, p.71]
  2. Rolling Stone
    70
    Picaresque is a triumph of theatrical imagination: the culmination of the Decemberists' steady march to greatness in four years of enriched storytelling and folk-rock invention.
    Read full review
  3. Alternative Press
    90
    The more realized updates of [Her Majesty] that crowd out the backed of Picaresque reveal a wit so bizarre and vaudevillian beauty so ultimately endearing that by the end, Meloy's sprawling form of theatrical folk has us all. [Apr 2005, p.116]
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