• Record Label: Capitol
  • Release Date: Mar 24, 2009
User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 98 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 84 out of 98
  2. Negative: 5 out of 98

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  1. SteveS.
    Apr 6, 2009
    5
    Not quite a rock opera, this is basically a regular Decemberists album without any good songs. Listen to Castaways and Cutouts and Jesus Christ Superstar instead.
  2. GregCouncil
    Mar 26, 2009
    6
    Better than the subpar Crane Wife, but still really removed from Castaways and Cutouts.
Metascore
73

Generally favorable reviews - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 31
  2. Negative: 1 out of 31
  1. His plot is so preposterous and unempathetic it's more the appearance of a plot, or an elaborate joke about a plot.
  2. The narrative doesn't get in the way of the tunes, and the choruses are pretty versatile as anthems go.
  3. The result is both classic Decemberists--all folk pop whimsy wrapped up in darker lyrics than their surface suggests--and a new direction, using the '60s/early '70s folk foundations to follow their logical path into that odd corner of the English genre that somehow crossed over with Heavy Metal.