The Decemberists - The Hazards Of Love - mp3 - haveatit

The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love

The Hazards of Love, released March 24, 2009, is the fifth album by The Decemberists. The album was inspired by an Anne Briggs EP titled The Hazards of Love. According to the band, frontman Colin Meloy set out to write a song with the album's title—eventually leading to an album in itself. Becky Stark (of Lavender Diamond), Shara Worden (of My Brightest Diamond), and Jim James (of My Morning Jacket) provide guest vocals throughout the album.

The Hazards of Love centers around a love story, similar to the use of recurring stories in The Crane Wife: a woman named Margaret (voiced by Stark) falls in love with a shape-shifting forest dweller (voiced by Meloy). A jealous forest queen (voiced by Worden) and an ensemble of recurring characters bring conflict to the album's story arc.

On January 15, 2009, "The Rake's Song" became available as a free download on their MySpace page. This was followed on February 16, 2009 by "The Hazards of Love 1," again on MySpace.

On March 13, 2009, The Decemberists announced that the album would be released on iTunes on March 17, 2009. The album was released on iTunes Australia on March 14, 2009. On March 20, 2009, Entertainment Weekly began streaming the full album on imeem.

This album debuted at #14 and sold 19,210 copies in its first week.

Track listing

1. "Prelude" - 3:04
2. "The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone)" - 4:19
3. "A Bower Scene" - 2:09
4. "Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)" - 4:07
5. "The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)" - 4:26
6. "The Queen's Approach" - 0:29
7. "Isn't It a Lovely Night?" - 3:39
8. "The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid" - 6:27
9. "An Interlude" - 1:40
10. "The Rake's Song" - 3:16
11. "The Abduction of Margaret" - 2:07
12. "The Queen's Rebuke/The Crossing" - 3:56
13. "Annan Water" - 5:12
14. "Margaret in Captivity" - 3:08
15. "The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)" - 3:22
16. "The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)" - 1:31
17. "The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)" - 5:57