Murder by Death Foxglove

Good Morning, Magpie is Murder by Death's latest and most disappointing album. Beginning their career with Like the Exorcist but More Breakdancing, the band used mostly instrumentals headed by the cello, giving them a truly distinct sound. As their career grew, the sound evolved, but Good Morning, Magpie isn't evolution -- it's drastic change.

The tunes are catchy, the creepiness has dwindled, and the cello is nearly gone. Everything the group has developed into over the years seems to have been thrown out the window.

Harsh, maybe, but the old MBD eerily talked about the devil, using their storytelling to create dark images and feelings that grabbed hold of the audience and never let go.

While the album might be critically acclaimed, there is a good chance those critics never felt the true meaning of Murder by Death before. Maybe they never felt the intensity of one of their live shows.

Good Morning, Magpie is not a horrible album. "As Long as There is Whiskey in the World" is a pub-like chant that might just get you tapping your toes and ordering a shot of Jack Daniels. "Foxglove" is their first track released from the album; the love song is guided by cello and feels like a floating melody.

Murder by Death has maintained their name in the music scene as the devilish whiskey drinkers from Bloomington, IN, but this album seems to be a step backwards. Hopefully in their next release, they will bring back the dark, gloomy stories that their diehard fans have loved since the beginning.