Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground
by Bright Eyes
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 20
  3. Negative: 1 out of 20
  1. AllMusic
    90
    Bright Eyes has mixed badness with beauty for a sonic storybook that relates to everyone.
  2. Pitchfork
    77
    Love it or hate it, the precious, nasal vibrato Oberst affects is the tie that binds all these varied tunes together in the end, and in most cases, it compliments the music admirably.
  3. Uncut
    70
    Spewing more words per inch than an IRS vault, the effect is like primal scream therapy set to incidental music. [Oct 2002, p.101]
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  5. Mojo
    80
    Miraculously, it succeeds as a rambunctious, unruly grenade of largely unmitigated spleen, a hail of words set to music. [Sep 2002, p.96]
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  6. Q Magazine
    80
    An exhausting, emotionally wracked affair. [Sep 2002, p.101]
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  7. New Musical Express (NME)
    70
    Untrustworthy, confused, touching and idiotically ambitious; hard work that, undoubtedly, repays the effort.
  8. The A.V. Club
    70
    At times, as with his past work, Lifted offers more to admire than love, as Oberst's tendency toward overreaching and didacticism periodically distracts from the nakedly beautiful emotion at the album's core.
  9. Spin
    80
    By turning indie-folk into nonstop neurotic cabaret, Oberst may have made the best album of his prodigious, prolific career. [Sep 2002, p.133]
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  10. Magnet
    70
    While the song remains beautifully, remarkably, the same, it's getting harder to like. [#55, p.72]
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  11. Austin Chronicle
    67
    Each new song is an homage to one influence or another, but the clues are so subtle, they tickle the brain in a way that causes a vague, slightly pleasant itch that's impossible to scratch.
  12. Blender
    80
    The Ritalin generation may have found its Bob Dylan. [#9, p.143]
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  13. Billboard
    80
    Oberst's fourth full-length is a bleak, bipolar journey through his emotionally charged mind, with melodramatic midnight ballads, dusty piano, and the occasional sexy violin.
  14. Stylus Magazine
    76
    No longer does he sound on the verge of breakdown with every aching syllable, no more pent-up jadedness---this is pure, cheerful post-orgasmic clarity.
  15. Splendid
    30
    There are times on this record, though, when the quaver fades for a few notes and [Oberst's] voice drops out of hysterical high range, and it's actually pleasant to listen to -- but that never lasts, and that's a shame.
  16. Village Voice
    80
    It is frankly sentimental music, lost in memory, full of mistakes. Give it a chance and it will take you backward to a time when you believed in something that you don't believe in anymore.
  17. Neumu.net
    60
    It is, in such, truly great, or truly arrogant, or truly conceited, or truly preposterous, or truly confused, or truly bemused, or truly profound, or truly magnificent. Or maybe all of these things. At once. Or at times.
  18. Almost Cool
    73
    While it's sometimes a rambling mess, The Story Is In The Soil... sounds like one of those releases that was both cathartic and damn fun to put together.
  19. Nude As The News
    95
    A maddeningly ambitious album, Lifted fits into the pantheon of the great concept records of the past few years, joining the likes of The Flaming Lips' The Soft Bulletin, and Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplane Over The Sea.
  20. Drawer B
    80
    This album is an extraordinary display of Oberst’s songwriting prowess. It’s obscenely ambitious and pretentious and ridiculous but unquestionably memorable and affecting.
  21. Ink Blot Magazine
    80
    [Oberst] infuses his figurative laments with a melancholy earnestness, communicating a more gut-wrenching breed of angst than the Limp Bizkits and Eminems of the world could ever hope to.

Awards & Rankings

77
#77 Best Album of 2002
26
#26 Most Discussed Album of 2002
47
#47 Most Shared Album of 2002

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 77 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 68 out of 77
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 77
  3. Negative: 6 out of 77
  1. All_ButTrU4
    May 20, 2022
    4
    A bloated excessive indie record that is crushed not only by it's ambitions but it's bands limited range. They can't do much so instead theyA bloated excessive indie record that is crushed not only by it's ambitions but it's bands limited range. They can't do much so instead they recycle themselves over and over expecting you to endure them for no benefit.… Full Review »
  2. GarboTaste
    Jul 13, 2018
    9
    If you haven't already just listen to it. I don't feel like there's a bad song on this album. That and the fact that it ties together fromIf you haven't already just listen to it. I don't feel like there's a bad song on this album. That and the fact that it ties together from song to song so beautifully should give enough reason to give it at least a listen or two.… Full Review »
  3. davenbettridge
    Nov 6, 2011
    10
    So many awesome memorable songs are contained within, I have listened to these songs countless times over the years and their meaning has onlySo many awesome memorable songs are contained within, I have listened to these songs countless times over the years and their meaning has only deepened over time. False Advertising, You Will? You Will ?, Lover I Don't Have to Love, Nothing Gets Crossed Out and From a Balance Beam are great songs because they are deep, original and moving to people who spend time in reflection.… Full Review »
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