Track Listing

1. Spindle A Darkness A Fever And A Necklace
2. Scale A Mirror And These Indifferent Clocks
3. Calendar Hung Itself
4. Something Vague
5. Movement Of A Hand
6. Arienette
7. When The Curious Girl Realises She Is Under Glass
8. Haligh Haligh A Lie Haligh
9. Centre Of The World
10. Sunrise Sunset
11. Attempt To Tip The Scale
12. Song To Pass The Time

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21619 in Music
• Released on: 2007-01-17
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
It's rare that pop music reaches such depths of emotion. Fevers And Mirrors, the debut album from Conner Oberst's Bright Eyes, may recall many other classic tortured artists-- Tim Buckley, naive blues poet Daniel Johnston and Leonard Cohen not least among them--but its fragility and melancholy is most definitely its own. The pivotal track is the opening "A Spindle, A Darkness, A Fever, And A Necklace" wherein the Nebraska-born singer's trembling voice attempts to answer a fuzzy recording of a child pleading a dread of separation, and fails. Elsewhere, on songs like the frantic "The Calendar Hung Itself" and "Sunrise, Sunset", the melodies become even more poignant, even more beautiful. Tinny keyboards, rapid-fire drum-beats and the odd guitar all sweeten the mix. Oberst first started detailing his desire and lack of fulfilment six years ago, as a 14-year-old prodigy in the band Commander Venus--and one can only imagine that a major cult will grow up around this tortured, mysterious, ex-Catholic. An extraordinary album. --Everett True END

CD Description
While 2002's LIFTED was the record that blew Bright Eyes and its hyper-poetic frontman, Conor Oberst, into the public'sconsciousness and up the Billboard charts, its predecessor,FEVERS AND MIRRORS, put him on the next-big-thing map. The third official album in the band's catalog, FEVERS AND MIRRORS finds Oberst & Co. codifying the vision nascently established on LETTING OFF THE HAPPINESS. Oberst furiously wrestleswith his emotions as he upends confessional singer-songwriter tropes while producer and multi-instrumentalist Mike Mogis frames his whims in shifting, episodic textures that include pulsating organs, dulcimers, and vibraphones.
As with all Bright Eyes albums, this one begins and ends with Oberst's strong songwriting and preternatural gift for dramatic, narrative lyricism. "A Scale, A Mirror, and Those IndifferentClocks" includes the line "Now I know a disease that these doctors can't treat/you contract on the day you accept all you see". Oberst seems to be kicking and screaming against this possibility through a strained larynx--most notably on the anthemically strung-out "Calendar Hung Itself" and the eruptive refrains of "Sunrise Sunset". While "Something Vague" and "Haligh, Haligh, A Lie, Haligh" each predict the operatic alt.country the band would perfect on CASSADEGA. Here Oberst is still embracing his influences--openly channeling Eliot Smith on the opening track and SISTER LOVERS-era Alex Chilton on "The Center of the World". Arguably, pound for pound the best Bright Eyes album, FEVERS AND MIRRORS captures Oberst before the masses did.

Customer Reviews

Achingly melancholic, beautifully moving....
After hearing a few Bright Eyes songs, I knew I had to find out more about the seemingly-unknown Conor Oberst. The first song I heard was The Calendar Hung Itself, on a classic rock radio station, and I remember being so moved by his voice and feeling that I NEEDED more...
Fevers And Mirrors is my first Bright Eyes album, but I certainly intend to get more. I don't know how to describe the emotion and genuine beauty in these songs... The perfect example of Bright Eyes' amazing haunting articulacy is (my favourite song) Haligh Haligh, A Lie, Haligh, which makes me cry almost every time I hear it. His voice is enough to stir the most apathetic person, and the passion which laces his beautiful words would move anyone. Before buying this album, you should be aware that it's like a huge punch in the stomach; the listener can't help but feel his pain, and it leaves you feeling dazed and ... well... depressed. But it's so worth it!!
I thoroughly recommend this album, it's one of the most eloquent albums I've heard in a longtime, and the words are so beautiful...
Buy :)

I am LOVING Fevers and Mirrors!
This album gets better each time I listen to it. The voice of Mr Oberst is addictive and hypnotic; the music is beautiful. I wouldn't, couldn't, go anywhere without this album. I have never submitted a review of anything at all prior to today...and was only on Amazon looking to see what else I can get by the artist. A rare talent.

Immense and magical
Someone here previously wrote that Conor Oberst needs to "cheer up and grow up". Well that is pretty hard as he can't really control a lot of his thoughts. The emotion and everything generated in his mind is beautifully crafted into passionate, but sometimes uplifting songs as an alternative to self-destruction.
It may be depressing, but it's nice, the first half of the album especially - each track being your favourtite, until the next one starts.
I was sceptical when someone close to me recommended this to me, but I am a big fan. Listen to it when you feel low, or happy, it's just great whenever, even if you don't empathise with the music and the lyrics. Perhaps the best Bright Eyes album, Conor Oberst's voice as fantastic as ever.