After the solid set of releases that The Decemberists put out in 2002, they wasted no time putting out their sophomore LP, Her Majesty The Decemberists. To me, Her Majesty is probably the strongest set of songs that the band put out in the early part of their career, and is in many ways my favorite release from them overall. They tightened up the instrumentation, melodies and even Colin's voice seems stronger on this LP.
The album starts with the sea faring "Shanty For The Arethusa" which shows how the band was embracing their more theatrical side, which would go on to define them in a lot of ways, that and the fact that this song is far more complex instrumentally than almost any of the songs on the band's debut. The following two tracks are much more pop focused and are some of the strongest songwriting the band has ever displayed in my opinion. "Billy Liar" is a quirky character portrait of a randy young man, and "Los Angeles, I'm Yours" paints the picture of a Los Angeles that despite its ugly side, the narrator still seems to hold a great affection for the place, whether that love is sarcastic or not is up to the listener.
The following track, "The Gymnast, High Above The Ground" is a personal favorite, and is a moment when the band writes a slower track and stretches the length of the track, but manages to put an interesting character on display; this happens again on the late album track "I Was Meant For the Stage", a track that seems to be a bit biographical as well.
Amidst the slower moments we also get the fan favorite "Red Right Ankle" which is a sweet little love song that poetically states how love can bind people together. There's also "The Bachelor and the Bride", but I find this track to be the most nondescript on the entire album. However, we also get a batch of more energetic moments which, to me, give this album its edge when compared to the debut; songs like "Song For Myla Goldberg" and "The Chimbley Sweep" are upbeat and quirky, but the true star of the more driving songs on Her Majesty is easily, "The Soldiering Life", a song about two soldiers who find love on the battlefield; this track is probably my favorite Decemberists song because it has such a great melody and the explosion of instrumentation and vocals during the chorus is just to good to deny, plus it is an incredibly sweet song to boot.
The closer her is a bit of an anomaly, but one that I actually enjoy quite a bit. It comes right after the long, winding "I Was Meant For the Stage", and features the most "lo-fi" sounding production I've ever heard the band use.
Her Majesty The Decemberists is such a great listen; it is easily my most re-visited Decemberists LP and still sounds fantastic 11 years after its release. If you want to give just one Decemberists album a chance, make it this one.
10/10
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