The King Is Dead

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The King Is Dead
Studio album by The Decemberists

Publication
(s)

admission

Spring 2011

Label (s)

Format (s)

CD, LP

Genre (s)

Indie rock , folk rock

Title (number)

10

running time

40:43

occupation

production

Tucker Martine, The Decemberists

Studio (s)

Pendarvis Farm (near Portland , Oregon )

chronology
The Hazards of Love
(2009) 		The King Is Dead What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World
(2015)
Single releases
November 2010 Down by the water
January 25, 2011 This Is Why We Fight

The King Is Dead is the sixth studio album by the American indie folk band The Decemberists , which was released on January 18, 2011 in the United States, four days after its German release on January 14. The album sold 93,567 times in the United States in its first week, making it number one on the Billboard 200 chart. This makes The King Is Dead the first number one album for the band. The predecessor The Hazards of Love sold only 19,000 times in the first week for comparison.

background

The King Is Dead was recorded in the spring of 2010. Most parts of the album were created within six weeks in a barn on the 32,000 m² Pendarvis Farm near Portland , Oregon . The album title pays homage to Smith's 1986 album The Queen Is Dead , largely due to its influence on Colin Meloy . Produced The King Is Dead by Tucker Martine. Four of the ten songs were already played during concerts in 2010 ( Down by the Water , Rise to Me , Rox in the Box and June Hymn ). Meloy said that the main influence for The King Is Dead was the band REM , and REM guitarist Peter Buck played on the tracks Don't Carry It All , Calamity Song and Down by the Water . The album was released on January 18, 2011 in the United States. The King Is Dead has been described by Rolling Stones Douglas Wolk as "the most idyllic, rustic album they have ever made".

Down by the water

The first single Down by the Water featured Peter Buck ( twelve-string guitar ) and singer-songwriter Gillian Welch (vocals). In addition, remember accordion - riffs and harmonica music of Neil Young ; especially the song Heart of Gold . Down by the Water has been compared to the music of Bruce Springsteen . The track was offered for free download on November 2, 2010 from the official website. Meloy stated that The King Is Dead is more straightforward and heavily inspired by REM, and Down by the Water is a good example of this. According to Meloy, the song is more reminiscent of REM than was actually intended.

Lyrically, Down by the Water is slightly melancholy. The line “the last flashing lee to appear nineteen” (German: “the last flashing lee appears nineteen”) was emphasized by mentioning the number nineteen , which occurs again and again in pop music , including in Steely Dan's song Hey Nineteen . Down by the Water was called "folksy" (German: "folksy"), "uptempo" (German: "flott"), "country-esque" (German: "country- like ") and the refrain as "booming" (German: "Booming"). Although the song was also described as "catchy" (German: "catchy") and radio-friendly, the quality of the prose was lacking in comparison to previous Decemberists songs.

Down by the Water was nominated for Best Rock Song at the 2012 Grammy Awards .

Track list

  1. Don't Carry It All - 4:17
  2. Calamity Song - 3:50
  3. Rise to Me - 4:59
  4. Rox in the Box - 3:10
  5. January Hymn - 3:14
  6. Down by the Water - 3:42
  7. All Arise! - 3:10
  8. June Hymn - 3:58
  9. This Is Why We Fight - 5:31
  10. Dear Avery - 4:52

Reviews

The US music magazine Spin awarded seven out of ten points.

"As rustic as some of this music is, though, Meloy still can't resist flexing his rarefied vocabulary, throwing in a" plinth "here and a" trillium "there."

"As rustic as parts of the music are, Meloy cannot resist bending his refined vocabulary by throwing in a ' plinth ' here and a ' trillium ' there."

- Mikael Wood : Spin

Spiegel Online also awarded seven out of ten points.

"" The King Is Dead "is the perfect accompaniment to throw off the majestically heavy brocade cloaks of the past year, to take the stones out of a backpack like a young prince, to stretch your nose into the first inkling of a warm breeze."

- Andreas Borcholte : Spiegel Online

Thomas Winkler from the Frankfurter Rundschau also praised the album.

“Full of wonderful folk harmonies, full of enchanting melodies, full of disturbing moods: The Decemberists make a radical about-face with“ The King Is Dead ”. Away from exuberant mini-symphonies, towards down-to-earth simplicity. "

- Thomas Winkler : Frankfurter Rundschau

The site Plattentests.de rated The King Is Dead very positively with eight out of ten points .

"The unobtrusive ease with which the ten pieces take place makes the album the best since" Picaresque "."

- Kai Wehmeier : Plattentests.de

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ USA Forthcoming Singles. Radiol1 Rodos Greece
  2. ^ Larry Fitzmaurice, The Decemberists Have the Number One Album. Pitchfork , January 26, 2011, accessed January 26, 2011 .
  3. ↑ a b The Decemberists - News February 11, 2010. The Decemberists, November 2, 2010, accessed January 14, 2011 .
  4. ↑ a b c d Douglas Wolk: Colin Meloy Reveals Details of New Decemberists Album. Rolling Stone , November 4, 2010, accessed January 14, 2011 .
  5. ↑ Bryan Wawzenek: Decemberists Announce New Album. (No longer available online.) Gibson , Nov. 3, 2010, archived from the original on June 22, 2011 ; accessed on January 14, 2011 (English).
  6. ^ John D. Luerssen, The Decemberists Announce 'The King Is Dead' Album, Offer Free Song. (No longer available online.) Spinner, November 3, 2010, archived from the original on January 12, 2012 ; accessed on January 14, 2011 (English).
  7. ^ Tibi Puiu: New Decemberists album announced - The King is Dead. ZME Music, November 2, 2010, accessed January 14, 2011 .
  8. ↑ a b Jessica Suarez: The Decemberists: "Down By The Water". Stereogum, November 2, 2010, accessed January 14, 2011 .
  9. ↑ Rihanna and Katy Perry's Duet & More. Spin , November 2, 2010, accessed January 14, 2011 .
  10. ↑ Ryan Dombal, Amy Phillips: The Decemberists Announce New Album. Pitchfork , November 2, 2010, accessed January 14, 2011 .
  11. ↑ a b Sara Brickner: The Decemberists Share New Song From Upcoming Album, Attempt to Be As Much Like REM As Possible. (No longer available online.) Seattle Weekly, Nov. 2, 2010, archived from the original on April 4, 2011 ; accessed on January 14, 2011 (English).
  12. ↑ a b July Weiner: Blog That Tune! "Down by the Water," by the Decemberists. Vanity Fair , November 3, 2010, accessed September 30, 2016 .
  13. ^ A b Colin Jones: Free Music Monday: The Decemberists, Stereolab and Michael Jackson. Death and Taxes, November 8, 2010, accessed January 14, 2011 .
  14. ^ Daniel Alvarez: The Week in Singles: New Music From Quincy Jones and Amy Winehouse, Bruce Springsteen, the Decemberists, and more. (No longer available online.) Crawdaddy !, November 5, 2010, archived from the original on January 15, 2011 ; accessed on January 14, 2011 (English).
  15. ↑ Shannon Vestal: New Music: The Decemberists' "Down by the Water". BuzzSugar, November 3, 2010, accessed January 14, 2011 .
  16. ↑ Brett Warner, Listen To This: New Music From The Decemberists. (No longer available online.) In: Ology. November 3, 2010, archived from the original on July 24, 2011 ; accessed on January 14, 2011 (English).
  17. ↑ Mikael Wood: The Decemberists, 'The King Is Dead' (Capitol). Spin , January 3, 2011, accessed January 14, 2011 .
  18. ↑ Andreas Borcholte, Jan Wigger: Listened: The most important CDs of the week. Spiegel Online , January 11, 2010, accessed January 11, 2010 .
  19. ↑ Thomas Winkler: New album from "The Decemberists": The new sound. Frankfurter Rundschau , January 10, 2011, accessed on January 14, 2011 .
  20. ↑ Kai Wehmeier: The Decemberists - The king is dead. Plattentests.de , accessed on January 14, 2011 .