Fevers & Mirrors

Bright Eyes | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 30, 2000)
• Original Release Date: May 30, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Saddle Creek
• ASIN: B00004TRWE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (128 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,679 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. A Spindle, A Darkness, A Fever, And A Necklace

2. A Scale, A Mirror And Those Indifferent Clocks

3. The Calender Hung Itself...

4. Something Vague

5. The Movement Of A Hand

6. Arienette

7. When The Curious Girl Realizes She Is Under Glass

8. Haligh, Haligh, A Lie, Haligh

9. The Center Of The World

10. Sunrise, Sunset

11. An Attempt To Tip The Scales

12. A Song To Pass The Time

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A little mainstream adoration and we're so quick to backhand, June 6, 2005

By 

M. Wells - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fevers & Mirrors (Audio CD)

Judging by the reviews on Amazon for Connor's latest releases, there has been an incredible amount of backlash against Bright Eyes. Yes, the Jay Leno performance and the whole Winona thing were a bit much. And yes, it is insulting to Bob Dylan to be compared to Connor Oberst or anyone other than Bob Dylan, but come on.

If Connor is now considered mainstream, then I am hard-pressed to find an artist more emotive, but not necessarily sincere, than he is in the wasteland that is pop music today. I remember being in college and being given this record by a dear friend who was from Omaha and attended the same high school as Oberst. Connor's music was very dear to him and I decided to give Fevers a try. What I discovered was something truly special.

This album changed my perspective on music and broadened my horizons past classic and radio-friendly rock into lots of truly wonderful indie music. This is coming from a guy who used to believe that Nirvana's In Utero was the best album ever produced in the 90's (it is damn good though).

I believe Connor was only 19 when he wrote and recorded this material and I will be surprised if he ever surpasses it. From the first track through the last, there is nothing on this album that I would ever skip over. I don't know if this says more about me than I'd care to admit, but I'm 24 now and I still relate to this material.

If you've ever been clinically depressed, then you may instantly connect with this album because it is sincere in it's depression, as others have accused it of faking. They've obviously never been "there". I agree with a previous reviewer, I own many, many albums and this will always be placed near the top of my collection. Don't do yourself a favor and rush out to buy it, because you may not like it and you may end up writing an unfair, scathing review on this incredibly corporate, though very useful website. I personally hope you don't, so I have less one person to get angry with. After all, I need to keep this close to my heart where it will always belong.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Justice too long delayed is justice denied., May 3, 2005

By 

Titus Livius; the Record and the Chronicle. (The Ancient World) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fevers & Mirrors (Audio CD)

I imagine that one day in the eventuality of history some person will rediscover Conor's work and give it the respect it deserves. But I fear we will have to suffer through the incredibly uninformed and confused reviews of our lesser contemporaries until then. This is in my opinion the best Bright Eyes album offered to date. Like other reviewers, I discovered it late, after a gift of "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning" sparked my interest in the band, or - more appropriately - the man.

It is everything a great album should be: haunting, brilliantly written, passionately performed. Criticism of Conor's voice is just, but only if you miss the point: nobody, nowhere, has any illusions about his voice. Some people, like myself, genuinely like it for its unique and honest qualities. But we'll be the first to admit that it wouldn't meet even the low bar set for American Idol contestants. That's the whole point of the appeal. While many musicians are 8/10's voice and 2/10's substance, Conor Oberst is 7/10's substance and 3/10's voice.

One reviewer ignorantly compared him to Eliot Smith, whom he shares zero similarities with. They're missing the point. Calling the music on Fevers & Mirrors too embellished and not honest is a joke - how many contemporary singers are really feeling what they're singing or shape their lyrics from their experiences? Not many. Conor has openly stated that he makes up stories to make his songs passionate; he fancies himself some kind of narrator to a great tragedy. Some of his songs are based around his own experiences, but he is by and large just playing a part in his music. Criticism of that, like the other, is missing the point. What he does isn't "lying" (for it to be such, he would have to claim his brother was really drowned in a tub, etc., which he never has). It is undeniable art.

It all boils down to what you listen to music for. Sound or substance. Which is it? Sound? Quit writing negative reviews of artists you do not understand and go listen to Whitney Houston. Seriously. Bright Eyes is not going to be your cup of tea. Move on and stop burdening us by for some reason we cannot understand buying every new Bright Eyes album and contributing a negative review with no fair foundation in reality.

As for those with a preference for substance? Well, welcome to our party, for one of the most exciting and compelling contemporary artists around. As Conor sings in his latest album: "Well, I could have been a famous singer / If I had someone else's voice / But failure's always sounded better." We agree.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I don't understand how music can be this good, February 25, 2001

By 

"etresia" (Never-never Land

the land of perfect sad music) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fevers & Mirrors (Audio CD)

... but it is. 5 stars? No. 5 million. When I bought this cd, I already had favorite bands. I already had albums that made me cry or gave that feeling which is deeper than tearful. I already had memorized a million songs and been mesmorized by them. And then, I found Bright Eyes. Conor Oberst writes and performs with such intensity, and I have come to the conclusion that he is God. This album makes you think. It makes you impressively and beatifully depressed. You fetus on the shower floor and sob, singing "And then the bridge disappears and I'm standing on air, with nothing holding me..." I can't get enough of it. Buy it. And don't even wait to buy Letting Off The Happiness, Every Day And Every Night, and A collection of Songs... Buy them all right now, and while you are at it, buy some stuff by Cursive and The Faint. When you get this massive package, become obsessed with one album at a time. Let yourself become really, hopelessly infatuated with each song on each album before you move on to the next. And if you were not a depressed neurotic freak to begin with, you will be a classic when you're done.