{"product_id":"the-tain-ep","title":"The Tain EP","description":"Product Description\n\nIn the last 2 years, The Decemberists have burst onto the scene with \"Castaways and Cutouts\", wowed critics and gained legions of fans with \"Her Majesty\", and then continued the trend with \"Picaresque\". Along with these recorded feats they have been praised for their captivating live shows and never ending lengthy tours. Following the release of their latest album, Picaresque, The Decemberists are everywhere. Really everywhere, in the pages of Rolling Stone and Wired, on NPR, in Nordstrom, on your TV and radio, etc. In the wake of all this Kill Rock Stars is re-releasing their highly acclaimed EP \"The Tain\". This concept EP was previously released last year on Acuarela. The Tain's cornerstone is a cycle of Celtic mythology under the same name and is basically a one epic song divided into five parts. A bit of a rock opera, the Tain has been a live favorite among their fans. \"The Decemberists have made two albums of literate, crackling songs, but The Tain is the best entry into their high-rock theater. The Portland, Oregon, band vividly conjures the clang of battle and the stench of ruined flesh in this mini-epic of marching guitars, bowed upright bass and artful contradiction.\" - David Fricke, Rolling Stone 5\/04\n\nReview\n\n''I never was a metal head,'' remarked Colin Meloy in an Earlash interview last July. ''It's something in my later years I've come to regret a little bit just because everybody has their stories of when they were a metal head. And it wasn't until recently that I started listening to Black Sabbath and started appreciating it.''\n\nTwo albums and a six-song Five Songs EP into their career, The Decemberists' are beginning to seriously define their sound; a sudden plunge into, say, heavy metal, seems unlikely. Yet the first movement of The Tain EP, the band's new 18-minute composition based loosely on the 8th-century Celtic Ulster cycle's central poem ''Tain Bo Cuailinge'', finds Meloy and the others most immediately concerned with-- am I about to say this?-- serious Ur-metal riffage. Granted, Decemberist metal is not going to weigh down the Dominique Leones of the world, but make no mistake: Never has this band sung a flag so black, a maiden so iron…\n\nWith each release, The Decemberists grow more sophisticated in their songcraft and subtler in their wit. The result, naturally, is that their releases are increasingly more demanding on the listener. Meeting a record on its own terms, though, is to a large extent a forgotten responsibility. Especially given its disorienting opener, The Tain EP is dense musically and lyrically, a bona fide grower, but certainly worth the effort to unravel it. --Pitchfork\n\nAfter releasing two solid albums of British folk-inspired library-pop, it's only fitting that the Oregon-based collective the Decemberists would construct a nearly 20-minute EP based on an epic tale concerning a violent cattle raid in pre-Christian Ireland. If anything, Tain is the indie rock generation's ''Court of the Crimson King,'' a narrative that's as isolating as it is compelling, especially when filtered through the surprisingly Black Sabbath-inspired song cycle. Composed of five movements, parts one and two roll in like an outtake from Deep Purple's Machine Head, part three brings together some of the more melodious and mournful moments of Pink Floyd's The Wall, part four introduces some delectable balladry from drummer Rachel Blumberg and part five brings back the Hammond B3 for a true progressive rock encore, all bookended by the musings of a character known simply as ''The Crone.'' While not as Dio as it sounds, there is a certain lust for tall tales and gentry high-speak needed to become fully immersed. For all of its bombast and esoteric subject matter, Tain is raw, engaging, and bristling with an electricity that's been missing from this enigmatic collective of bibliophiles' previous releases. --All Music Guide\n\nLove 'em or hate 'em, one has to admit that the Decemberists are one of the more interesting bands to come around in some time. Always idosyncratic, with their feet firmly planted in times of past where Great War commrades cuddle in trenches and dying gypsies reveal the placement of their hidden loot, the Decemberists have carved out their niche as archaic storytellers. Their latest work is their most esoteric yet, a 19 minute, five section suite revolving around an Irish legend about an Illiad-esque war fought over a sacred bull instead of a faire-skinned maiden.\n\nNot only is The Tain a slight lyrical change from Meloy's ages-of-past character studies (which were still comprehensible to those who failed World History) but it's even more of a musical departure for the band. Taking the brooding nature of the Celtic fable as inspiration, Meloy has added flourishes of heavy-metal flair to their twee-with-organ sound. Two minutes in when the Meloy sings ''Damn your ankles and eyes wide,'' accompanied by the band's guitar at its must chugging yet, those who tho\u003cbr\u003eASIN: B0009VNCXW\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: DBV.B0009VNCXW.G\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:DECEMBERISTS\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Audio CD\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: Individually inspected: Guaranteed to play perfectly or your money back. Case may show wear and may be in library packaging. Ships Fast!  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Dream Books Co.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41359301935162,"sku":"DBV.B0009VNCXW.G","price":6.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/6011\/0138\/files\/B0009VNCXW-0.jpg?v=1775755575","url":"https:\/\/shop.dreambooksco.com\/products\/the-tain-ep","provider":"Dream Books Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}