Ugh, this is just slightly frustrating – mostly in a good way. Musically, Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown is one hell of folk opera, a truly American take on the Orpheus and Eurydice myth. Somewhat infuriatingly, however, Hadestown asymptotically approaches the self-indulgence of The Wall. But that’s also what makes the record so damn effective. Mitchell takes every single idea she can and weaves it together into this sonic collage of gospel, ragtime, blues and a capella. Mitchell is an expert at playing god, pairing plot points with song styles and creating perfect marriages between them.
But there is a glaring problem: Mitchell broke one of the most important rules of storytelling: show, don’t tell. You see, naming a song ‘Doubt Comes In’ and then having the title be the main lyric misses the point. Doubt as a concept is most effective when its very existence is in question – that is, in doubt. That’s the whole key to doubt, both as a perception and as a plot device. So, stating that “doubt comes in” actually removes any question of its being and, therefore, removes its effectiveness. And that’s the one overarching issue of the record encompassed in a single song.
It’s a shame, too, because Mitchell is an excellent songwriter. Her takes on folk-pop and baroque-pop is, as they say in the U.K., ace. “Wedding Song” struts along her sassy delivery, “When the Chips Are Down” and “Our Lady of the Underground” are future showstoppers on Broadway, and “Way Down Hadestown” is superb dirty brass. The album is just so much fun to spin and the 20-song, 57-minute runtime isn’t as dense as it sounds. Track runtimes range from sub-one minute to five so it digests much like a film would – not every scene is the same length so, of course, songs telling a story shouldn’t be, either. The album contains a marvelous cast, as well. The ensemble includes Ani DiFranco (“Our Lady”), Greg Brown (“How Long”), and Justin Vernon (both part one and two of “Epic”). There are others, but I won’t spoil them all.
I tend to enjoy films whose directors are also writers; my favorite directors are Kubrick, Tarantino, Peckinpaw and Lynch. I find that the writer/director has a better grasp of the singular artistic vision when it comes to making a piece of art – they shoot and control the very words, the very ideas they created. Therefore, those types of films hold up better as creative statements. The same can be said of Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown. She’s more than a songwriter here: she’s an aural director, calling every shot and challenging every “actor” to go give their all both individually and as a collective. It’s the main reason that the album works as well as it does, despite its penchant for pomposity. If you enjoy Hadestown only half as much as Anaïs Mitchell obviously enjoyed making it, she’s done her job. So do yours: buy the damn thing already.
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It’s a great album. It’s interesting that you mention The Wall, given that Hadestown’s lyrics refers to walls in at least three songs that I’ve noticed… whereas Floyd’s album bores me to tears and I’ve always said it was all “concept” and no “album”, this is completely different; it’s almost as musically interesting as it is lyrically interesting, I think. But not quite.
I’ve been enduring the soul-destroying Glee soundtrack recently, as others are playing it around and about. The likes of Hadestown remind me that it’s not all insufferable cheese coming out of the States – far from it.
I can't disagree more with your opinion on the lyrics. Your quarrel with Doubt Comes In makes no logical sense.
There are (or should be) no rules for storytelling set in stone and certainly there is none that prohibits writers from using an explicit narrative.
It makes more sense too, as this album has its roots in a Greek play. You have the muses, commenting and explaining on what happens. Furthermore, whever a Greek would go to a play, he'd already know the story inside out.
@ “whereas Floyd's album bores me to tears and I've always said it was all “concept” and no “album”,”
– i came to Floyd and The Wall very late in my listening 'career': i think you're missing out. It's musically adventurous, really dynamic and yes, pretty overblown, but that's the way it goes with so many groundbreaking things, from Shelley to Ulysses. The 'concept' vs. 'album' distinction is a bit flip- doesn't stand up. anyway, how do you rate Dark Side in comparison?
I'm in love with this album right now, all of the parts work so well.
“Wedding Song” is a personal favourite and has certainly left me hungry for new Bon Iver/ Justin Vernon material.
Did anyone catch her recent London dates, I'd be interested if she performed the album in its entirety, wished I'd gone.
I agree with Marty. You're way off base with your “Doubt Comes In” criticism. This album was always originally developed as a theatre piece. It is an epic– which opens it up to Greek/Shakespearean comparisons. In both of these genres, characters come out and tell you EXACTLY how they're feeling. It's style (the wall and other socio-political references) also makes me think the piece is a bit Brechtian– where the tradition is to SHOW not tell– the audience must then consider their perceptions of what's being blatantly shown… there is definitely more than one way to tell a story, Steve.