Reviews
"Full of inventive, successful ideas....By a country, city or suburban mile, WIDE AWAKE is Bright Eyes' finest hour.", Ranked #13 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2005" - "An album of witty, intense ballads, with an electro-pop chaser...", Ranked #6 in Magnet's "The 20 Best Albums Of 2005" - "Oberst's most mature, focused and consistently impressive album.", 4 stars out of 5 - "A masterpiece of country-flavored heartland angst, plowing the musical ground between THE FREEWHEELIN' BOB DYLAN and the Cure's SEVENTEEN SECONDS...", "An Often-Great Set of Songs about Loneliness-Romantic, Professional, Even Civic."-Grade: A-, 4 stars out of 5 - "Magic....Alternately thundering and hushed, exuding the warmth of human breadth, its rhapsodies present a portrait of an artist at an early height of his powers...", Ranked #21 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2005" - "An intimate folk-rock CD by a principled singer/songwriter who's working hard to keep things indie...", 5 stars out of 5 - "A country record inspired by the city, I'M WIDE AWAKE is riddled with soft folk fantasies and acoustic ramblings...", "Oberst retains his eye for evocative detail....the ambient alt-country arrangements lend shape to his pileup of words and music..." - Grade: B, 4 stars out of 5 - "Built on a classic country template, and frequently dropping to an intimate hush, where Oberst's voice, and the harmonies of guest Emmylou Harris, wait to lure you in..."