Do The Decemberists have people fooled?

even though I love them whether they are prog or not, i still think they are prog. as of late, anyway. ever since "the tain" at least.

hmmm... sort of expected a thread like this as some people will take note how prog fans have embraced this groups and will want to see what they are missing.


the simple truth of the matter is... some will see it as prog... some won't. 

If one's idea of prog involves stupid, pseudo-intellectual lyrics wrapped up in emotionless, complexity for complexities-sake music.. then they will probably fail to see how some see the Decemberists as prog. Raff is right though... I heard people talking about that during the show we saw...  not in our terms of course.. but it was clear.. just how different their music was from the typical sh*t out there.

if those who see them as being a modern heir to progressive folk music are fooled... then ...  ahhaha...  there are a hell of a lot of people that are fooled.   That leads me to think that people like the OP are the ones .. not being fooled...  but not musically-intelligent of listeners to discern prog from non-prog.


Edited by micky - June 13 2009 at 07:21

They certainly had me fooled......

Mr ProgFreak wrote: What I can't understand is why prog fans - of all people - seem so prone to inflexibility.

Try not to understand this.  It can only lead to madness. 
Not all of us are that way.
By the way I haven't tried them yet.  I'm not in the mood for new discoveries at the moment.
But sooner or later I will be...

Prog or not prog?  Yes it is, no it isn't, yes it is, no it isn't yes it is, etc.


Edited by Slartibartfast - June 13 2009 at 08:08

Sure. But there are also those who try to look beyond their current favorite genres ... and IMO that is the spirit of progressiveness. Maybe some people simply forgot the ideals they used to hold high when they initially became fans of progressive music.

What is really odd is that other prog websites do not seem to hold to the same idea of 'purity' many people have here... ProgEars has a good deal of pure jazz entries in their database (not to mention reviews for the likes of Bob Dylan and Napalm death), ProgGnosis includes artists such as Daryl Hall because of their occasional collaborations with prog musicians (Fripp in this particular case), and Sea of Tranquillity is chock-full of reviews of hair metal albums. Yet, I don't care, and continue to visit the sites whenever I want, without posting in their forums (if they have one) and decrying their addition policy. 

Edited by Epignosis - June 13 2009 at 08:15

Are The Decemberists prog folk?  Not always.  But so what?  Neither is Jethro Tull.

The first three releases are not exactly prog folk as many might consider the term, but they're all still great and have some pleasing exceptions, like "Odalisque" from the debut- this is progressive folk if there ever was a such thing.

But then you have The Crane Wife, which is partly a concept album (and contains the masterpiece "The Island") and The Hazards of Love, which is a progressive folk masterpiece in the richest sense.

Do The Decemberists have us fooled?

My answer: Who cares?  If they do, I'm damn happy to be that fool!

Synchestra wrote: I'm a little suprised to see them listed as prog folk too. Crossover or something like that maybe, as some of their songs are proggy (the island, and title track(s) from the crane wife, for example), but for the most part they seem a sort of folk-pop-rock band. but regardless, i love them prog or not

Here's another viewpoint I suppose:

Rolling Stone called the Decemberists 'prog' and 'folk'

Paste called them prog and folk (also called them the 'Dorks of Hazard', but that's okay )

Pitchfork called them prog-folk

Crud called them prog and folk

Slant called them prog (but not folk since no one at Slant knows what folk music is)

QRO called them prog and folk

Treble called the prog folk

Pop Matters calls them folk and prog "geeky" rock

SEE called them prog-folk

Barnes and Noble calls them prog and folk

Billboard calls them prog folk

Captain Obvious calls them prog and folk (thanks Captain Obvious!)

So if you were some relatively clueless but well-meaning young lad (or lass) and were trolling around the big scary and confusing internet looking for some folks who knew a bit about prog and folk music and maybe had some good advice on which Decemberists albums were the best, and possibly even some other bands that might be considered in that same general category; where would you more than likely end up?

This place is called a prog Archive after all, not a 'prog club', and the primary reason it exists is to provide people with a comprehensive reference source for prog music.  That, of necessity, means including quite a bit of music that isn't going to appeal to some (or even most) of us who frequent the site.

I spend a lot of time at the library too, even though I only check out a very, very small percentage of the books housed there.  

Don't ever trust, Don't ever trust the OP, it lies.