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Track Listings
| 1. Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed) |
| 2. Four Winds |
| 3. If The Brakeman Turns My Way |
| 4. Hot Knives |
| 5. Make A Plan To Love Me |
| 6. Soul Singer In A Session Band |
| 7. Classic Cars |
| 8. Middleman |
| 9. Cleanse Song |
| 10. No One Would Riot For Less |
| 11. Coat Check Dream Song |
| 12. I Must Belong Somewhere |
| 13. Lime Tree |
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
On their sixth and most straightforwardly clean album, Nebraska's Bright Eyes once again integrate a revolving cast of players to the mix, including Portland tunesmith M. Ward and alt-country queen Gillian Welch. But the band remains at the helm of forever-wunderkind Conor Oberst, and the fruitful songwriter has one-upped 2005's I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning with a proficient and accessible ensemble of expansive pop orchestrations and ornate folk songs that chronicle his traverses across the American panorama. Oberst's voice quakes and wanders through South Dakota lore and Sunshine State chicanery, always the perfect vehicle for his threadbare lyrics. "Take the fruit from the tree/Break the skin with your teeth/Is it bitter or sweet/All depends on your timing," he forewarns in "Cleanse Song," a psychedelic merry-go-round of a soundtrack that joins the Scottish-tinged "Soul Singer in a Session Band" and singalong single "Four Winds" as Cassadaga's finest. The 13-song-record is certain to open more doors for a band whose recognition has soared with every release since Oberst was just 14. --Scott Holter
Product Description
Once tagged "rock's boy genius" by the music press, Conor Oberst turns 27 on February 15th and even without that in mind it's hard to listen to Cassadaga without hearing a newfound sophistication to the Bright Eyes sound. Producer, multi-instrumentalist and permanent band member Mike Mogis has crafted a swirling, euphonious record, at times bursting with bombastic confidence and country swagger, and at others loose-limbed and mesmeric. Trumpet and piano player Nate Walcott, a Bright Eyes player since 2003 and now the third permanent member, is responsible for the cinematic string arrangements. Other than a handful of live appearances and the release of a collection of B-sides & rarities, Bright Eyes kept mostly out of sight in 2006 after the busy 2005 which saw the simultaneous release of the sister albums Digital Ash In A Digital Urn and I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. Should you have looked for them you'd have found them tucked away in various studios around the country. Recording for the first time outside of the Lincoln, NE studio belonging to Mogis, the Bright Eyes cast of players were busy in studios in Portland, OR, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. The result is the band's most confident work so far, an album so full of soaring strings and female harmonies that it feels almost buoyant in comparison to previous releases. While many latched onto the smattering of political commentary in 2005's I'm Wide Awake..., Cassadaga is less blunt in its depiction of youthful exasperation in the Bush era. References to Hurricane Katrina, holy wars and polar ice-caps may crop up, but they're buried deep amongst the ruminations on life, love, history, death and the afterlife. If I'm Wide Awake... was "the New York City album", then Cassadaga is "the America album", in which Oberst diaries his travels around the country and articulates his sense of history in the landscape. In first single "Four Winds" he is "off to old Dakota where genocide sleeps/in the Black Hills, the Badlands, the calloused East/I buried my ballast, I made my peace." Cassadaga itself crops up in the same song. The town, a community for psychics in central Florida, is visited in order to "commune with the dead". This wandering spirit is crystalized in "I Must Belong Somewhere" a song which was already a staple of live shows by the end of the 2005. "Hot Knives" is particularly spirited, bringing to mind the true energy of a Bright Eyes show. Likewise, "Soul Singer In A Session Band" - a rousing paean to an oxymoronic profession - enlists all of the elements which make the Bright Eyes live band such a euphoric experience. "Make A Plan To Plan To Love Me" is Bright Eyes at their most playful; a straight-up love song, replete with girl group vocals and Burt Bacharach strings. Oberst, the fumbling guitarist whose impassioned prose tumbles out under stark stage spotlights, is still recognizable in every track, but the songs are rich with elaborate production, cinema-sized orchestration and, at times, sprawling, almost psychedelic, atmospherics. The line up of Bright Eyes players includes Andy Lemaster (Now It's Overhead), Ben Kweller, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Janet Weiss (ex-Sleater Kinney), Jason Boesel (Rilo Kiley), John McEntire (Tortoise) M.Ward, Maria Taylor and Rachael Yamagata.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
By amerdale876
Format:Audio CD
Although the past month-and-a-half has been full of decent music releases, I still find myself extremely cautious when it comes to purchasing a new CD - especially when it's a musician/band that I've never heard before. Even those that seem popular (Fall Out Boy's Infinity on High), or those you think you would like (Grindhouse: Planet Terror/Death Proof soundtracks) can be very disappointing. So, I often try to discover new music and do a lot of searching for musicians who I haven't heard before. From my latest search, I heard about Nebraska's own Conor Oberst and his band Bright Eyes, and their new release, Cassadaga. Regardless that this album had received mostly good reviews, I remained objectively cautious and did as much researching as possible before I decided to give them a try.
I had read all the comparisons of Oberst to Bob Dylan and comments on how inventive Oberst is with his music and lyrics. So, with that, I decided to lay down the $10 and pop Cassadaga into my CD player. Before even listening, one can't help but notice the alubm cover which there's more to than you think. Inside the sleeve there's a "spectral decoder" (like something you might find in a Cracker Jack box) which is already laid over a part of the sleeve where you can read "These myths are sacred and profane!" Interesting. I took out the decoder and moved it around the entire album cover and inside sleeves, seeing pictures and various odd quotes which I thought was a really cool concept and wondered why no other artist's had done this before.
The first track, "Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed)" starts off with a weird voiceover/recording of a woman prattling on about traveling to Cassadaga, Florida, played over music one might hear in a horror movie. Two minutes and twenty seconds into the song, Oberst bursts in with his lyrics, sounding more like a Leonard Cohen song than one of Dylan's ilk. Right away I can spot Oberst's talent with songwriting, however, "Clairaudients" so far is my least favorite track on the album, which is tricky to start off an album with such a mediocre beginning. I like Leonard Cohen and Oberst's vocals, but the woman's recording is simply too much of a distraction from the actual music. After an outro of more of the weird woman's recording, the second song "Four Winds" begins with a heavy violin, mandolin and guitars. Most people who review this song say it has a heavy country influence to it. I disagree. This song is all Irish folk/pop (think The Pogues) with the singer making references to religion and a lyric ("The Bible is blind. The Torah is deaf. The Qur'an is mute/If you burned them all together, you'd get close to the truth") that makes the listener know that Oberst means business when it comes to songwriting and getting his point across.
Next, my favorite track, "If the Brakeman Turns My Way," is when we start to hear the heavy Dylan-like music. But this isn't your 60's folk-y Dylan. This is Dylan in the '80s - but with lyrics that are just as morally significant and poetic. I especially like the lyrics "Got a cricket for a conscience always looks the other way" and "I never thought of running/My feet just led the way." It's a song that talks in a roundabout way about faith (I wonder if the "Brakeman" is Oberst's other name for God) and finding a way to be comfortable with yourself and life. And Bright Eyes sets the tone for the album with this one. Track four is "Hot Knives," which is slightly harder in music and in lyrics, but still has that sound of Irish folk bordering on rebel music, but with strings too. The singer starts off singing from the point-of-view of a wife confronting her husband's mistress and then goes on a spiritual journey to start anew.
"Make a Plan to Love Me" has been described as a song with orchestra that sounds as if it could be played at some 1950s high school dance and that is a great way to put it. With female backup singers (among them the beautiful, talented Rachael Yamagata, who not only has put out a few of her own albums, but has also sang backup for the likes of Ryan Adams, Jason Mraz, Rhett Miller and Ray LaMontagne) that sound like 50's groups The Teddy Bears ("To Know Him is to Love Him") and The Paris Sisters ("I Love How You Love Me"), Bright Eyes sings of a desperate man who pleads with and asks the woman he loves to at least try and love him. While this song may come off creepy to some, the lyrics reveal that this man has a reason to be taking the approach he does as the object of his affection "first want(s) to ride off into the Sun/Then you want to shoot straight to the Moon." Again, this song is different from its predecessors and it's nice to hear an album made up of extreme eclecticism. The next song, "Soul Singer in a Session Band," brings back the heavy Dylan-like sound, but this time sounding like mid- to late-70's Dylan (when he was with The Band) with some undertones of honky-tonk piano thrown in. The title explains the absurdity of such a talented singer singing backup in a minor band and that's how the Oberst feels as he belts out lyrics like "I was a hopeless romantic, now I'm just turning tricks." He feels lost and this is his poetic response to his station in life.
"Classic Cars" is probably my second favorite on the album and features Gillian Welch on backup vocals, sounding 90% folk/pop and 10% country. "Cars" speaks of a woman who the singer once had a fling with but the relationship ended. As the song comes to a close, the singer gives us a glimpse into the downfall of the relationship as he advises to "never trust a heart that is so bent it can't break." This is a track that has to be heard to be appreciated and my only complaint is that the song isn't long enough. The eighth song is "Middleman," with a sound mix of Tim Buckley and Ryan Adams, and featuring woodwinds with a single violin throughout that comes off sounding like bluegrass folk but not your stereotypical bluegrass.
The woodwinds continue (and feature much more prominently) on "Cleanse Song" with Oberst working his acoustic guitar to poetic lyrics dealing with life and how all of its sorrows will pass. It's a jumpy song and the shortest on the album at about three-and-a-half minutes. "No One Would Riot for Less" is a silent, slow song of apocalyptic proportions with lyrics like "So love me now/Hell is coming/Kiss my mouth/Hell is here." It's got a dark feel to it and isn't as noticeable a song as the rest on the album, even though at a little over five minutes, you can tell Oberst wants it to be noticed. This continues on to "Coat Check Dream Song" with slide guitar and ending with weird Hindu chanting. I give Oberst bonus points for working in The Hague into a song as well as very well-done poetic descriptions, but it still makes this song easy to forget.
Luckily, Bright Eyes romps us back into motion with "I Must Belong Somewhere." With heavy organ and mandolin, "Somewhere" is a knee-jumping limerick ode to Oberst finally beginning to realize where he belongs. It changes from the dark tones of "No One" to a hopeful, new beginning, and, by this point, I'm only happy to smile along with Oberst as he chooses to stay in the place he's grown to love. The last track, "Lime Tree," returns the tempo to slow (although, not dark) but continues the message of Oberst finally taking that first step toward his happiness in a place he chooses to be. Of course, he references with deeply profound metaphor, singing, "Everything gets smaller now the further that I go/Towards the mouth and the reunion of the Known and the Unknown/Consider yourself lucky if you think of it as home/You can move mountains with your misery if you don't." He even ends the song abruptly with a lyric one might imagine Henry David Thoreau singing: "I took off my shoes and walked into the woods/I felt lost and found with every step I took."
Cassadaga certainly is a road trip of the soul for Oberst. Luckily, he takes unabashedly brings us along for the ride. And like any road trips when you were young (and not so aware of the world), it takes a while for the true meaning of the experience to sink in. That's how I feel about Bright Eyes' Cassadaga. The only thing you should be sure about before purchasing this album is that it's not a rock album, it's not your David Gray-sounding album, and it's definitely not a pop album. It's a genre that's so hard to put into words because it mixes a bit of every instrument and voice. Oberst can sound like Cohen first, then transition into a bit of John Lennon or Dougie MacLean before going into Dylan. Oberst proves that he's a true musician and dips his feet in all kinds of genres. I like it, though. It's nice and refreshing and something I definitely want to pop in my CD player while on my long commutes to work.
I had read all the comparisons of Oberst to Bob Dylan and comments on how inventive Oberst is with his music and lyrics. So, with that, I decided to lay down the $10 and pop Cassadaga into my CD player. Before even listening, one can't help but notice the alubm cover which there's more to than you think. Inside the sleeve there's a "spectral decoder" (like something you might find in a Cracker Jack box) which is already laid over a part of the sleeve where you can read "These myths are sacred and profane!" Interesting. I took out the decoder and moved it around the entire album cover and inside sleeves, seeing pictures and various odd quotes which I thought was a really cool concept and wondered why no other artist's had done this before.
The first track, "Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed)" starts off with a weird voiceover/recording of a woman prattling on about traveling to Cassadaga, Florida, played over music one might hear in a horror movie. Two minutes and twenty seconds into the song, Oberst bursts in with his lyrics, sounding more like a Leonard Cohen song than one of Dylan's ilk. Right away I can spot Oberst's talent with songwriting, however, "Clairaudients" so far is my least favorite track on the album, which is tricky to start off an album with such a mediocre beginning. I like Leonard Cohen and Oberst's vocals, but the woman's recording is simply too much of a distraction from the actual music. After an outro of more of the weird woman's recording, the second song "Four Winds" begins with a heavy violin, mandolin and guitars. Most people who review this song say it has a heavy country influence to it. I disagree. This song is all Irish folk/pop (think The Pogues) with the singer making references to religion and a lyric ("The Bible is blind. The Torah is deaf. The Qur'an is mute/If you burned them all together, you'd get close to the truth") that makes the listener know that Oberst means business when it comes to songwriting and getting his point across.
Next, my favorite track, "If the Brakeman Turns My Way," is when we start to hear the heavy Dylan-like music. But this isn't your 60's folk-y Dylan. This is Dylan in the '80s - but with lyrics that are just as morally significant and poetic. I especially like the lyrics "Got a cricket for a conscience always looks the other way" and "I never thought of running/My feet just led the way." It's a song that talks in a roundabout way about faith (I wonder if the "Brakeman" is Oberst's other name for God) and finding a way to be comfortable with yourself and life. And Bright Eyes sets the tone for the album with this one. Track four is "Hot Knives," which is slightly harder in music and in lyrics, but still has that sound of Irish folk bordering on rebel music, but with strings too. The singer starts off singing from the point-of-view of a wife confronting her husband's mistress and then goes on a spiritual journey to start anew.
"Make a Plan to Love Me" has been described as a song with orchestra that sounds as if it could be played at some 1950s high school dance and that is a great way to put it. With female backup singers (among them the beautiful, talented Rachael Yamagata, who not only has put out a few of her own albums, but has also sang backup for the likes of Ryan Adams, Jason Mraz, Rhett Miller and Ray LaMontagne) that sound like 50's groups The Teddy Bears ("To Know Him is to Love Him") and The Paris Sisters ("I Love How You Love Me"), Bright Eyes sings of a desperate man who pleads with and asks the woman he loves to at least try and love him. While this song may come off creepy to some, the lyrics reveal that this man has a reason to be taking the approach he does as the object of his affection "first want(s) to ride off into the Sun/Then you want to shoot straight to the Moon." Again, this song is different from its predecessors and it's nice to hear an album made up of extreme eclecticism. The next song, "Soul Singer in a Session Band," brings back the heavy Dylan-like sound, but this time sounding like mid- to late-70's Dylan (when he was with The Band) with some undertones of honky-tonk piano thrown in. The title explains the absurdity of such a talented singer singing backup in a minor band and that's how the Oberst feels as he belts out lyrics like "I was a hopeless romantic, now I'm just turning tricks." He feels lost and this is his poetic response to his station in life.
"Classic Cars" is probably my second favorite on the album and features Gillian Welch on backup vocals, sounding 90% folk/pop and 10% country. "Cars" speaks of a woman who the singer once had a fling with but the relationship ended. As the song comes to a close, the singer gives us a glimpse into the downfall of the relationship as he advises to "never trust a heart that is so bent it can't break." This is a track that has to be heard to be appreciated and my only complaint is that the song isn't long enough. The eighth song is "Middleman," with a sound mix of Tim Buckley and Ryan Adams, and featuring woodwinds with a single violin throughout that comes off sounding like bluegrass folk but not your stereotypical bluegrass.
The woodwinds continue (and feature much more prominently) on "Cleanse Song" with Oberst working his acoustic guitar to poetic lyrics dealing with life and how all of its sorrows will pass. It's a jumpy song and the shortest on the album at about three-and-a-half minutes. "No One Would Riot for Less" is a silent, slow song of apocalyptic proportions with lyrics like "So love me now/Hell is coming/Kiss my mouth/Hell is here." It's got a dark feel to it and isn't as noticeable a song as the rest on the album, even though at a little over five minutes, you can tell Oberst wants it to be noticed. This continues on to "Coat Check Dream Song" with slide guitar and ending with weird Hindu chanting. I give Oberst bonus points for working in The Hague into a song as well as very well-done poetic descriptions, but it still makes this song easy to forget.
Luckily, Bright Eyes romps us back into motion with "I Must Belong Somewhere." With heavy organ and mandolin, "Somewhere" is a knee-jumping limerick ode to Oberst finally beginning to realize where he belongs. It changes from the dark tones of "No One" to a hopeful, new beginning, and, by this point, I'm only happy to smile along with Oberst as he chooses to stay in the place he's grown to love. The last track, "Lime Tree," returns the tempo to slow (although, not dark) but continues the message of Oberst finally taking that first step toward his happiness in a place he chooses to be. Of course, he references with deeply profound metaphor, singing, "Everything gets smaller now the further that I go/Towards the mouth and the reunion of the Known and the Unknown/Consider yourself lucky if you think of it as home/You can move mountains with your misery if you don't." He even ends the song abruptly with a lyric one might imagine Henry David Thoreau singing: "I took off my shoes and walked into the woods/I felt lost and found with every step I took."
Cassadaga certainly is a road trip of the soul for Oberst. Luckily, he takes unabashedly brings us along for the ride. And like any road trips when you were young (and not so aware of the world), it takes a while for the true meaning of the experience to sink in. That's how I feel about Bright Eyes' Cassadaga. The only thing you should be sure about before purchasing this album is that it's not a rock album, it's not your David Gray-sounding album, and it's definitely not a pop album. It's a genre that's so hard to put into words because it mixes a bit of every instrument and voice. Oberst can sound like Cohen first, then transition into a bit of John Lennon or Dougie MacLean before going into Dylan. Oberst proves that he's a true musician and dips his feet in all kinds of genres. I like it, though. It's nice and refreshing and something I definitely want to pop in my CD player while on my long commutes to work.
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By DELETED
Format:Audio CD
Alright, so Conor Oberst is 27 years old now. Will I stop calling him a kid then? Probably not. I don't mean to slight him in any way. I mean, the kid's (see) amazing. Did you have your own record label when you were 14? No, I didn't think so.
I've been listening to the "Four Winds" cd single everyday since it came out. Just biding my time until the new Bright Eyes album "CASSADAGA" fell into my hands yesterday. I've been foaming at the mouth for it.
Anyway, my thoughts about "Cassadaga"? Historically there are 3 "types" of Bright Eyes songs.
1)Songs of immediacy that hit you right away with hooks, melodies, lyrics and a charm that's undeniable.
2)Songs of enduring power with gifts that only reveal themselves after the listener has "endured" several listens (these are the best ones).
3)Songs of head-scratching befuddlement that you may never appreciate no matter how many times you try to find something redeeming about it. There's one of these on every Bright Eyes album and it always cracks me up to see everyone reach for the skip button at the same time. It's usually the first song wherein Conor tries to set the mood by irritating the hell out of you.
"Cassadaga" of course has all three types of songs on them. I expect a lot of ink to be expended suggesting that a more mature Conor has emerged here. Rubbish! The kid was writing pretty grown-up stuff when he was 16. Besides men don't mature. At best they just get more adept at hiding the failure of their development.
I guess the most mature thing about "Cassadaga" is that Conor has become masterful in applying his encyclopedic knowledge of roots, country, & blues to his own unique vision. Check out the mandolin & violin on "Four Winds" and tell me that's not beautifully controlled chaos.
Janet Weiss (the hammer in Sleater-Kinney) plays drums on a few tracks here but you wouldn't know it because it sounds exactly how Conor arranged it to sound. There is a kind of pop in Bright Eyes' country that has an almost mystical Zeppelin quality to it (in mythic feeling,not in sound). A cleansing rain to Wilco's foggy foreboding.
It's entirely possible that this may eventually become my favorite Bright Eyes record. The songs are all strong (although "Make A Plan To Love Me" is a category 3 for me). It's obvious from the start that you'll need to spend some time courting this album, but as far as first date kisses go, this one's pretty great.
My girlfriend hates his voice. I don't get that. How does someone who loves Johnny Cash, & Willie Nelson fail to hear the intensity in Oberst. Is that a blasphemous comparison? I don't think so. I hear the same passion and conviction in "If The Brakeman Turns Away" as I do in "Rock Island Line" or "Funny How Time Slips Away". When Conor sings it...I buy it. Especially when his lyrics are so bloody brilliant!
My two favorite lines (so far) are in the same song, "Soul Singer In A Session Band"...
"You mean nothing to no one but that is nobody's fault."
and...
"I had a lengthy discussion about The Power Of Myth...with a post-modern author who didn't exist...in this fictitious world all reality twists...I was a hopeless romantic...now I'm just turning tricks"
Seriously...COME ON!?! When has anybody so deftly (or otherwise) worked Bill Moyers into a rock (or otherwise) lyric? The album is packed with gifted verse and a sonic landscape worthy of them.
"Cassadaga" promises to be an endlessly rewarding experiance. It's a good thing too. I didn't last a week with the new Stooges!
*************************************************************************
10/30/07
P. Gereau,
Thanks for your comment. Since Amazon views me as dangerously opinionated and "hectoring" they are preventing me from posting comments. So I must edit the review and tag a reply at the end.
My reason for giving this four stars is because I found the songs "Claireaudients", "Make a Plan To Love Me", and "Lime Tree" a bit lacking. He could have replaced those with any of the bonus songs fom the Four Winds CD single as far as I'm concerned.
The way I look at it four stars is still excellent. I give five stars when I can find no fault in a work. I love Bright Eyes, but I think they've only released one 5-Star album. That would be "Lifted".
Of course that's just my opinion. Despite what Amazon thinks, I'm entitled to it.
I've been listening to the "Four Winds" cd single everyday since it came out. Just biding my time until the new Bright Eyes album "CASSADAGA" fell into my hands yesterday. I've been foaming at the mouth for it.
Anyway, my thoughts about "Cassadaga"? Historically there are 3 "types" of Bright Eyes songs.
1)Songs of immediacy that hit you right away with hooks, melodies, lyrics and a charm that's undeniable.
2)Songs of enduring power with gifts that only reveal themselves after the listener has "endured" several listens (these are the best ones).
3)Songs of head-scratching befuddlement that you may never appreciate no matter how many times you try to find something redeeming about it. There's one of these on every Bright Eyes album and it always cracks me up to see everyone reach for the skip button at the same time. It's usually the first song wherein Conor tries to set the mood by irritating the hell out of you.
"Cassadaga" of course has all three types of songs on them. I expect a lot of ink to be expended suggesting that a more mature Conor has emerged here. Rubbish! The kid was writing pretty grown-up stuff when he was 16. Besides men don't mature. At best they just get more adept at hiding the failure of their development.
I guess the most mature thing about "Cassadaga" is that Conor has become masterful in applying his encyclopedic knowledge of roots, country, & blues to his own unique vision. Check out the mandolin & violin on "Four Winds" and tell me that's not beautifully controlled chaos.
Janet Weiss (the hammer in Sleater-Kinney) plays drums on a few tracks here but you wouldn't know it because it sounds exactly how Conor arranged it to sound. There is a kind of pop in Bright Eyes' country that has an almost mystical Zeppelin quality to it (in mythic feeling,not in sound). A cleansing rain to Wilco's foggy foreboding.
It's entirely possible that this may eventually become my favorite Bright Eyes record. The songs are all strong (although "Make A Plan To Love Me" is a category 3 for me). It's obvious from the start that you'll need to spend some time courting this album, but as far as first date kisses go, this one's pretty great.
My girlfriend hates his voice. I don't get that. How does someone who loves Johnny Cash, & Willie Nelson fail to hear the intensity in Oberst. Is that a blasphemous comparison? I don't think so. I hear the same passion and conviction in "If The Brakeman Turns Away" as I do in "Rock Island Line" or "Funny How Time Slips Away". When Conor sings it...I buy it. Especially when his lyrics are so bloody brilliant!
My two favorite lines (so far) are in the same song, "Soul Singer In A Session Band"...
"You mean nothing to no one but that is nobody's fault."
and...
"I had a lengthy discussion about The Power Of Myth...with a post-modern author who didn't exist...in this fictitious world all reality twists...I was a hopeless romantic...now I'm just turning tricks"
Seriously...COME ON!?! When has anybody so deftly (or otherwise) worked Bill Moyers into a rock (or otherwise) lyric? The album is packed with gifted verse and a sonic landscape worthy of them.
"Cassadaga" promises to be an endlessly rewarding experiance. It's a good thing too. I didn't last a week with the new Stooges!
*************************************************************************
10/30/07
P. Gereau,
Thanks for your comment. Since Amazon views me as dangerously opinionated and "hectoring" they are preventing me from posting comments. So I must edit the review and tag a reply at the end.
My reason for giving this four stars is because I found the songs "Claireaudients", "Make a Plan To Love Me", and "Lime Tree" a bit lacking. He could have replaced those with any of the bonus songs fom the Four Winds CD single as far as I'm concerned.
The way I look at it four stars is still excellent. I give five stars when I can find no fault in a work. I love Bright Eyes, but I think they've only released one 5-Star album. That would be "Lifted".
Of course that's just my opinion. Despite what Amazon thinks, I'm entitled to it.
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By Jamie
Format:Audio CD
Although this is the "UK" version, don't be fooled. This is the exact same album as the cheaper one released in the U.S. There is a special decoder in that one to decode all the gray mess on the album artwork. False advertising. But the album is REALLY GOOD. Just get the cheaper one and save yourself some dough.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another perfect Bright Eyes CD
This CD has so many calming and enjoyable levels to it, It would be a shame to not have it handy. So many great tracks filled with amazing lyrics.
Published 4 months ago by Julia Rosario
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bright Eyes<3
I love Bright Eyes and especially love that the CD came significantly before the estimated arrival date! One of my favorite albums yet, very similar to The People's Key.
Published 20 months ago by A. Fredd
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great!
This did not take long to ship/receive. The packaging was great, and the cd was in perfect condition. No complaints.
Published on January 5, 2011 by Sara
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great
I've listened to this album about 10 times through. The first time I was not impressed, I tried to compare it too strictly to his past albums. Read more
Published on July 2, 2010 by Pamela Tangi
5.0 out of 5 stars
Get The CD!!!!
I remember a couple months ago my father brought this home on CD and showed it to me. He had heard of it but remembered that the cover (and inside) were lenticular screens, and it... Read more
Published on September 26, 2009 by M Fine
4.0 out of 5 stars
Grew on me.
This album has more of a country feel than the older ones. I was not that into it at first, most musically and lyrically (Which is really Bright Eyes' strong point). Read more
Published on December 3, 2008 by William Hoffknecht
1.0 out of 5 stars
What Happened?
I would never call myself a huge Bright Eyes fan, but I do enjoy them. I was introduced to them in high school with the song "A Perfect Sonnet" on the Every Day and Every Night EP,... Read more
Published on August 18, 2008 by MDT
5.0 out of 5 stars
This album haunted me...literally
Everything about this album is and was true to form: desperate, disillusioned, violent, heartful and heartless. Read more
Published on June 10, 2008 by Blake Chortin
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth it for "Brakeman" Alone
If you really listen to this album, it's still Bright Eyes, it's still Conor Oberst, just polished to a high luster. Read more
Published on April 17, 2008 by Berrywood
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mediocre. Descent from previous albums
Bright Eyes are known for strong lyrics and experimental music. This album accomplishes little of both. Read more
Published on January 27, 2008 by Brianne Simpson
