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Cassadaga
by
Cassadaga Image
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 35 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 116 Ratings

  • Summary: Conor Oberst & co. branch out into country and orchestral pop on their latest 13-track set, which finds them joined by guests Gillian Welch, Janet Weiss, and M. Ward.

Top Track

Four Winds
Your class, your caste, your country, sect, your name or your tribe There's people always dying trying to keep them alive There are bodies... See the rest of the song lyrics
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 35
  3. Negative: 0 out of 35
  1. Los Angeles Times
    100
    The music doesn't always live up to the demands of the journey, but Oberst's trembling, vulnerable voice carries through to a rewarding conclusion.
  2. Entertainment Weekly
    83
    Musically, it's his richest album yet, full of Nashville twang and Branson brassiness. And lyrically, the itinerant-traveler conceit is intriguing, even though its sweeping scope lacks the almost masochistically intimate power of earlier material.
  3. Slant Magazine
    80
    One hopes that the next LP will pack a little less filler, and Bright Eyes will drop a 40-minute work as tight as their best four-minute works.
  4. Sputnikmusic
    80
    Fantastic lyrical concepts, an improved musicianship and the addition of an orchestra make Cassadaga easily the most enjoyable Bright Eyes album as a whole.
  5. ShakingThrough.net
    78
    A restless, questing work.
  6. The A.V. Club
    67
    It isn't that Cassadaga is necessarily bad, but where I'm Wide Awake was compact and graceful, the new record lumbers, belaboring Conor Oberst's anguish about the state of the world.
  7. Hartford Courant
    50
    "Cassadaga" is an insular, self-referential album that strives for depth and profundity and sounds instead like a high-school poetry reading, full of rhyming-dictionary couplets and banal pronouncements about life.

See all 35 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 41 out of 62
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 62
  3. Negative: 7 out of 62
  1. darrylf
    Jul 28, 2007
    10
    best album of this year so far
  2. stans
    Apr 2, 2007
    10
    Their best yet!
  4. jeremyc
    Apr 14, 2007
    10
    been a fan for a long time and this one puts an old sound to a younger band...the words are why people listen to bright eyes...he is a genius been a fan for a long time and this one puts an old sound to a younger band...the words are why people listen to bright eyes...he is a genius when it comes to words..he speaks for the youth and speaks for people with out the voice to say anything… Expand
  5. LadyB.
    Apr 10, 2007
    8
    Mmm ya, Bright Eyes are gooooooooood.
  6. littledutchboy
    May 13, 2007
    8
    By far, Bright Eyes' most accessible album to date. Less emotional intensity and less freaky, it's as close to a conventional By far, Bright Eyes' most accessible album to date. Less emotional intensity and less freaky, it's as close to a conventional folkpop record Oberst has ever gotten. This is both good and bad. Previous records were more intense and personal, both demanded quite a lot of the listener:it was hard to let Lifted... simply play in the background. This one is more easy-listening, more Ryan Adams-like almost. Still a great listen, but not so urgent as his previous work.… Expand
  7. MarciaL
    Apr 11, 2007
    6
    I expected more....
  8. IndianaParkWars
    Jan 28, 2021
    0
    The Masterful Psychological Narrative of "Cassadaga" by Bright Eyes
    12/12 Masterpiece of an Album
    I discovered this album after watching    The Masterful Psychological Narrative of "Cassadaga" by Bright Eyes
    12/12 Masterpiece of an Album
    I discovered this album after watching Phoebe Bridgers' "What's in the Bag" video and hearing her talk about this album. I also previously discovered Bright Eyes through her. After hearing "Down in the Weeds" many times and listening to various live performances, I decided to listen to this album. My initial listen was similar to that of "Punisher" or "Down in the Weeds", where I felt kind of indifferent but the more I listened, the more I exponentially adored the album. As of now, I think I've listened to this album 10–15 times.
    It is a fantastic album that strangely blends different styles, which is why I think I adore it so much. It's mostly alternative rock/indie rock, but seems to blend alternative country and folks and incorporates symphonic and experimental elements.
    Bangers: "Clairaudients", "Four Winds", "If the Brakeman Turns My Way", "Hot Knives", "Make a Plan to Love Me", "Soul Singer in a Session Band", "Classic Cars", "Middleman", "Cleanse Song", "No One Would Riot For Less", "Coat Check Dream Song", "I Must Belong Somewhere"
    Yes. Every track is a banger.    … Expand

See all 62 User Reviews

Awards & Rankings

50
#50 Most Discussed Album of 2007
87
#87 Most Shared Album of 2007

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