The Crane Wife
by The Decemberists
  • Record Label: Capitol
  • Release Date: Oct 3, 2006
Metascore
84

Universal acclaim - based on 33 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 33
  3. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. The A.V. Club
    100
    The songs brim with melodic ideas, but the album never overwhelms, because Meloy doesn't try to pack every minute with words and hooks.
  2. Tiny Mix Tapes
    100
    The band's most ambitious, mind-blowing, and best record yet.
  3. Delusions of Adequacy
    100
    The Decemberists have always had a flair for the dramatic, but it's refined and realized more than ever on their amazing new album The Crane Wife.
  5. musicOMH.com
    100
    Their best album to date.
  6. ShakingThrough.net
    92
    The Crane Wife is an album that nicely fits into the Decemberists' universe and has roots in earlier works, but sounds -- and hangs together -- better than any of them.
  7. Billboard
    90
    Another extraordinary Decemberists album.
  8. The New York Times
    90
    As a sustained effort, it represents the band’s sharpest and most satisfying work, and one of the most accomplished albums of its kind this year.
  9. Neumu.net
    90
    The Crane Wife is an impressively realized song cycle.
  10. Urb
    90
    This is an amazing, innovative, storytelling record that takes you on [a] fantastic, fun trip. [Oct 2006, p.118]
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  11. Austin Chronicle
    89
    The Crane Wife could be the best Robyn Hitchcock album made in several years; the lyrical marriage of whimsy and death bear the fruits of a master class led by the former Soft Boy.
  12. Pitchfork
    84
    Winsomely balancing frivolity and gravity, the Decemberists assemble an oddball menagerie of the usual rogues and rascals, soldiers and criminals, lovers and baby butchers-- but they've got a lot more tricks up their sleeves than previous albums had hinted.
  13. Entertainment Weekly
    83
    The jarring faux-metal riffage of "When the War Came" exposes Meloy's limits, but several of these studies in heartbreak and homicide rank among his most moving. [6 Oct 2006, p.68]
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  14. E! Online
    83
    [The Crane Wife] not only matches past pop glories, in most cases, it tops them.
  15. NOW Magazine
    80
    Oddly, the unconventional sequencing and measured pace of the album make the fragmented mess hold together quite well.
  16. PopMatters
    80
    While the sound of this record is different from previous releases, it is only ever-so-subtly-so—and it just might be better.
  17. Under The Radar
    80
    The Crane Wife is no sell-out, retaining and even expanding their eccentricities, spinning more of Meloy’s beguiling characters and engrossing stories into their fourth straight, stellar full-length. [#15]
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  18. Blender
    80
    The most tightly hook-larded, colorfully produced, listenable Decemberists record to date. [Nov 2006, p.138]
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  19. Alternative Press
    80
    The Crane Wife isn't automatic for the people yet, but it's far from green. [Nov 2006, p.188]
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  20. Spin
    80
    The best-sounding Decemberists record to date. [Nov 2006, p.103]
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  21. Playlouder
    80
    There are enough pinnacles of musical achievement married with subtle storytelling to justify the scale of this album.
  22. The Guardian
    80
    It is all as self-consciously stagey as a Wes Anderson movie - too arch and florid to really engage the heart, but bold and wondrous entertainment none the less.
  23. Uncut
    80
    A real grower. [Feb 2007, p.73]
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  24. cokemachineglow
    77
    Meloy’s ever-multiplying prog-rock ambitions are well on their way to swallowing him whole, but for now he seems to be comfortable enough as a guy writing sweet folk pop songs alongside ever-shifting song suites and polite hard rock.
  25. The Boston Phoenix
    75
    In their music... the Decemberists are more confident and willing to stretch out than ever before.
  26. AllMusic
    70
    Some cuts, like the English murder ballad "Shankill Butchers" and "Summersong"... sound like outtakes from previous records, but by the time the listener arrives at the Donovan-esque (in a good way) closer, "Sons & Daughters," the less tasty bits of The Crane Wife seem a wee bit sweeter.
  27. Rolling Stone
    70
    There's a kick in the way song after song masks his darkish vision in elegantly hooky arrangements whose sonic signature owes more to folk rock than to prog or musical theater. [5 Oct 2006, p.68]
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  28. Slant Magazine
    70
    Certain listeners will declare The Crane Wife the best record yet from the Decemberists, but it’s still too inconsistent to be declared the masterpiece of which Meloy and company are capable.
  29. Magnet
    70
    Ambitious, risky and occasionally rambling, this is a song cycle best absorbed in a start-to-finish listen. [#73, p.93]
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  30. Hartford Courant
    70
    It makes for compelling listening, even if you're not always sure what, exactly, is going on.
  31. Q Magazine
    70
    [It] could easily have been a staggeringly pompous exercise; instead, it's rendered intriguing by a liberated approach. [Feb 2007, p.99]
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  32. Stylus Magazine
    67
    Tempting as it may be to assume that beefing up their sound would have automatically made the Decemberists markedly better, the truth is that these strides may have at least partially come at the expense of the things that always made the band so singularly compelling.

Awards & Rankings

22
#22 Best Album of 2006
27
#27 Most Discussed Album of 2006
37
#37 Most Shared Album of 2006

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 161 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 145 out of 161
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 161
  3. Negative: 6 out of 161
  1. Ricko
    Mar 28, 2012
    8
    If your not familiar with this band they're well worth getting into. This has some folk and a bit of Indie pop but the Decemberists do haveIf your not familiar with this band they're well worth getting into. This has some folk and a bit of Indie pop but the Decemberists do have their own style. There is a little bit of REM in here and if you liked Neutral Milk Hotels "In the aeroplane over the sea", at times this record has a similar feel to that (although not quite as good). There is a lot of quality on this so it's hard to pick out stand out moments. Track 2 which has several songs in one and The Perfect Crime #2 are my favourites.… Full Review »
  2. moonman1994
    Dec 15, 2012
    10
    Simply an amazing album. Pretty much every song is great. I remember first seeing the list of songs and seeing that there were two songs thatSimply an amazing album. Pretty much every song is great. I remember first seeing the list of songs and seeing that there were two songs that were both over ten minutes long and was skeptical as to how any song could be that long without boring the listener. However, I was pleasantly surprised by their quality. This album is just amazing. Worth the money for sure!… Full Review »
  3. claw01
    Oct 30, 2011
    9
    One of the Decemberists' best efforts, if not their best album so far; The Crane WIfe has a more refined sound compared to their previousOne of the Decemberists' best efforts, if not their best album so far; The Crane WIfe has a more refined sound compared to their previous works. While Picaresque may have more defined tracks that allow them to stand alone very well, The Crane Wife is smoother and more cohesive, and does so without sacrificing the Decemberists' style.… Full Review »
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