While the band managed to churn out two great albums in essentially a year's time, they took their time with their third release, Picaresque. In doing so they made what is regarded by the vast majority of Decemberists fans to be their best album ever; I agree with that to an extent, though I've always been a bigger fan of their sophomore or their fourth album, The Crane Wife.
On first listen you can tell just how much time and care went in to each and every song on Picaresque; the arrangements are bigger, the vocals more layered, and the track lengths beefier. Also, the band went all in with their theatrics (made prominent by the album art) delivering tracks that were equal parts goofy, yet straight-faced as well, and it is this balancing act that proves to be Picaresque's greatest strength.
The band also happens to pen some of their best tracks here with "The Sporting Life" and "16 Military Wives" being among their poppiest, and to me, most memorable tracks. The former is a Wes Anderson esq story about a young athlete who sprains his ankle on the playing field and humiliates himself in front of his friends, family, and girlfriend (who is seen with the captain of the other team), but the character is set on proving them all wrong. The latter is an oddly political song that points at America's knack for sending its citizens off to war and the effects that has on the families of the soldiers.
We also get the wonderfully theatrical and over the top anthems "A Bagman's Gambit" and "The Mariner's Revenge Song" both of which weave movie like plots in under ten minutes and are considered by most fans to be the highlights of the album.
However, among the poppier moments and the more gaudy tracks, we get a lot more sad, slow tracks much like we got on the band's debut, only this time the production and stories are stronger, "Eli, The Barrow Boy" and "The Engine Driver"/"On The Bus Mall" coupling being my personal favorites.
The only weak moment here is the closer which has never in the nearly five years I've been listening to this album, never left an impression on me, thus making Picaresque slightly lesser in my eyes in comparison to Her Majesty, but don't let that stop you from enjoying The Decemberists at what many consider to be their creative peak.
Personally, I think the band has plenty more to offer going forward, though now we come to the spot in their career where things become a bit strange.
9.6/10
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