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| Bright EyesNoise Floor2006 Saddle Creek 
 Review by: colin See others by this writer The Story in the Soil (link) Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on January 12th 2007
A couple years ago, a band that everyone likes around these parts released a record of rarities and B-sides. That album was, rightfully so, praised for a stunning coherence of sound and attitude, a feat few compilation albums are able to attain.
Anchormen spike their blood / wear masks of mud / cucumbers cut to fill their eyes. / And so no one would know how tired they've grown / of talking and telling their lies. / While your TVs change stations / scroll messages / victims and Christians both drinking blood, / and they pray for the destruction of all hatred / more often, just those with hate for us.And while the songwriting never fails throughout the album, around two-thirds of the way through, it musically hits a lull. While Lifted... is longer by 10 minutes, it also is a complete work that is mixed to maintain a flow and interest. Tracks 9 through 12 ("Weather Reports" through "Amy in the White Coat") on Noise Floor are all fairly Oberst-and-guitar centric, and not until the chanting, clapping sing-along of "Devil Town" does the album regain some velocity. However, the biggest fault of this record is not in the slow second act. The biggest fault is the lack of including the now infamous "When the President Talks to God." Yes, I realize that it's available on iTunes, but some of us digital music elitists would rather not support Steve Jobs' DRM-encoded empire. Also, it seems like an obvious choice of inclusion, what with Oberst gaining press for singing it on The Tonight Show. My personal year-end list put this record at a nice spot at #13. I really think that this is a very strong collection, and for any Oberst fan, it will be a good addition to your collection. If you've never heard Bright Eyes, this actually could be a good introduction to a large period of time where Oberst wrote some of his best songs. Just be mindful, this is not perfect, at least not nearly as perfect as Lifted.... But it's pretty damn close. People who liked this also liked:           Please login or register to post comments. What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
Funny to read the ignorance of naive youth. Oberst's lyrics are not a banner to fly for a social cause, they are an inspiration instilled in the listener to fight for what he/she believes in-no matter how trivial or important. everyone knows DIY belongs to Bob Villa. he copyrighted it. Are you? scruffy are you fucking retarded? the comp contains recordings from after "lifted." the song you quoted as your favorite was an outtake from "i'm wide awake it's morning." this is a good comp, but its missing a lot. the vinyl release with 5 extra songs is nice, though. folkgazi? i'm just going to assume the guy below me is trying to be ironic. Bright Eyes is for teenage girls who want to feel important and who want to "know" about politics. They get fed these lines by Oberst, and then theyy "fight for the cause". They never do think to pick up a paper and make there own opinions though. Not feeling it, never have, never will... I actually have no problem with this guy. It's easy to ignore music I am indifferent about. Stop this...WAAAAAAAAARRRRR Does no one get that I'm being moderately sarcastic? Or is it that whole internet sarcasm-not-making-sense thing? Anyway, I'm not gonna bother with putting up a list of bands to show how cool I think I am, because, honestly, arguing with people about music gets you nowhere...no one ever changes their opinions. Ever. Suffice it to say that I do not like Mr.Oberst's music, and that I think his attention is mostly undeserved. That's just. My. Opinion. I like how when I disagree with the poor excuse for "Punk Police" on this site, I get slammed. Dammit, this punknews needs some more hardcore punk police! If you were cool like me you'd own the "When the President Talks to God" 7" "Oberst has a more solid "punk" ethic than most punk bands I can think of." "you fuckers talk about the casualties writing dumb lyrics, that song makes anti-flag look like operation ivy" Although I really liked the Desaparecidos stuff. Weird. that president talks to god song is shit. one of the worst songs i've ever heard, both lyrically and musically. you fuckers talk about the casualties writing dumb lyrics, that song makes anti-flag look like operation ivy. Doesn't Colin like Taking Back Sunday too? I think he would fit in more nicely with the folks at absolutepunk.net. I am not going to say "Oh, crap. Its all shit" because I know it isnt. I just can't get into Bright Eyes. feeding is one of the biggest tools that posts here. when are you and the rest of the internet elite going to realize that just because something doesn't fit your personal taste, doesn't mean it sucks. grow up and branch out a little you myopic asshole. even if you hate bright eyes, there's no reason to not respect connor as a person. Conor Oberst is not more punk than what I listen to... i love reviewing bright eyes because it really brings out the shithead in people. "Half of the shit he writes about is fabricated, and he makes 14 year old girls feel special for listening to him." i nominate Colin for worst member on punknews.org Good review. This really is a pretty damn good compilation of music. While the latter parts of the album do become pretty acousticcentric, I would argue that they are not a lull at all. They just help to feature his voice and lyricist abilities. Amy In The White Coat is definetly one of my favorites off of the album Ahem. CRAAAAAAAP. Conor Oberst is not more punk than what I listen to...Hell, the only thing Conor Oberst is good for is making some of the bigger prison inmates happy (yeah, I know that's insensitive to both prisoners and homosexuals, but I needed to stoop low to show my loathing for Bright Eyes). Half of the shit he writes about is fabricated, and he makes 14 year old girls feel special for listening to him. I heard that Connor used to fuck Ben Weasel. True story. I generally like Bright Eyes, but how can you say this is cohesive? His proper studio albums aren't even very cohesive. Listen to Lifted!. The production quality purposefully varies from song to song. Compare Method Acting and Bowl of Oranges to Big Picture and Don't Know When... I haven't really given this enough listens, glad I got this reminder. I totally agree about the lull near the middle-to-end, it's hard for me to keep interest through it, which I think is odd since they're all really good songs. the tracks could have certainly been ordered better. I've tried and tried and tried to like this guy. But I just can't. Bright Eyes sucks and Conor Oberst is a douche. Seriously. It's funny, but what turned me around about Conor was not so much his music, but his integrity. Over the years, he's actually shown a ton of ethic and integrity, and my respect for that translated over to his music. They only included one or two songs from the "Don't Be Frightened of Turning the Page" ep, which is bullshit. Put the whole thing on there or none at all. I'd fuck Conor Oberst. Dear god that Leno clip is one of the worst things I've ever heard/seen in my life. Larry Arms and Bright Eyes both suck. I'd fuck him. I remember that Letterman performance. Scene points for me! OMG conor is like so hot. no but really, he's a great fucking musician. |
