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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.
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Alternative Press[Sheff's] uncompromisingly literate songs provide unusually rewarding payoffs. [May 2005, p.124]
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MagnetWhat strike most are Sheff's strained, impassioned vocals and the joyful variety of instrumentation. [#67, p.110]
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Under The RadarWhile 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]
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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It is heavier on quality than most Bright Eyes albums I could name -- both musically and lyrically.
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The New York TimesWhat's most exciting about ''Black Sheep Boy'' is that Okkervil River sounds more than ever like a band. [9 Apr 2005]
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Black Sheep Boy has bold ambitions, but Okkervil River hasn’t quite reached the point where polished execution equals or surpasses preliminary concept.
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Sheff’s delivery, however, is the Black Sheep Boy’s biggest flaw.
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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.
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Q MagazineBrave and ambitious. [Jul 2005, p.122]
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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.
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UncutSheff'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]
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It could be a recipe for pretentious folly, but Sheff harnesses his intricate arrangements and barbed, literate lyrics to cracking tunes.
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MojoFar from being a doomfest, the music is quite beautiful. [Oct 2005, p.114]
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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.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 86 out of 98
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Mixed: 3 out of 98
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Negative: 9 out of 98
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RobTJul 5, 2009Black Sheep Boy is a masterpiece on level with NMH's Aeroplane Over the Sea.
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Jun 25, 2021
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Sep 1, 2014