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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Black Sheep Boy
by Okkervil River


9.5

based on 22 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 66 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

The Stage Names

Official Artist Site

This is the fourth album for the Austin band led by singer-songwriter Will Sheff.

LABEL:	Jagjaguwar
RELEASE DATE:	05 April 2005
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Indie, Rock

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...

100

Alternative Press

[Sheff's] uncompromisingly literate songs provide unusually rewarding payoffs. [May 2005, p.124]

100

Stylus Magazine

I've listened to this album more than anything else released this year, and I still don't feel like I've fully explored its depths.

The New York Times

What's most exciting about ''Black Sheep Boy'' is that Okkervil River sounds more than ever like a band. [9 Apr 2005]

musicOMH.com

An unknown quantity to me before the first listen, by the third play I was already plotting which of my friends I would be lending it to and reprimanding myself for not having come across them sooner.

Q Magazine

Brave and ambitious. [Jul 2005, p.122]

Lost At Sea

It's hard not to stare in open-mouthed amazement at the sheer brilliance of Black Sheep Boy, though you're trying to clinically dissect all the elements that make it so.

PopMatters

Consistently excellent, Okkervil River's Black Sheep Boy is a record that stuns on first listen, then manages the elusive -- it sinks deep into your soul.

Austin Chronicle

The force of Okkervil's last LP, '03's Down the River of Golden Dreams, is strengthened and stretched on Black Sheep Boy, bursting with the heaviness of heart.

Pitchfork

Black Sheep Boy creates a roomy and natural showcase for Sheff's high-wire vocals, and as a result, it may be the band's best album.

cokemachineglow

With Black Sheep Boy, Okkervil River have made the kind of minor classic that will inspire obsessive-compulsive love affairs with the lucky people who stumble upon it.

Junkmedia

By album's end, two coming-of-age stories are complete: the boy has grown into a black sheep man, and the literate musicians have become a hell of a rock band.

Magnet

What strike most are Sheff's strained, impassioned vocals and the joyful variety of instrumentation. [#67, p.110]

Tiny Mix Tapes

It is heavier on quality than most Bright Eyes albums I could name -- both musically and lyrically.

The Guardian

It could be a recipe for pretentious folly, but Sheff harnesses his intricate arrangements and barbed, literate lyrics to cracking tunes.

Mojo

Far from being a doomfest, the music is quite beautiful. [Oct 2005, p.114]

Neumu.net

It's like Bright Eyes -- urgent, personal, pent-up -- but better; less focused on the individual ego of the "creative genius," more about the group dynamics.

Dusted Magazine

Sheff’s delivery, however, is the Black Sheep Boy’s biggest flaw.

No Ripcord

These are essentially songs of innocence and experience tinctured by world-weariness simultaneously infused with an earnest lack of guile. A brief criticism would be: a little more sound and a little less fury, please Will.

Uncut

Sheff's novelistic lyrics and the dextrous blend of country, folk and nervy indie-rock suggest a band approaching the peak of their powers. [Aug 2005, p.87]

Under The Radar

While Sheff occasionally wanders into coffee shop open mic territory, spouting overwrought poetry, he is often able to drag himself from the muck with a clever line or an inspired musical passage. [#9, p.108]

All Music Guide

Okkervil River continue to deliver the quality of Down the River of Golden Dreams, and though sonic evolution is barely existent from that recording, perhaps it doesn't need to be; certainly Sheff's songwriting still floats above that of his peers.

ShakingThrough.net

Black Sheep Boy has bold ambitions, but Okkervil River hasn’t quite reached the point where polished execution equals or surpasses preliminary concept.

The average user rating for this album is 9.5 (out of 10) based on 66 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Tiago F gave it a10:
Perfect album. Third best album of the 00s. It's sad how underrated it is by critics.

James S gave it a10:
Beautiful, Powerful, Emotional, Diverse. This album is a musical masterpiece. It's like watching a dream unfold in your mind that highlights all of your weakness and fears as well as all of your strengths. Everytime, at the end, you wake up knowing youself better.

Dan H gave it a10:
Indie albums don't age well, you'd think. But two years on, I'm all the more certain that this is the best thing I've heard since the turn of the century. Literate people will adore it; teenagers will identify strongly with it; indie rock fans will be blown away; neurotics will get totally obsessed with it. Even total morons won't be able to help loving a huge joyous tune like 'All the Latest Toughs'. One to break your heart and sharpen your perceptions.

Erik H gave it a10:
You shouldn't be reading these comments. You should be going to buy this album. Now.

Pat D gave it a10:
Simply the gingle greatest album I have heard in 2005 or 6. Amazing Lyrics.

anthony w gave it a10:
Fantastic album, easily in the top 5 albums of 05. An epic story of the Black Sheep Boy weaved into a storytellers album. Easily their best work.

Chase H gave it a10:
An epic and incredible journey through the life of a lamb. Scheff's voice is wonderous and sometimes painful to listen to coupled with the dark lyrics. Everything fits perfectly and there isn't a bad track on the record.

Black Sheep Boy by Okkervil River

Black Sheep Boy
by Okkervil River