The Decemberists - The Hazard Of Love [LP]

Tracklist:


A1 Prelude 3:04
A2 The Hazards Of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle The Thistles Undone) 4:19
A3 A Bower Scene 2:09
A4 Won't Want For Love (Margaret In The Taiga) 4:07
B1 The Hazards Of Love 2 (Wager All) 4:26
B2 The Queen's Approach 0:29
B3 Isn't It A Lovely Night? 3:39
B4 The Wanting Comes In Waves / Repaid 6:27
B5 An Interlude 1:40


C1 The Rake's Song 3:16
C2 The Abduction Of Margaret 2:07
C3 The Queen's Rebuke / The Crossing 3:56
C4 Annan Water 5:11
D1 Margaret In Captivity 3:08
D2 The Hazards Of Love 3 (Revenge!) 3:22
D3 The Wanting Comes In Waves (Reprise) 1:31
D4 The Hazards Of Love 4 (The Drowned) 5:57

The Hazards of Love is the fifth album by the American indie rock band The Decemberists, released through Capitol Records and Rough Trade in 2009. The album was inspired by an Anne Briggs EP titled The Hazards of Love. According to the band, frontman Colin Meloy had set out to write a song with the album's title, which eventually developed into an entire album. Becky Stark (of Lavender Diamond), Shara Worden (of My Brightest Diamond), and Jim James (of My Morning Jacket) provide guest vocals throughout the album, while Robyn Hitchcock makes a cameo guitar appearance on An Interlude. 

The Hazards of Love is a rock opera, with all songs contributing to a unified narrative, similar to the use of recurring stories on the band's previous album, The Crane Wife. The plot is a love story: a woman named Margaret (voiced by Stark) falls in love with a shape-shifting boreal forest dweller named William (voiced by Meloy). William's mother, the jealous Forest Queen (voiced by Worden), and the villainous Rake (also voiced by Meloy) bring conflict to the album's story arc.