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For Emma, Forever Ago - Bon Iver
Metascore
88 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 27 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
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  1. Mojo
    100
    Isolation doesn't get more splendid than this. [June 2008, p.100]
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  2. Uncut
    100
    For Emma, Forever Ago is such a hermetically sealed, complete and satisfying album, the prospect of a follow-up--of a life for Vernon beyond the wilderness, even - seems merely extraneous.
  3. musicOMH.com
    100
    It's rare to be so gushing about a debut album--yet after living with this album for a few weeks, you'll be hard pressed to find any flaws.
  4. Observer Music Monthly
    100
    For Emma, though only nine tracks long, is as beautiful, bleak and intimate as anything 2008 is likely to throw up.
  5. Delusions of Adequacy
    100
    It's seamless in its construction, poetic in its songwriting and moving in its aesthetic impression.
  6. The A.V. Club
    91
    Wisconsin singer-songwriter Justin Vernon, who records as Bon Iver (a bastardized version of the French phrase for "good winter"), still manages to put his own stamp on a moribund genre with his quietly startling debut, For Emma, Forever Ago.
  7. No Ripcord
    90
    Although For Emma, Forever Ago works best as a concise listen, as each song segues naturally into the next, tracks like 'Blindsided' and 'For Emma' quickly rise as shining standouts.
  8. Drowned In Sound
    90
    This album is simply wondrous.
  9. Austin Chronicle
    89
    For Emma is a paradigm of uninhibited closure, a gentle touch on a sad day.
  10. Pitchfork
    81
    Vernon gives a soulful performance full of intuitive swells and fades, his phrasing and pronunciation making his voice as much a purely sonic instrument as his guitar.
  11. Under The Radar
    80
    For all its apparent weightlessness, this is one heavy debut. [Winter 2008, p.80]
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  12. All Music Guide
    80
    For Emma captures the sound of broken and quiet isolation, wraps it in a beautiful package, and delivers it to your door with a beating, bruised heart.
  13. Q Magazine
    80
    This remarkable album's impact resides in its sound; the lyrics, when they can be deciphered, are standard she-left-me stuff. [June 2008, p.147]
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  14. Spin
    80
    Vernon's voice--delicately layered and yearning--gives standouts 'Skinny Love' and 'Flume' their stunningly direct emotional impact, but his sturdy folk cords, earthy melodies, and plainspoken, pastoral lyrics prevent the album from descending into self-pity. [Mar 2008, p.97]
  15. Tiny Mix Tapes
    80
    The most subtle incorporation of drum machines, horns, and vocal effects transforms Bon Iver's music from the quiet afterthought that characterizes much of today's indie-folk into a sonic landscape of moods and nuances.
  16. Paste Magazine
    80
  17. NOW Magazine
    80
    As good as it is, it's clear that Vernon still has room to grow. A few songs could have used a little extra instrumental kick, and while his songs are great, you can tell he has more to offer. Keep an eye on this one.
  18. Sputnikmusic
    80
    For Emma, Forever Ago is a heartbreaking and heartwarming album that ventures deeper than the its simple history could predict.
  19. Dusted Magazine
    80
    Vernon's voice is the showpiece here––a fragile, technically imperfect falsetto, he multi-tracks it into a shimmering, heat-giving force on each of the record's nine songs.
  20. Village Voice
    80
    While none of Bon Iver's background notes scream "new"--dissolved love affair, check; band breaks up (Vernon's freak-jug outfit, DeYarmond Edison), check--the chilling, rusty grandeur of For Emma will stop you in your snow tracks, however little it snows around here.
  21. Hartford Courant
    80
    His double-tracked voice makes these songs truly mesmerizing.
  22. Prefix Magazine
    80
    The strength is in Vernon's ability to make a quiet, lonely album that is not boring.
  23. cokemachineglow
    79
    A sure-footed assertion of the artist's individual talents and landing it a spot among the best folk records of 2007 has to offer.
  24. Stylus Magazine
    75
    Vernon's music is stripped-down, uniformly quiet, and confessional, his clipped, cracked, Will Oldham-inspired lyrics not evidence of cabin delirium, but the work of an artist warmed by a creative glow that only pure isolation (read: freedom) can fully render.
  25. PopMatters
    70
    Bon Iver defiantly makes a small-scale statement on For Emma, Forever Ago, so much that if you don't concentrate, you'll pass this over.
  26. Hot Press
    60
    This writer is a firm believer that every album you pick up should be a universally accessible experience. Solitude, sanctuary and silence spawn an exorcism of sorts.
  27. MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)
    58
    The turns of phrase are usually cul-de-sacs, the flights into obscurity have bum wings, and do you really prefer, for instance, Vernon's best-in-show "Now all your love is wasted?/Then who the hell was I?" (much less "Only love is all maroon/Lapping lakes like leery loons") to this Creeley ordinaire
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User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
9.3 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 181 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 81 out of 85
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 85
  3. Negative: 0 out of 85
  1. Dave
    10
    The only thing I can add to what everybody else has said about this incredible album is that it breaks your heart.
  2. JoeH.
    10
    Best album released for years, the lyrical content is something to admire, completely compelled to listen to it at least once a day even though its been out for over a year, thanks Justin.… Full Review »
  3. HayroC
    5
    The album is good, but some songs are boring.
See all user reviews »