Fevers and Mirrors

by

Bright Eyes

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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.

At first I found this full length effort from Conor Oberst's studio moniker to be entirely unlistenable -- indeed, even now there are songs that I skip without fail. However, if you can look past Conor's at times lamentable vocal stylings (often including growling and screaming) there is a solidly produced and arranged album to be found here. The musicianship is astoundingly mature all around, even on tracks that are centered on Conor performing on acoustic guitar. If you can manage to really listen to this disc you will find that Conor Oberst has all of the makings of a melodic and lyric genius - if he can just get past his eccentricities first.

If this seems to be too glowing of a reference, please rest assured that Bright Eyes is an acquired taste despite his potential talent. If you're unsure about buying Fevers and Mirrors due to the many conflicting reviews it has drawn, i would suggest listening to "The Calendar Hung Itself" (track 3), "Haligh, Haligh, a Lie, Haligh" (8) and "A Song to Pass the Time" (12) all of which exemplify the talent to be found on this record rather than its specfic (but few) detractions.