I've always thought the From the Basement performance of King of Limbs dwarfs the actual studio album. It's just off the charts fantastic.

C&K was the first album where I actually got aggravated by a song of theirs. "St. Peter's Cathedral" and "Some Boys" were just egregious to my ears, based on what I thought they'd established prior. I just absolutely hated those songs, and that was new for me.

Haha, I feel like you pretty roundly dismiss the album and then say it's on your best-of list. I don't feel like that works, does it? Are they getting a pass?

Sorry for how long this is going to be. The obvious core of the issue here is that the heart of Death Cab changed as they evolved in their production and stardom. Airplanes, Facts, Photo Album, Transatlanticism, Plans and even Narrow Stairs to some extent all unleashed a wild, sprawling atmosphere of not-so-crisp…