We All Raise Our Voices to the Air (Live Songs 04.11–08.11) is a 2012 live album by the folk rock band The Decemberists. The album was recorded during the 2011 Popes of Pendarvia World Tour to promote the album The King Is Dead at venues across the United States. The album was released as a double Compact Disc and a triple vinyl LP set. The title comes from a line in the track "The Infanta", from the album Picaresque.
The album received a largely positive reception from critics and holds a 77 at Metacritic with 13 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[1]Drowned in Sound's David Edwards has called the album "remarkably feisty live record which manages to capture the carnival of their live show with admirable aplomb" noting that The Decemberists are a "band best appreciated live" who embrace vaudeville-type skits and audience participation.[4] Writing for Consequence of Sound, Jake Cohen agrees that the spontaneous banter and theatrics of the album are a strength, but both reviewers lament a lack of visuals to accompany the recording.[3] In a positive review, PopMatters editor Zachary Houle called the album "a sterling document of a band at the peak of their powers showcasing just how good they really are" also praising the between-track banter. Andy Gill of The Independent calls the album a mix of "intelligence and drive" and gave it four out of five stars, comparing the anthemic content to Arcade Fire and R.E.M.[5]
A mixed review came from Stephen M. Deusner of Pitchfork Media. Granting that the band's "heady concepts, genre nods, and oddball experiments... gel fairly well", he still found the onstage antics of the band "too precocious, too juvenile" and opines that a DVD of their performance would only enhance the silliness of their live performance.[7]Paste's Doug Heselgrave called the album "respectable", noting that the musicians were talented, but the mix was too focused on percussion and the performances don't add much to the previously-released studio versions of these songs.[6] Steven Hyden of The A.V. Club disagreed with the sentiment, calling the songs "different enough" and compares the engaging performances with a heavy metal band.[2]
