The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love

Ah, the concept album, when's the last time you heard a really good one? Radiohead's OK Computer Sufjan's C'mon hear the Illinois Arcade Fire Funeral and Nine Inch Nails Downward Spiral are the few i can think off from the last 10 years (and i refuse to acknowledge that Green Day's American Idiot is a concept album) I did a search for best concept album of all time and came up with Rolling Stone's list of the top 14 which i will make my way through over the next few months. Anyway as far as this one goes it's a beauty. It's got a folky medieval minstral vibe with some tea party style middle eastern sorcery and some queen crashing guitars mixed in. It's one of the few albums i've heard that follows a narrative the whole way through without straying too far from the imagery and artistry. The fact that some of the songs stand alone as great tracks is a big help too. Hazards of Love 1, Wont want for love and Hazards of love 2 are standouts. A truly great release for the fulfilling of the concept, and the quality of the songs that do it.