Cassadaga

I would never call myself a huge Bright Eyes fan, but I do enjoy them. I was introduced to them in high school with the song "A Perfect Sonnet" on the Every Day and Every Night EP, leading to me downloading and purchasing several others after that. Conor's emotional and chaotic melodies made every album unique, and I love all the awkward vocalizing and experimental noise running throughout albums like Fevers and Mirrors or Lifted.

Then came the two big albums that really hit them off commercially - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. Out of the two, I preferred Digital Ash as it was rawer and more of that experimental noise I loved from Conor's music, but the critics seemed to favor I'm Wide Awake moreso, which to me just sounded like a well-written country album. Don't get me wrong, it's not a dislike of the genre - it seemed more like a return to the old days when the music wasn't cheesy and hokey. There's no "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy" on that album.

Cassadega - I remember hearing the single for this in my local stores and in the movie Cloverfield, the track "Four Winds." I didn't mind it, I didn't really find it to be anything special, but it wasn't a bad song and it was kinda catchy if you kept listening to it. Still, I avoided this album as nothing really drew me into it. I just received this disc in the mail free from the Pepsi Stuff bottle cap promotion going on recently, and I must say that after taking my time to listen to this album in its entirety... it's a huge letdown.

Here's what it sounds like to me: I'm Wide Awake met with great critical and commercial success, correct? Well, why not just recreate that and make it even more polished and like everything else playing on the radio these days? I was excited when the album first started and I heard all these bizarre sound clips thinking "this is leading to something really good," but not only is the pop-shine on every song a little unlike previous albums, but the song writing is just uninventive.

Most of the tracks sound like Conor wasn't even trying - like he was holding back and just started telling these stories about people he didn't care about doing things he couldn't be bothered with, and the music is just bland and repetitious. I've noticed that on Bright Eyes albums in the past, several songs will just be the same four chords over and over on loop, but at least the lyrics will be interesting and thought provoking. This album almost put me to sleep with how boring it is.

I will say that there were three songs or so that I actually did like. "Four Winds" would be one, but that's obviously the "hooker" on the album. "Lime Tree" was another that actually had some pretty good lyrics to back it's well-thought instrumentation. The third song I can't particularly remember, but then again with Bright Eyes, song titles are usually kinda trivial unless you're looking at the booklet while listening to it which at the time I wasn't. I would like to say it was "No One Would Riot For Less" but I can't be sure.

The most interesting thing I found to be on Cassadega was the cover and the decoder square. That had me even more excited when I first opened it because I hadn't really come across any inventive CD packaging like that in a while and to me it made me even feel like I had something special on my hands. It's a shame that the disc itself wasn't as unique. If this is your first entrance to the world of Bright Eyes, I highly suggest you look in the back catalog after hearing this album - my preferred album being Lifted as it captures all that I love about Conor's music with still somewhat of a pop sensability to it. If you're a big fan of I'm Wide Awake and don't know much else about the group, then you'll probably enjoy it. Maybe not as much, but moreso than I did.

Maybe me and this album just didn't click. Either way, I would not recommend it.

Everything about this album is and was true to form: desperate, disillusioned, violent, heartful and heartless. Spines wind on every track as he pours poison over ice and serves it with a dead man's smile and an umbrella on top. I can no longer bear to listen to this record for personal reasons, but I don't regret buying it. Anyone willing to bear witness to the stonings on this record will enjoy the old-fashioned shake-up; pedal steel grips this album in its emotional climax on "No One Would Riot for Less", no less at home than the symphonic cacophany that prologues this riveting album. As Conor Oberst cracks the sternums of religion, government and "war hawks", he does not spare his own. He opens himself on this album as he has on records before, but his vigor compresses a visceral and devastating impact. Behind the ranting and cracking of death rattles, the broken brilliance of Coner Oberst retains a bit of a quiet young man who still hasn't completely convinced himself that "he must belong somewhere."

If you really listen to this album, it's still Bright Eyes, it's still Conor Oberst, just polished to a high luster. The combination of Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis and Nate Wolcott is just magic. The entire collection is worth it just for the song "If the Brakeman Turns My Way". I will admit the beginning of the album is better than the ending, when the songs got kind of dark, but hey, it's Bright Eyes! It's still the same music, just showing more maturity and finesse, and in my eyes rates in his top 3 works--Lifted, Wide Awake and Cassadaga. You'll always get a surprise from Bright Eyes (think Digital Ash).

Bright Eyes are known for strong lyrics and experimental music. This album accomplishes little of both.

The lyrics aren't quite as strong as ones found in previous albums (Wide Awake, Digital Ash, The Story is in the Soil). There are a few strong songs lyrically, but somes songs have the "rhyme forcing effect".

It's not very strong musically either, as a lot of the songs drag and seem to be using the same melody. Throughout listening to the album I kept waiting for the songs to reach "Bright Eyes quality", and felt somewhat let down.

Buy the album if you don't mind paying the price of 13 songs for 4 or so worthy songs.

Bright Eyes never disappointments me, however I wouldn't say this is Conor Oberst's best album. Oberst has employed other musicians in this album making it even better with some female vocalists and others. The sounds and lyrics are as usual, amazing.