If you are somebody who just hates Conor Whats-his-name or whathaveyou---don't bother posting in this thread-----I've read your vitriol before. What I want is folks that have listened to the recorded output, don't like it, and why?

I will admit being a latecomer to this guy(largely based on preconceived notions fostered by the large nation of haters), but I think dude is GOOD.

Did you NOT see him on Austin City Limits? He makes me want to puke. He's so fucking affected. Get over yourself, Conor.

Oh, and he's a whiney pussy-ass black hoody and sunglasses in 80 degree weather wearing rotary phone having bitch.

And, I'm a hater because I've heard and seen him. He's whiney and overemotional, but in a way that comes off to me as contrived. I think he's a big fake, and even if he was earnest, it would probably make me think less of him.

I recently downloaded his latest album from someone at Colinswood and I was not impressed...at all.


Maybe his earlier stuff is better?

Geeze...I can really tell you dont lilke Bright Eyes.
I think he is alright, nothing that great.

I find the sound of his voice and his delivery to be annoying. Some of the actual backing music is okay (other than that "electronic" record), but it never rises above mediocrity.

C-

Two words: tremulous vocals.

Gahhhh, Yo daddy got a crooked eye and he sorry, you punk ass, eye-patch wearin, jacked up teeth havin, SORRY nigga. . Y'all takin dat beat down when next we meet.

I thought dude was pretty tight on ACL. They just repeated it here again last night. The Sen. was in for a visit (which was tight-----that dude is tight), and we agreed that homeboy BRINGS it.

Re: ACL

Brings it annoyingly. Jim James and M. Ward's delivery are just more my style. I'm a full-on M. Ward fan now.

I really didn't like the way he was so "indie" in the way he talked about his friend's death. I know that sounds stupid, but seriously.

He sounds like he'd rather be a 15 year old girl than a rockstar.

i didn't like him live at all, but he's written some pretty great songs. i can see how his voice or his tendency to go overboard with the self-pity could be offputting for some. when i've really appreciated his stuff was during periods of my life where i could put up with that; since things started going well in my life i've not felt the urge to listen to any of it.

I actually like the Digital album better than the other new one. It's less pompous and less affected, I think.

I'm wide awake is the only thing of his I like and I like it because the songwriting is excellent. His songs in the past were really weak and involved a lot of the affected posing on stage being discussed here and extremely boring records.

I don't hate him.

Dat fungy!


I'm kind of on the fence. I can see how his whole fey, fragile, dramatic, whoa is me persona could get annoying but I think he is good at telling stories.

I personally like "Lifted" better than the new one but I like the new one also. I def have to be in the mood to listen to him.


np- Interpol - Antics

Stu -- I hope you drop rotary phone havin/dialin on folks in real life.. nice work AND HE DIDN'T EVEN NEED A DICTIONARY, KYLE!!!!

Bloor is right -- I liked him on ACL (we did have a good time this weekend as well) I def. liked the MMJ song they played.

Oh, and "Let's Not Shit Ourselves" is one of the best fucking monger promos I've ever heard cut.

i like him. I think he's a top notch songwriter. I haven't really seen too much of him like ACL, but I thought he came off well interviews I've read.

This is pretty much how I feel about him. He does have talent, though, and a few songs that I like, and lots more that I would like if he could calm down and stop ruining them with his over-emotional lyrics and antics.

ditto.

c.

I don't hate Bright Eyes, I think Conor makes really great records.

I think his live show sucks, he's a pussy, and a dickhead.

I'd replace "really great" with "pretty good" and have only seen him perform on TV, but yeah.

But I don't necessarily like the personalities of everyl artist whose music is pretty good. PiL made some incredible music (and some overblown pap), but I've wanted John Lydon to get hit by a bus for decades now.

Never seen him live / on tv, but I like Wide Awake a lot, so far. I just got it last week, and it went over very well the first few listens. Made me wanna play pedal steel more often, too, which is a good thing.

I can see the whiney aspect (kinda like seeing the broad side of a barn) but it doesn't really ruin him for me, somehow. Usually, I'm the first to be offended by vocals, but somehow he doesn't annoy me much. Small price to pay for some good songwriting.

Another reason why I love this board is because you can actually admit to liking this guy’s music. You almost can’t like Bright Eyes on almost all the other indie rock music boards out there but it has subsided a bit since the new album is critically acclaimed. Hell even on this site OPA and I seemed to be the only one who would talk about him, in a positive light, before this year.

I think Lifted…Or the Story Is… is one of the best albums of this decade. For him to follow that with such a strong follow up (Wide Awake, have yet to hear the other one) makes me respect him a bit more. Granted, I have avoided the interviews and concerts because at such a young age I can see hating him because of that. Regardless "Something Vague" and "Bowl Of Oranges" are two of the best singles I have heard this decade. The last thing I bought from him, however, was Letting Off Happiness and don’t feel that one at all.

"Over-emotional lyrics" are something I have always gravitated to so it makes since. Otherwise I would not be such a fan of Boo Radleys’ Kingsize or the Cure for that matter.

np: Meister – I Met the Music

yay! i was just listening to lifted yesterday and reading the lyrics, and i don't care what anyone says- but imho i think conor is a brilliant songwriter esp. for someone his age.

i heart bright eyes.

I'm usually on the fence, but lately i've been disliking his stuff. He writes good lyrics, sometimes even great (e.g the calender hung itself, bowl of oranges, let's not shit ourselves) but a lot of the time, i feel like his metaphors are very postured, faux-poetry designed to call back to or align him with some past poetic school, but isn't actually poetry. You can see this in the ep he put out with Neva Dinova,"one jug of wine, two vessels." This to me seems idiotic, and something nobody could possibly relate to.

I admire his ethic, and the frequency with which he writes, as well as his "friends only" rule, but i think it's time to get some new friends, because his music is lifeless to me. The melodies are go nowhere sorts of lines, no real intent or purpose. There's always great instrumentation, but even then, those lines could be done better (for example the lap steel guitar on "we are nowhere and it's now." It just doesn't hit it right to me.

Lastly, i was always under the impression that a musician had to have some mastery of their craft in order to do it professionally. Oberst's playing is mediochre at best, and often clumsy, and to be honest disappointing. His voice is just not there. I admire his emotionality, it shows he's really into it, but i think he lets that get in the way of actually being a good musician. There are so many other folks who can actually play (eg M. Ward) but are not getting their due because they don't cry on stage or throw temper tantrums. That sucks in my opinion.