Cassadaga (CD)
A swirling, euphonious record, at times bursting with bombastic confidence and country swagger, and at others loose-limbed and mesmeric. If I'm Wide Awake... was the "New York City album", then Cassadaga is "the America album", in which Conor Oberst chronicles his travels around the country and articulates his sense of history in the landscape. Oberst's impassioned prose is still recognizable in every track, but the songs are rich with elaborate production, cinema-sized orchestration, and at times, sprawling, almost psychedelic atmospherics.![]()
| Tracklisting | |
| Disk | 1 | |
| 1 | Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed) |
| 2 | Four Winds |
| 3 | If the Brakeman Turns My Way |
| 4 | Hot Knives |
| 5 | Make a Plan to Love Me |
| 6 | Soul Singer in a Session Band |
| 7 | Classic Cars |
| 8 | Middleman |
| 9 | Cleanse Song |
| 10 | No One Would Riot for Less |
| 11 | Coat Check Dream Song |
| 12 | I Must Belong Somewhere |
| 13 | Lime Tree |
| JT Holbrook
- Dripping Springs, TX, USA |
| Admittedly this is not Bright Eyes' best CD, but saying Conor Oberst "is revealed only to be grasping at the straws of a dillusionist", is simply not true. The lyrics are the same genius as we have come to expect form him and I would tell anyone who loves Bright Eyes to buy this CD. | |
| Jenny
- Tucson, AZ, USA |
| This album is a vastly inferior work compared to the previous albums offered forth by "rocks boy genius". From each new orchestral section added, and to each attempt at grandiosity, the album reveals itself to be nothing more than a chaotic mess of static, when it's clear they were genuinely attempting to sound radio-polished. Lyrically, as Oberst attempts to reach to the stars of a surrealist, he is revealed only to be grasping at the straws of a dillusionist. A truly distilled work from a band that has certainly seen better days. | |