Aside from Meloy's singing, the pleasant and unassuming Five Songs EP (which actually includes six songs) could be mistaken for a straightforward folk-rock record. 

 Aside from Meloy's singing, the pleasant and unassuming Five Songs EP (which actually includes six songs) could be mistaken for a straightforward folk-rock record. 

  Castaways and Cut-Outs doesn't hide its intellectualism. Within the first four songs, Meloy croons in the character of a 19th-century infant ghost and deploys the words "balustrade," "indolent" and "camisole." 

  Castaways and Cut-Outs doesn't hide its intellectualism. Within the first four songs, Meloy croons in the character of a 19th-century infant ghost and deploys the words "balustrade," "indolent" and "camisole." 

 Her Majesty the Decemberists continues Meloy's amble along the high aesthetic line–there are tributes to artist Marcel Duchamp and novelist Myla Goldberg, with a few sallies out to the sea and the battlefield. 

 Her Majesty the Decemberists continues Meloy's amble along the high aesthetic line–there are tributes to artist Marcel Duchamp and novelist Myla Goldberg, with a few sallies out to the sea and the battlefield. 

 The EP The Tain was the first real sign of the band's prog-rock tendencies. An 18-minute suite inspired by Irish mythology, it would fit right in on the better Jethro Tull albums. 

 The EP The Tain was the first real sign of the band's prog-rock tendencies. An 18-minute suite inspired by Irish mythology, it would fit right in on the better Jethro Tull albums. 

 Extensive touring sharpened up the band, and Picaresque is a bolder, more confident record than they'd made before. "The Infanta" rocks as much as it rollicks and "The Sporting Life" lifts its beat from "You Can't Hurry Love." 

 Extensive touring sharpened up the band, and Picaresque is a bolder, more confident record than they'd made before. "The Infanta" rocks as much as it rollicks and "The Sporting Life" lifts its beat from "You Can't Hurry Love." 

 The Crane Wife, the first major-label Decemberists album, tones down the goofiness in favor of a pacifist solemnity that doesn't quite suit the band, although its posh, tailored production is awfully flattering. 

 The Crane Wife, the first major-label Decemberists album, tones down the goofiness in favor of a pacifist solemnity that doesn't quite suit the band, although its posh, tailored production is awfully flattering. 

 Preceded by three lively non-album singles, The Hazards of Love is a full-on, unapologetic rock opera, complete with extra vocalists (My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden and Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark) singing some of its roles. 

 Preceded by three lively non-album singles, The Hazards of Love is a full-on, unapologetic rock opera, complete with extra vocalists (My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden and Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark) singing some of its roles.