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Zero 7
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Noise Floor (Rarities 1998-2005)

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 16 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Saddle Creek
Release Date: 24 October 2006
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
This B-sides, rarities and covers compiliations includes 16 Conor Oberst tracks of varying fidelity from the past eight years.
Also By This Artist: Cassadaga Digital Ash In A Digital Urn I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground Motion Sickness [Live]
Also On The Web: Bright Eyes @ Saddle Creek
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly
These B sides and studio ephemera, by turns folksy and noisy, demonstrate his appeal. [27 Oct 2006, p.73]
Prefix Magazine
This album works adequately, maybe exclusively, within the folds of Bright Eyes' self-contained space, and that's really not such a bad thing.
Read Full Review >The Phoenix
Noise Floor is a smattering of moods and modes all tied together by Oberst’s love-it-or-loathe-it voice.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
Each tune is utterly lovely in its own right, but--my God--are they depressing. [7 Oct 2006, p.39]
All Music Guide
This captures a less self-conscious Oberst, which is often a better Oberst.
Read Full Review >Blender
This orderly collection of messy leftovers suits his disheveled talents. [Nov 2006, p.137]
Read Full Review >Drowned In Sound
On the whole, Noise Floor is a fascinating concoction of delights that documents the rise of one of underground USA's most prestigious talents.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
Half of the fun of this collection is watching Oberst working out his dead ends. [#15]
Stylus Magazine
It has some nice tracks, some experiments and more than a few keepers, and, yes, it’s almost exclusively a fan-only proposition.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
While the album isn't arranged chronologically, listening to it as such reveals the series of intuitive leaps between lo-fi bedroom folk that emphasized monotonous gloom and cacophonous samples to comparatively laid-back country biased toward majestic arrangements and electronic beats.
Read Full Review >musicOMH.com
Part of the problem is that faced with a performer as low-fi and minimal as Conor Oberst in the first place, many of the unfinished demos presented here, such as I Will Be Grateful This Day and Seashell Tale, sound much, much too thin.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
The songs on Noise Floor don’t rank with his best, but there’s a reckless spirit to the endeavor that’s alluring, and representative of his music overall.
Read Full Review >NOW Magazine
It may not be the best introduction to the band, but it's a must-have for hardcore fans of Conor Oberst's vocal discordance and stripped-down musical tantrums.
Read Full Review >Uncut
Sometimes enthralling, sometimes throwaway. [Nov 2006, p.120]
Q Magazine
A set of modestly sparkling gems. [Dec 2006, p.147]
Spin
There's a lot of Conor the Character Actor in these folk-rock set pieces. [Nov 2006, p.96]
Amazon.com
Noise Floor presents a mixed bag that will enthrall hardcore Conorites but leave others frequently reaching for the skip button.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
drew c gave it a9:
these are b-sides??? there are a couple duds (mainly the earliest stuff) but i think very few artists can create non-album tracks this good. his song writing amazes me!
Jeremy F gave it a6:
Not his best, but a few fantastic songs. um... yeah, Kevin. Bryan Adams is a great example. And Isobel Campbell... two in one year. Both exceptional.
Joseph Pie in the sky gave it a5:
Mediocre at best.Not too many quality songs on there, but still easy on the ears
Nasha Crablegs gave it a9:
beautiful, one of my favourite bands of all time.
benzo24 gave it an8:
great song, great album.
Doug R. gave it a7:
Kevin, Ryan Adams actually released three last year. Double album the year before that. Neil Young did two in one year not too long ago. Haven't actually heard this record yet but I like Connor and have heard a lot of his early demos/stuff. So Icansafely give it a 7 no problem.
Kiley L gave it a7:
yeah, ryan adams, 3 in 2005.
