Her Majesty the Decemberists

Her Majesty the Decemberists
Studio album by The Decemberists
Publication (s)	September 9, 2003
admission	February - March 2003
Label (s)	Kill rock stars
Format (s)	CD, LP
Genre (s)	Indie rock , folk rock
Title (number)	11
running time	50:30
occupation	Viola : Bridget Callahan E-bass , double bass , percussion : Jesse Emerson Electric guitar , pedal steel guitar , Hawaiian guitar , resonator guitar , synthesizer , percussion: Chris Funk Vocals , acoustic guitar , percussion, lyrics : Colin Meloy Clapping : Kenneth Erlick Harmonica : Dave Lipkind Organ , electronic piano , piano , accordion , backing vocal, percussion: Jenny Conlee Drums , backing vocal , percussion, vibraphone , glockenspiel , organ: Rachel Blumberg Trumpet , trombone , clap: Cory Gray Violin : Emily Cox, Lucia Atkinson Violoncello : Mike Lah
production	Adam Selzer, The Decemberists, Larry Crane
Studio (s)	Jackpot! and Type Foundry in Portland , Oregon
chronology Castaways and Cutouts (2002) Her Majesty the Decemberists Picaresque (2005)

Her Majesty the Decemberists (often just called Her Majesty ) is the second studio album by the American band The Decemberists . It was released on September 9, 2003 on Kill Rock Stars . The song Song for Myla Goldberg was written a few years earlier by Colin Meloy when he went on a reading tour with the author Myla Goldberg as a media companion for her first book, Bee Season . The song The Bachelor and the Bride contains the words “stripped bare” in the chorus, a reference to Marcel Duchamp's The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even (in German: The green box ).

The album cover was created by the artist Carson Ellis , the girlfriend at the time and now wife of Meloy, who is responsible for almost all album covers for the band.

Track list

1. Shanty for the Arethusa - 5:37
2. Billy Liar - 4:08
3. Los Angeles , I'm Yours - 4:17
4. The Gymnast, High Above the Ground - 7:13
5. The Bachelor and the Bride - 4:13
6. Song for Myla Goldberg - 3:33
7. The Soldiering Life - 3:48
8. Red Right Ankle - 3:29
9. The Chimbley Sweep - 2:53
10. I Was Meant for the Stage - 7:02
11. As I Rise - 2:14

Note: On some versions of the album, the back is missing from the track list since song The Chimbley Sweep .

Reviews

The Alternative Press described the album as "gripping", Pitchfork praised the band because of the album as one of the strongest of our time and awarded 8.2 out of ten possible points. Josh Modell from the AV Club particularly highlighted the "wonderful, sometimes fantastic stories" that the album tells. The American music magazine Blender, however, was less convinced of the album and compared the voice of Meloy with that of a donkey.

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Decemberists - Her Majesty The Decemberists - Review . Alternative Press, December 2003, pp. 140 (English).
2. ↑ Chris Dahlen: Album Review: The Decemberists: Her Majesty The Decemberists. Pitchfork , September 7, 2003, accessed January 17, 2011 . 
3. ↑ Josh Model: The Decemberists: Her Majesty The Decemberists. The AV Club , October 6, 2003, accessed January 17, 2011 . 
4. ^ The Decemberists - Her Majesty The Decemberists - Review . Blender, September 2003, pp. 122 (English).

Web links

• Official website (English)
• Her Majesty the Decemberists on MusicBrainz
• Her Majesty the Decemberists at Allmusic (English)
• Collected reviews at Metacritic (English)