What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World

Updated on Dec 25, 2023

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Length 52:57 Release date 20 January 2015 Genres Indie rock, Indie folk		Artist The Decemberists Producer Tucker Martine

Released January 20, 2015 (2015-01-20) Label Capitol (US), Rough Trade (Europe) Nominations Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package Similar The Decemberists albums, Indie rock albums

The decemberists philomena

What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World is the seventh studio album from The Decemberists, released on January 20, 2015. The album's title comes from a line in the song "12/17/12", a reference to the date of Barack Obama's speech in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and lead singer Colin Meloy's conflicting feelings about the shooting and his happy personal life.

Critical

What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World received mostly positive reviews. It currently has a metascore of 77 and user score of 8.1 from Metacritic. The Boston Globe described the album as one of the band's "most enjoyable and lively efforts in recent memory", The New York Times noted that What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World "strikes a note of pop concision and maturity, building on what worked on ‘The King Is Dead.’ Lyrically, there are fewer thistles and minarets and palanquins—and, musically, less digressive excess—than once made up the Decemberists’ trademark style." Jeremy Larson of Pitchfork Media was a detractor, bemoaning the album as "overlong and under-ambitious", though appreciating that listeners "start to see Meloy himself more than ever". Larson also wrote highly of "Make You Better", stating "The band has never lacked the musical bona fides to write a great anthem."

Commercial

The album debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 albums chart on its release, selling around 50,000 copies in the United States in its first week. It also debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's Top Rock Albums, and No. 1 on the Folk Albums chart. The album has sold 123,000 copies in the United States as of October 2015.

Track listing

All songs written by Colin Meloy.

Personnel

According to the liner notes of What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World.

The Decemberists

Colin Meloy – lead vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, bouzouki, harmonica, backing vocals

Chris Funk – acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, bouzouki, mandolin

Jenny Conlee – piano, Hammond organ, vibraphone, accordion, keyboards

Nate Query – bass, upright bass

John Moen – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional musicians

Backup singers

Rachel Flotard (tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14)

Kelly Hogan (tracks 2, 3, 9, 10, 12)

Laura Veirs (track 5)

Ragen Fykes (tracks 6, 8)

Moorea Masa (tracks 6, 8)

"The Singer Addresses His Audience" Choir: Kyleen King, Laura Veirs, Allison Hall, Bridgit Jacobson, Carson Ellis, Michael Finn, Jeremy Swatzky, Shelley Short, Steven Watkins, Ritchie Young, Moorea Masa

the "Anti-Summersong" Narrator Support Gang: Chris Funk, Nate Query, John Moen, Jason Colton, Tucker Martine

Strings and brass

Rob Moose – violin, fiddle

Kyleen King – viola

Patti King – violin

Anna Fritz – cello

Victor Nash – trumpet

Production

Produced by Tucker Martine with The Decemberists

String arrangements by Rob Moose

Recorded and mixed by Tucker Martine

Mastered by Stephen Marcussen

Assistant engineering by Michael Finn

Design by Jeri Heiden and Glen Nakasako for SMOG Design, Inc.

Illustrations and lettering by Carson Ellis

Photography by Autumn de Wilde

Songs

1The Singer Addresses His Audience4:43
2Cavalry Captain3:18
3Philomena3:05

References

What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA