Customer Reviews

I See a Darkness

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (aka Will Oldham) creates the scariest take on country music imaginable. In fact, this could easily be labelled 'goth country'.

His lyrics are intensley personal and his voice a deep and dark wonder. His songs are carefully crafted and arranged in an obscure warmth and frailty.

On some occasions the songs creep along steadily, on others errupt into soaring climaxes of double tracked vocals on the brink of collapse. These climaxes don't play on the usual tricks of severe dynamic change or string sections, but rather involve escalations in emotive force that ripple through you.

Will Oldham is a master songwriter, and an expert at creating sound collages and textures not usually associated with country music.

one of the best albums....................ever. any genre, any era. my god, what a knock out. this is the latest musical persona of will oldham (whose illustrious career began as "palace/palace music/palace brothers") and many say it's his greatest achievement yet. i knew within ten seconds of first hearing this record that it had to be true. every song reaches in and squeezes the heart, gets all tangled up in your insides. you know what's great about this record? every single haunting track is memorable and affecting. every one. there isn't a single track that fades into the background...and that is a rare treat these days. and the fact that a tune as staggeringly vibrant as "a minor place" can co-exist so easily with smothering odes like "i see a darkness" is just amazing. it is, in many ways, like life.

Will Oldham combines soft and fragile melodies with atonal voices. He shows the beauty of error and the crushing power of tenderness.
Like almost everything that is "REALLY" good, you have to learn to appreciate this album. With every listening session there is something new that strikes you and slowly reveals the full beauty of this music.

This is a true jewel, in desperate need to be treasured.

On first listen I was disappointed with this album. I expected melancholia but not like this. After a few more spins I figured out what I had missed. This is the most beautiful album. Absolutely the best, it can be sad, it can be hopeful, it can be everything. Will Oldham sounds real, and his reality is haunting and beautiful at the same time. The music is minimalist and sparse which only contributes to the beauty and dynamic of the record. It is one of the best albums of the 1990s and I recommend it to any true music fan.

For an avid Will Oldham fan like me this album started as a surprise. It actually sounds good! The sound is now more polished, the music not recorded at once and the voice not as shaky as it used to be. You could say it's a more commercial touch but he certainly deserves more credit for his songwriting skills.

The first song 'A Minor Place' relies completly on melody, it's hard to think that the first 2,5 minutes are really the same but the melody is great and should therefor be part of the Oldham top 10.
Second song 'Nomadic Revery' has a haunting chorus in the Appalachian style that could have been sung by David Eugene Edwards of 16 Horsepower.
Track 3 might actually be his most famous song but not in this version but song by Johnny Cash on his American Recordings III. Like so many songs (U2's 'One' for example) that version is actually slightly better.

The quality remains very high throughout the album. The lyrics still are not the most cheerful (Death to Everyone, which does have a lalala part).

I am not sure if I think this is Oldham's best album, I still listen to his Palace-work more, but it certainly is great album and he shows that he is one of the greatest indie songwriters, up there with people like Lou Barlow.

There is no way anyone should over look this record as one of the defining Alt-Country releases of the 90's and easily one of the best records. As soon as you put this record on the mood will be set till the end. It is a dark record and moves at a rather slow pace, but his voice, lyrics, and the whole atmosphere of the record will drag you in. This and the Soft Bulletin have to be the top two releases of that year, make sure to get both.

First off, if you like Taylor Swift, signed Oprah's no texting pledge and enjoy watching "Dancing With The Stars", you probably won't like this album. Matter of fact, this album will be your personal anti-christ. So don't listen before going to church on Sunday. But I dare you to listen while driving home hazy at 4 am thinking woulda-coulda-shoulda thoughts when drunken spirits are dancing and the girl is crying at the bar and you struck out big time. This album is aural absinthe.

Strange moods this album evokes, usually dark, eerie, weird, out-of-place, awkward, but strangely beautiful too. The soundscape reminds me of a strange man walking through mountain mist, singing to himself...people avoid him because he really has problems. He stares at you and keeps singing. Creepy cool. Wanna see the darkness? The album title is absolutely congruent with the sonics.

This is one of a handful of truly classic releases in the past 10 years. Most people won't understand it, but anyone can feel it. Listen to it to calibrate your emotional gauge. Lay back, clear your head, let the mist enter your ears. If you don't feel a degree of emotional drain, then check your heart, thump it, make sure your still alive.

I'm an avid music fan. I've listened to quite an array of rock and pop throughout my life and I can say without hesitation that this disc is unlike anything I've ever heard. All of BPB's work is incredibly interesting. He's taken folk and worked in blues, rock, country, all with undertones of both melancholy and joy. In my opinion, this is his definitive work, the one you MUST have if you want to get the complete Bonnie Price Billy experience. I must admit that I cannot listen to this stuff very often because it is such a strange, intense experience. Every once in a while, an artist creates something beyond his medium. Will Oldham has done that here. This is more than music.

Sparse Instrumentation and hauntng melodies make up this release from Bonnie "Prince" Billy and they won't leave your head for days. From the Bass and piano opening of Minor Place to the end its simply put a brilliant record. Full of gorgeous melodies and simply beautiful string arrangments. The album does truly sound aged in a way that will let it always be a timeless record that will live on for years to come as an intelligent and inspiring piece of work. The tender intelligence that the lyrics portay is none the less amazing. I dont have to sit here and type why its good...just buy it and find out for yourself.

It boggles my mind that someone can sit down and write these kinds of melodies. If we're all looking for that perfect combination of notes and words - the kind clearly understood by the Beatles - "A Minor Place" is it, along with several other tracks on this record, such as "Madeleine-Mary" and "All Around."

I like it in the same way I like the Shins' "New Slang", Mogwai's "Haunted by a Freak", and Brian Eno's _Another Green World_. Something about it won't let you go.