Cassadaga
Featuring the slickest production of any Bright Eyes album to date, Cassadaga is a logical continuation of Conor Oberst's country-rock evolution.
In early 2005, Bright Eyes simultaneously released the falteringly experimental electro-pop disc Digital Ash In A Digital Urn and the fluid, accomplished folk-rock record I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. This year, the big Bright Eyes release is Cassadaga, a polished, mellow-and-melancholy statement about exhaustion,…
Actually, it's probably more correct to say that Bright Eyes are a group of talented and intelligent songwriters, because it's the pedal steel, the clamorous percussion, the orchestral arrangements, the thick background vocals that add to the songs in Cassadaga -- the band's fullest and most developed record to date -- almost as much as the lead singer's own wobbly voice and sharp lyrics.
Even the angrier, more polemical moments on Cassadaga are too rooted in allegory to energize the listener.
Bright Eyes - Cassadaga review: Shock alert! Conor Oberst has crafted a stunning country-rock album that may well convert even long-time haters into admirers!