22, A Million (studio album) by Bon Iver

From micah88800 06/09/2020 13:57

2nd best Bon Iver. Its an album that will be overlooked by many for its ambitiously experimental sound, nearly too ambitious. You can hear a lot of Kanye here. But he doenst over extend himself on the experminenation, he nails it. This album is nearly perfect. Once you start seeing through some of the production gimmicks you realize how great these songs really are. Even GR33ks, a song with no instrumentation besides Justin's voice over auto-tune, manages to feel really impactful. 9.5/10 record for me

From Montpejo 03/15/2020 07:29

Highlights:

29 #Strafford APTS
8(circle)
666 ʇ
22(OVER S∞∞N)
715 – CRΣΣKS

I know he had to take another turn (because he did). Done with what he had done so very good before. A repeat would have been 'tragic'. He has my full attention. But I simply don't like the new, in this album. Some day again, next year, or in ten years he will make something that knocks me again. I feel sure of it. If not, he still has made two small miracles of albums.

Listen to Lambchop. He still tops Bon Iver, and is in the same weight-class, or genre...

Great album, I wish the single version that came out as the single for 22 over soon was on the album.

From mdbaxter 02/13/2018 20:06

This is a great album. Unlike anything I've heard before and definitely unlike any Bon Iver prior to it.

This album goes in a more interesting direction than previous works. While some of their earlier work is great, this takes the cake, if you ask me.

There is lot of emotion and creativity on this record. Don't even know what he's saying half the time, but I guess it really doesn't matter. The music finds a way of getting through.

From JulianR 12/27/2017 08:57

First off, I'd like to point out I wrote that previous comment before I learned that Vernon and Kanye collaborated some on MBDTF, so props to me I guess. Secondly, this album has grown on me a lot. I still feel the way I did earlier about the albums peaks, but I'm beginning to see some of the more subtle beauty in alot of these tracks.

From JulianR 12/01/2017 22:39

An interesting album. As much as the electronic aspect is focused on, it is really still just a folk album. The parralel to Age of Adz is apparent, but they are surprisingly dissimilar to me, in their composition and general feel. I should note here that Age of Adz, is one of my favorite albums, and I was thus very intrigued to listen to this one. The album that does come to mind listening to this is My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, mostly because of the vocals.

The first three songs feel a little under-developed. All sub-3 minutes, I keep waiting for them to break out into something bigger and more grandiose, like they might on MBDTF or Age of Adz. However, as we reach the middle of the album, the beauty in Vernon's subtler approach begins to reveal itself, though I still find it less appealing then Sufjan's operatic approach on Adz. 666 t and 8(circle), probably the highlights of the album, do seem to break out a bit toward a more maximalist sound, and hint at the heights that the album maybe could have reached.

From luigybetis 08/21/2017 18:32

After around 15 listens, I think this album is a masterpiece. It is Bon Iver's most cohesive effort, and one think I love on albums, it is a grower. I started by giving it a 75/100, now it is 95/100, and who knows if it will go to 100/100 in a few more listens...