A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997

by

Bright Eyes

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Do not buy this album if:

-you cannot stand lo-fi music

-have never heard bright eyes before

-have heard Conor Oberst's other material and already decided that you cannot tolerate his voice (because his voice is worse in this album)

Buy this album if:

-you already know and love Conor Oberst

-are more of a "words person" than a "music person". I havent heard the two albums he just came out with, but excluding those since i cannot judge them, "Lifted" is his best musically. It is argueable if this is his best lyrically, but I think it is his most intimate.

-buy this album even if you have emo-allergies. I cannot stand 99% of anything that would remotely be classified under "emo" except for this, which most would agree could be call "emo-folk" with more emphasis on the "folk" than the "emo".

-you think that the idea of a guy recording on a four-track in his basement is cool.

I understand that many people will not like this album. And I understand why, but i personally love it, and many other people will too. If my opinion was the only one that mattered I would have given it a 5 star rating, rather than a 4 star.

having just purchased "fevers and mirrors" and "everyday, everynight" at my local record store, i was in a dizzy, entoxicated state of bright eyes enthusiasm when i got online to purchase more albums. i seriously thought that this conor oberst character was incapable of creating anything less than heartbreaking, skull tingling, schizophrenic works of genius. this album seemed a terrible exception on first listen. the mere inadiquicy of the recording quality grated my ears. the whole production sounded like it was written, mixed, mastered and produced in a 24 hour period with a casio and a hand held tape recorder.

but being the open minded music enthusiast that i am, i put the thing on tape and forced myself to listen to it on my delivery routes. after several days, a warm intimacy with the shotty recording began to seep into my ears. tracks like "falling out of love at this volume" contain a pop sweetness that cannot be ignored, and one remembers the power of bright eyes lies not in the recording but in the grated passionate inflection and creativity in conor oberst's voice.

if you are a hardcore bright eyes fan, i recomend adding this album to your collection...there are at least several tracks you'll be glad you got your hands on.

if you've never heard bright eyes, i would definitely recomend starting with "fevers and mirrors" or "letting off the happiness" since these albums pack a much more powerfull punch.