Lifted, By Bright Eyes

Wow. Have you ever discovered something wonderful that you never knew you had? This album by Bright Eyes blew me away when the random on my iPod brought it to my attention. I remember not being very impressed with this album when I first listened to it. I don’t know why. I guess I passed them off due to the local hype they received being from Omaha. Or maybe it was just overshadowed by some other album at the time. Regardless, I was rewarded for giving it my full attention for a second chance.

The actual title of the album is Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground. The soul of Bright Eyes is Conor Oberst. I have heard people comparing him to Dylan, and although I don’t hear it, his songwriting skill is quite breathtaking. The arrangements and excellent production of this album is just an added bonus because Oberst is just as engaging when it is just him and his guitar. Now for the shallow part of the review where I compare their sound to bands that everyone has heard of. Ok. If Ben Kweller was Bob Dylan and he sang lead vocals for Wilco, and they did covers of Modest Mouse songs, it would sort of sound like Bright Eyes. That’s the best I can do.

Yes, it is a fine album. I find it puzzling though, that you have difficulty seeing the Dylan in Bright Eyes. Musically, the blues inspired, harmonica drenched , "Let's Not Shit Ourselves" is pretty Dylanesque, and the political and social commentary of the lyrics of that and pretty much any other track make him the folk-singer of the 21st century.

The lyrics are the key for me, though. Though the diversity of musical genres his music borrows from is impressive, they seem like a mere afterthought when compared to the lyrics.

Comparisons to Dylan definitely make sense. However, I think Bright Eyes is original enough that comparisons to Dylan take too much credit away from them. How many times have you heard bands get compared to the Beatles? Very few bands go out with the goal of sounding like the Beatles, and I doubt that they would take it as a compliment. On one hand you want to explain what a group is similar too, and on the other hand you want to recognize the innovation and quality that makes something revolutionary or at least unique.