The Dear Hunter Has A Story To Tell
The third installment of The Dear Hunter’s epic.
Dear Hunter
Act III: Life And Death
Released on Jun 23, 2009
The Dear Hunter has changed since their latest release Act II: The Meaning of, and All Things Regarding Ms. Leading. Included in these changes were several lineup alterations and apparently a completely new approach to how they approach their sound. Act III is not a boring album, in fact, it’s a tremendously well-written and intellectual album, it just left me looking for something more.
As stated, this is part three of The Dear Hunter saga, an ongoing story to be told through six separate concept albums. Following 2006’s Act I: The Lake South, the River North and 2007’s Act II: The Meaning of, and All Things Regarding Ms. Leading, Act III: Life and Death is merely the halfway point in what is, to my knowledge, the longest running concept album ever. Act III continues to follow the doings of our protagonist through this epic, a character aptly named, The Dear Hunter. I’d love to give away the details of this story, but alas, you’ll just have to listen and decipher for yourself.
Opening with oh-so-elegant
vocal harmonies, “Writing On a Wall” is a testament to how seriously
epic everything The Dear Hunter does is. The group vocals soon
give way and roll right into the following track, “In Cauda Venemum,”
which to my sincerest delight, sounded as though it could have come
right off Act II. Casey Crescenzo’s vocals are
just huge in this album; where formerly the band’s guitar playing
had shaped the soundscape, it is now all under the control of Crescenzo’s
powerful, but contortable voice. “In Cauda Venemum”
is no exception from this rule, although with several Mars Volta-esque
guitar passages and magnificent horns throughout the track, they do
at least challenge his commanding rule over things.
“Tank” is the dark masterpiece of the album. Effortlessly flowing from peaceful melodies to harsh domineering passages, Crescenzo’s vocals are essential to the crafting of nearly every song on this album. “The Poison Woman” possesses very Queen like qualities to it, ranging from the background vocals to the general song construction, it’s evident that Queen, and Freddy Mercury in particular provided a great deal of inspiration for this album.
What could very well be the
climax of the album, “Mustard Gas” has a colossal sound to it.
The operatic and theatrical qualities of this track help remind the
listener that this is, in fact, all one large story. “Mustard
Gas” is followed by “Saved” which is one of the low points of
the album. When stacked up against so many powerful, moving pieces,
its simplicity and gentleness seem out of place on this record.
While this track would stand up well on its own, or perhaps even at
a different point in the album, I just wasn’t ready for it yet.
To most fans contentment, the Dear Hunter has included what is essentially the “Red Hands” of Act III. “He Said He Had a Story” tells the story of our protagonist and a reluctant lady of the night. Complete with a captivated audience always asking what comes next, The Dear Hunter proceeds to tell all the dirty details. “I broke a smile reminding that I paid her well/ Her lips returned/ and then I felt her hands unbuckling my belt/ ‘So was it good?’/ Oh, it felt like heaven/ but I'm sure she was in hell/ I made it clear I'd get my money's worth/ out of the good she sells.” He then goes on to question whom this woman was.
My main gripe with this album
was that, while wonderfully written, the songs are all intricate
pieces of the story, but can’t stand so well on their own. My
favorite comparison to this is The Mars Volta’s album Frances The
Mute. While Frances The Mute was an amazing album, their
best in my opinion, the album really works best when listened
to as a whole. In most cases listening to a single track off Frances
is less fulfilling than listening to the album in its entirety, which
is exactly the case here; Act III is a good album, I’d still say it
falls a little short of Act II, but nevertheless, a good album,
the problem with it is that it almost fits together too well.
Each song possesses specific strengths, but they’re just so much better
when listened to in context with the rest of the album.
High Point
“He Said He Had a Story” is very straightforward in its story telling, which I can appreciate. Often times Crescenzo’s story telling is vague and dreamy, which, while making for very epic stories, is often hard to follow. That isn’t the case here however. He finds a girl, pays her, and then gets the business. End.
Low Point
Most fans won’t appreciate this album as much as Act II. It lacks the catchiness of its predecessors. It also loses much of the edginess due to the lack of guitars on the record. The guitars are still there, but they no longer have the staring role.
Posted by Andrew Scott on Aug 20, 2009 @ 6:00 am
