Product Description

America's enfant terrible-cum-cause celebre of garage alt. country, Conor Oberst, follows up 2002's 'Lifted...' album by "doing a Guns n' Roses" and releasing two new albums on the same day (this one and 'Digital Ash In A Digital Urn'.) This is the traditionalist, rootsy album, wherein Bright Eyes'Dylanesque folk and wistful, melancholic country stylings are taken to new heights. The resulting album, featuring backup vocals by country legend Emmylou Harris, has already beenhailed as a "masterpiece" by some critics.

Track Listing

1. At The Bottom Of Everything (feat. Jim James)
2. We Are Nowhere And It's Now (feat. Emmylou Harris)
3. Old Soul Song (For The New World Order) (feat .Emmylou Harris)
4. Lua
5. Train Under Water
6. First Day of My Life
7. Another Travelin' Song
8. Landlocked Blues (feat. Emmylou Harris)
9. Poison Oak
10. Road To Joy

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5358 in Music
• Released on: 2005-01-24
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Starting off with a monologue about a doomed international traveller, whose last moments in a plane crash are recounted in the form of a jaunty country hoedown filled, you can tell that Conor Oberst has once again pulled out all the stops, (and possibly his sanity) and avoided the trap of standard structure to bring out I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning--his most commercial album to date. Released alongside the less human album Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, the stylistic chasm between the two only emphasizes the difference between the two, simultaneously bringing out the best qualities in each other.

The most obvious precedent here is Tom Waits' "Blood Money" and "Alice"- stylistically different, and as good as each other, but for different reasons. This is immediately accessible, featuring Emmylou Harris to add a layer of vocal varnish. It's a nice listen, full of lush productions and heart-stirring tales of romance, and conditions of the human heart. The country-ish theme is prevalent throughout, with lots of pedal steel and mournful brass, most notably on "Train Under Water", though the hit single of "Lua" is a quiet, intimate story-telling acoustic piece that is just about the most affecting song here. --Thom Allott

Customer Reviews

Fantastic album
I had heard of Bright Eyes but never heard the music - took a chance on this album earlier this year - why did I wait this long ? Get the same satisfaction from listening to this album as you do from finishing a great book. It's my new comfort blanket. Night night....

The sound of loneliness makes me happier...
I recetly bought Cassadega after praising reviews and through its brilliance was compelled to buy this too, and my God, was that a good decision.
This album is borne of the lyrical style typical of Conor Oberst, the only man aive I feel worthy of comparison to Bob Dylan, and here is the proof. From the little story that opens the album, to the beautiful acoustic Lua and the heart wrencing Poison Oak, every note, every quivering word is perfect.
the album itself is mostly acoustic orientated, drawing heavily on styles like Folk and Country, unlike the electric sound of smultaneously released Digital Ash in a Dgital Urn, this feels more streightforward and concise, more focused.
Apparently centred on Oberst's moving to New York, the album is simple and uncomplicated, just a collection of songs. Its brillaince lies in the fact that it doesn't aim for greatness, it is not ambitious, and yet manages to acheive greatness anyway through the songs alone being simply brillaint. There arent many albums this smplistic that I feel deserve five stars, but this is certainly one of them, and every single person I have recommended this to has loved it equally; so take this as a reccomendation. Buy it, you will love it just as much as I have.

I am fast asleep
Stop this now. This music is an abomination.Where has good taste gone. Is everyone on tranquilisers.