Conor Oberst
Studio album by
Conor Oberst
ReleasedAugust 4, 2008
RecordedJanuary 2008 - February 2008 at Valle Mistico
GenreFolk rock, indie folk, country rock
Length42:00
LabelMerge Records
ProducerConor Oberst
Conor Oberst chronology
The Soundtrack to My Movie
(1996)		 Conor Oberst
(2008)		 Gentleman's Pact
(2008)

Conor Oberst is the fourth solo studio album by Conor Oberst, of the band Bright Eyes, which was released on August 4, 2008 by Merge Records.[1] The album debuted on the UK Albums Chart at #37 [2] and reached #15 on the Billboard Top 200. It sold 98,000 copies in the US as of August 2009.[3]

Production

The album was recorded in Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico between January and February 2008. A temporary studio was created in a mountain villa called Valle Místico at the outskirts of town. Conor Oberst was produced by Conor Oberst and engineered by long-time associate Andy LeMaster. A new band was assembled for the recording, which came to be known as The Mystic Valley Band. The result is Oberst's fourth solo album, and his first in twelve years, following Water (1993), Here's to Special Treatment (1994) and The Soundtrack to My Movie (1996). In that time he has recorded and performed in many bands and musical projects including Commander Venus, Park Ave., Desaparecidos, and most notably Bright Eyes. The song "Moab" was number 31 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2008.[4]

Track listing

All songs by Conor Oberst, except where noted.

  1. "Cape Canaveral" – 4:04
  2. "Sausalito" – 3:10
  3. "Get-Well-Cards" – 3:33
  4. "Lenders in the Temple" – 4:35
  5. "Danny Callahan" – 3:58
  6. "I Don’t Want to Die (In the Hospital)" – 3:32
  7. "Eagle on a Pole" – 4:42
  8. "NYC - Gone, Gone" – 1:11
  9. "Moab" – 3:36
  10. "Valle Místico (Ruben’s Song)" (Ruben Mendez Hernandez) – 0:49
  11. "Souled Out!!!" (Oberst, Jason Boesel) – 3:32
  12. "Milk Thistle" – 5:21

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Billboard(not rated)[6]
Crawdaddy!(favorable)[7]
Drowned in Sound8/10[8]
Paste80/100[9]
Pitchfork Media7.3/10[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
Spin
The Times
TimeA−[12]

Entertainment Weekly said that on the album, "Conor sounds like Bright Eyes, only heightened--brighter, if you will: He's emo balladeer, country rocker, and ferocious folkie rolled into one."[13]

Track information

  • The seventh track, "Eagle on a Pole", was inspired by a comment made by Sean Foley who said, "I saw an eagle on a pole. I think it was an eagle." Simon Joyner, friend and mentor of Oberst, said that line would be great for a song, which planted the seed for others in the band to write a song from the line. Oberst's version is on this record. Jason Boesel's version is on the second album released by the Mystic Valley Band, Outer South.

Personnel

  • Conor Oberst – guitar, vocals, electric guitar (5), 12-string guitar (9), stomp (8)
  • Nate Walcott – organ (3, 4), piano (5, 6), electric piano (7, 8, 9)
  • Nik Freitas – electric guitar (2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11), vocals (3, 4, 5, 8, 9)
  • Macey Taylor – bass (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11), vocals (2), stomp (8)
  • Taylor Hollingsworth – guitar (3), electric guitar (6), vocals (8), stomp (8)
  • Jason Boesel – drums (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11), percussion (2, 9), vocals (3, 7, 8, 9, 11), stomp (8)
  • Andy LeMaster – tape echo (11), vocals (3, 4, 8)
  • Phil Schaffart – vocals (8), stomp (8)
  • Janet Weiss – vocals (6)
  • Corina Figueroa-Escamilla – vocals (11)
  • Ruben Mendez Hernandez – conch (10)

Charts

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] 63
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] 52
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[16] 35
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] 73
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] 37
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[19] 26
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 40
UK Albums (OCC)[21] 37
US Billboard 200[22] 15
US Digital Albums (Billboard)[23] 3
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[24] 3
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[25] 3
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[26] 1

References

  1. ↑ "Bright Eyes man reveals solo album details". NME. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
  2. ↑ "The Official UK Albums Chart for the week ending 16 August 2008". ChartsPlus. Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd (364): 5–8.
  3. ↑ "Billboard". 2009-08-29.
  4. ↑ "The 100 Best Songs of 2008". Rolling Stone (December 25, 2008). Retrieved 2008-12-25
  5. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r1400206
  6. ↑ "Conor Oberst". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  7. ↑ "Conor Oberst, Bright Eyes, Self-Titled, Review: Conor Oberst - Reviews - Crawdaddy!". crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com. Archived from the original on 27 August 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  8. ↑ "Album Review: Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst". Archived from the original on 2019-09-03. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
  9. ↑ "Conor Oberst: Conor Oberst". 4 August 2008.
  10. ↑ "Conor Oberst: Conor Oberst". Pitchfork.
  11. ↑ Rolling Stone
  12. ↑ "The Short List of Things to Do: Conor Oberst". Time.
  13. ↑ Tucker, Ken (August 8, 2008), "Conor Oberst". Entertainment Weekly. (1005)
  14. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 207.
  15. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst" (in German). Hung Medien.
  16. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  17. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  18. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
  19. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst". Hung Medien.
  20. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst". Hung Medien.
  21. ↑ "Conor Oberst | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  22. ↑ "Conor Oberst Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  23. ↑ "Conor Oberst Chart History (Digital Albums)". Billboard.
  24. ↑ "Conor Oberst Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard.
  25. ↑ "Conor Oberst Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
  26. ↑ "Conor Oberst Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.
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