[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/polyphonic-spree_1751.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:320:Together they're heavy.]]
Formed in 2000 by Tripping Daisy frontman Tim [=DeLaughter=], The Polyphonic Spree is an orchestral rock band with many members, including those formerly in Tripping Daisy. All the band members are decked out in matching uniforms -- mostly flowing robes in an AmazingTechnicolorWorld of colors -- and the music can be described as breathtakingly uplifting, even when the subjects can be [[LyricalDissonance a bit sullen every once in a while]].

!! Albums:
* ''The Beginning Stages Of The Polyphonic Spree'' - 2002
* ''Together We're Heavy'' - 2004
* ''Thumbsucker'' - 2005 (film soundtrack)
* ''The Fragile Army'' - 2007
* ''Holidaydream: Sounds of the Holidays, Volume 1'' - 2012
* ''Yes, It's True'' - 2013
* ''Psychophonic'' - 2014
* ''Afflatus'' - 2021
* ''Salvage Enterprise'' - scheduled for 2023

!! Tropes associated with the Polyphonic Spree:
* CallBack: The end of "When The Fool Becomes A King" is a reprise of "It's The Sun".
* TheCameo: The entire band showed up in an episode of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', after one of their members got hospitalized.
* CarefulWithThatAxe: A couple seconds of screaming choir members shows up in the middle of "The Fragile Army".
* ChristmasEpisode: ''Holidaydream: Sounds Of The Holidays, Volume 1'', released in 2012.
* CoverVersion: The Spree will perform covers of almost any song imaginable at their live shows, even going so far as to do their version of Music/{{Nirvana}}'s "Lithium".
** "Hold Me Now" is ''not'' a cover of the Thompson Twins hit, however.
** In 2012 they did a live performance of ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', and released it as an album.
** ''Afflatus'' is an all-covers album featuring songs from artists such as INXS, ABBA, Rush, Daniel Johnston and Wings.
* EpicRocking: "When The Fool Becomes A King" is 10 1/2 minutes long. "A Long Day" goes on for ''36'' minutes, but it doesn't do much rocking, just a bunch of instrumental ambient sounds.
* IdiosyncraticAlbumTheming: The Spree's albums consist of "sections", and are listed as such on the track listings. For example, "Two Thousand Places" is listed as "Section 14 (Two Thousand Places)". And the numbering is continued from album to album (their fourth album, ''Yes It's True'', contains Sections 33-43). Apparently, an original song has to be on a proper album in order to get a section number: "I'm Calling" from the ''Wait'' EP [[note]] Which otherwise consisted of "Mental Cabaret", which would become "Section 27 (Mental Cabaret)" on ''The Fragile Army'', and three cover songs[[/note]] didn't get one, nor did any of the music they composed for the film ''Thumbsucker''.
* LeaveTheCameraRunning: "Section 10 (A Long Day)", the final track of ''The Beginning Stages Of...'' is a 36 minute ambient piece consisting of a sustained chord on an indeterminate instrument being looped - it sounds not unlike a skipping CD, but occasionally the chord changes.
* NewSoundAlbum: ''The Fragile Army'' had the group tackle DarkerAndEdgier material, plus the sound got more rock-ish and the band members donned bleaker-looking black uniforms.
* PachelbelsCanonProgression: "Light & Day."
* RainbowMotif: With the exception of ''Fragile Army''-era black uniforms, the wardrobe of the Spree consists of flowing robes in every color of the rainbow.
* RevolvingDoorBand: Pretty much unavoidable when you have an orchestral setup with a dozen or so members.
* SpiritualSuccessor: The Spree may be seen as picking up where Music/ElectricLightOrchestra left off.
* SugarBowl: ''The Beginning Stages'' could very well be the soundtrack to this trope.
* TakeThat: "The Fragile Army" (the TitleTrack from their 2007 album) lampoons UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush.
* {{Theremin}}: Toby Hallbrooks played this instrument while part of the Spree in the mid-2000s, and was featured prominently on a few tracks in ''Together We're Heavy''.
* JustForFun/XMeetsY: Music/MarilynManson once introduced the band at the 2004 Creator/{{MTV}} Video Music Awards by saying: "If Mandy Moore and I had a love child, this is what they'd look like." He also called them "the white [[Music/{{Eminem}} D12.]]"
* YetAnotherChristmasCarol: In 2005, the Spree put on a holiday show called "The Polyphonic Spree Christmas Carol", with Tim playing Ebenezer Scrooge in an act of SelfDeprecation.
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