 | | |
| Conor Oberst | 
 enlarge | List Price: $15.98
Buy New: $10.00
You Save: $5.98 (37%)
Buy New/Used from $9.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 8 reviews)
Sales Rank: 66
Category: Music
Artist: Conor Oberst
Publisher: Merge Records
Studio: Merge Records
Manufacturer: Merge Records
Label: Merge Records
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.8 x 0.2
MPN: 50340
UPC: 673855034027
EAN: 0673855034027
ASIN: B001APM3XQ
Release Date: August 5, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Tracks:
| • | Cape Canaveral | | • | Sausalito | | • | Get Well Cards | | • | Lenders In the Temple | | • | Danny Callahan | | • | I don't want To Die (In The Hospital) | | • | Eagle On A Pole | | • | NYC-Gone, Gone | | • | Moab | | • | Valle Mistico (Ruben's Song) | | • | Souled Out!!! | | • | Milk Thistle |
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Conor assembled a special band in Mexico for this recording, known amongst themselves and to friends as The Mystic Valley Band. Members include Nate Walcott, Jason Boesel, Macey Taylor, Nik Freitas, and Taylor Hollingsworth. The result is his first solo album in thirteen years, following "Water" (1993), "Here's To Special Treatment" (1994), and "Soundtrack To My Movie" (1995). In that time, he's recorded and performed in Commander Venus, Park Ave., Desaparecidos, and most notably Bright Eyes, his main musical vehicle for the past decade.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 An immaculate blend of music August 18, 2008
It's best to start with one warning: some people simply don't like Conor Oberst's voice, whether it be on this album, or as a part of Bright Eyes or Desaparacidos. That being said, it is impossible to dispute Oberst's proficiency as a songwriter. As a lifelong Springsteen fan, I've always considered The Boss to be one of the best lyricists of all time. Since I became a fan of Bright Eyes and Oberst, I would now consider him to be better than Springsteen. Some of his lines are truly incredible, and the listener cannot help but be touched.
This album is unlike any Bright Eyes record. Bright Eyes songs have become known for their sad sound and slow rhythm that can be described as nothing but "depressing". While this album has a slow, sad song or two, it also has incredibly upbeat, fast-paced songs such as NYC-Gone, Gone, Souled Out, and I Don't Want to Die (in a Hospital).
Fans will be moved once again. I didn't understand the full power of this album until I saw him on concert this week. The venue featured a high cost front section full of people waiting for the next act, while the distant lawn area featured the most inexpensive admission available, and seemed to be home to all the Oberst fans. While singing "Cape Canaveral", Oberst made a gesture towards our section when he sang, "victory's sweet even deep in the cheap seats".
Bright eyed and on his own August 16, 2008
There are two things surprising about Conor Oberst's first solo outing in almost a decade. ONE: It still sounds pretty much like a Bright Eyes disc. TWO: Given the political forcefulness of his classic I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning in its election cycle release, this album is quite non-topical. (Heck, Digital Ash in a Digital Urn sounded more like a solo album than this does.) These are probably a good thing in many listeners' perceptions, and overall, Oberst is playing to his strengths.
"Conor Oberst" is, first and foremost, an unabashed folk album. Oberst even trekked to Mexico to record it (as mentioned in both "Cape Canaveral" and "Sausalito"), and it seems to have loosened him up a bit. Both "NYC Gone Gone" and "I Don't Wanna Die In The Hospital" are truckin'
numbers that rock more than anything on Cassadaga. In particular, "Hospital" sounds like a hoe-down jam that could have been played out for an extended period just because the players were getting a groove on. As one would expect form Oberst, the wordplay is exquisite (again begging the Dylan comparisons), with poetic metaphors scattered throughout.
However, when Oberst drops the facade and gets deeply personal, he comes up with a couple of the best songs of his career. For me, the highlights of this CD are "Lenders in the Temple" and "Milk Thistle." "Milk Thistle" closes the album on an optimistic note, with encouraging words from Oberst over a clean guitar and bass only arrangement. It is my favorite song on the album and a study in contrast. The bright lyric over the tentative music hits just the perfect balance. (He pulls this off in reverse during "Danny Callahan," a peppy number about a dying child.)
With this album, Oberst once again assumes the mantle of great musical hope. There are few artists in the young folk scene making music that isn't over-precocious (although sometimes it gets real close) or not trying so hard to sound old/classicist that they have no identity. "Conor Oberst" suffers from no such issue, and (but for the silly conch blowing segment) this is a near flawless album.
 (3.5 stars) not as good as bright eyes albums August 12, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
this is a very uneven album. there are lots of highlights like souled out! and lenders in the temple, but most of the songs feel like warmed over versions of bright eyes b-sides. maybe i just have really high expectations for conor oberst based on his previous work, but this album was slightly disappointing. but if you are a fan, it is worth the purchase if solely for lenders in the temple.
 O-worst... August 10, 2008
4 out of 19 found this review helpful
Perhaps Conor Oberst's brand of genius is best equated to The O.C., Gilmore Girls or Dark Angel; it's just clever enough to not be as vapid as Keeping Up With The Kardashians. But just because Oberst's bubbles aren't as big Kim Kardashian's doesn't mean it isn't bubble gum in the first place. Even Jessica Alba knows that no one watched Dark Angel for any other reason than to see her in a body-hugging cat suit. In the same token, it sometimes seems Oberst knows his sad, brown eyes have him fast-tracked for super-stardom.
But that doesn't mean one should hate Oberst for being beautiful. In fact, there's no reason at all to hate the little cutie. If there is any reason at all to disregard Conor Oberst, it is because you are not a confused, teenage girl. Our friends at the New York Times described him as seeming "both adorable and haunted at the same time." Kind of like a Cabbage Patch kid, when you think about it.
As if this saccharine characterization didn't inspire a strong enough gag reflex, there are those who have seen fit to speak of him in the same breath as Bob Dylan; musical treason worthy of a cold slap upside the back of the head. Inferring any artist's similarity to Bob Dylan should have been illegal a long time ago and now it sinks to all new lows with Oberst being gifted shared editorial space by both The New Yorker and New York Times.
His latest offering, a self-titled "solo" release, has him crooning his trademark prose, replete with all the texture and complexity of an Applebee's appetizer and scattered across a pastiche of musical chops aspiring to greater heights than they'll ever achieve. As a whole, the album feels painfully contrived; a slick collection packaged and arranged to transparently showcase Oberst's penchant for writing eclectic songs strangely devoid of any hooks. As it unfolds, one can imagine him checking off a list: "Song one will be a folk song; song two, a country sort-of thing; song three, God, I wish I were Bob Dylan..." and so on. Call it "genre-by-numbers".
In the end, the world may be better served by a line of signature Conor Oberst second-hand shirts than by another tedious collection of borrowed, beige beats and his big, brown eyes.
Conor at his best! August 8, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Conor has done it again. Just when you think he might not top his last cd, he surprises as usual. I cannot understand why he is compared to Dylan so much. Oberst is an artist that has definately grown musically in his own right. He continues to show everyone that he is the real deal, and as a Bright Eyes fan I respect that. I will be seeing Conor in Saratoga shortly, and I cannot wait! This is my third time, and he is exciting live. I love this CD, and I have played it several times. I highly recommend this CD to new and existing fans of Oberst. I cannot say enough about his song writing abilities. He is musically gifted, and this is one of the best CD's of 2008. One to definitely pick up or download. You will not regret it.
|
|
|
Review and shop Cameras, Cars Accessories, Sporting Goods, Electronics, Computers, Software, Tools, Office Products, Books, DVD, Music, Kitchen, Apparel, and much more at discount prices! You find the Best Bargains right here! | | |
