Some thoughts on my "Top Album of 2011":
The Decemberists - The King Is Dead / Long Live The King
Colin Meloy is a storyteller with a penchant for the theatrical who pens tales of cold war spies, gang fights, suicidal lovers, and sailors in search of revenge. On the last effort, The Hazards Of Love, The Decemberists took it one step further and created a complete concept album with an overarching fable-like narrative of mythical lovers, villains and jealous mothers, and toured playing the entire album in order like a rock opera.
The King Is Dead marks a renewed focus on simply making a great indie rock record, in this case with nods to folk, country and Americana. Not to mention a sound often reminiscent of old school R.E.M., partially explained by Peter Buck making a guest appearance on three of the tracks. The album, which was released in January, is very good, but I'm not sure it would have risen all the way to the top of my list without the November companion EP Long Live The King. The EP contains six outtakes that didn't make it onto the album, and several songs (E. Watson, Burying Davy, and I 4 U & U For Me) rival the best tracks on the original record.
I originally thought the album title was a reference to The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths, but after the EP completing the "The King is dead, Long live the King" phrase, I'm not so sure. Well, why couldn't it be both?
I leave you with the video to This Is Why We Fight:
