Bon Iver, Bon Iver
by Bon Iver

i loved the first album but this is some pretentious, over-the-top, pseudo-intellectual horseshit. im sick of artists making music for the critics (9.5 on pitchfork, youve got to be fucking kidding me) and not for themselves. vernon did exactly what i thought he would, get really famous way too quick, let it all go to his head and try to make some folk version of MBDTF. theres no emotion in this album while the first one was brimming with it. this is vernon knowing hes rich and famous and saying "lets get as many producers in here as possible and make a masterpiece" sadly it doesnt work like that. you can too easily see thru the facade, especially with the lyrics which generally make no sense and are a clear attempt to sound super poetic and complex for the sake of sounding just that. with that being said the music on most tracks isnt bad, its enjoyable mostly, but it all just seems a little forced and his voice and lyrics emulate an egotism that only mr. west can full off. but the last track is the devil, straight up hell in musical form; it sounds like a rick astley tribute band mixed with the score of an under-budgeted porno circa 1986. and if one needs more proof that vernons probably gone off the deep end, he's on the tracklist for lil waynes "tha carter IV" eesh (Edited)

I got to admit: I am extremely open-minded when it comes to new music, and discovering new sounds. And considering Bon Iver's record is ranked among the best of 2011, I got super disappointed. I may probably have terrible taste, I don't know, but this album seriously bored the hell out of me. Unimpressive, mellow, and yes, boring. I felt as if I had heard the same song over and over again, but divided in 11 tracks. Terrible and pretty over-rated album. (Edited)

This is an interesting album. It is considerably different in tone than For Emma, Forever Ago. I actually had never heard of Bon Iver prior to seeing them featured on a cover of the Rolling Stone. I think I had heard of Justin Vernon though prior and the article had mentioned him working with Kanye, so that made me interested after seeing that.

Gave a listen and Perth to me was an outstanding opener. I also got a chance to see them in concert and being five feet away from the speaker on this song was an awesome experience and really made me appreciate it even more haha. Minnesota, WI is another good song. I like the funky opening. A big problem though I have with the album is 1) A lot of it is hard to understand lyrically and I think that's the point. It is supposed to move you more through music. The lyrics are just a passenger on this album in the vehicle the music. And 2) Some of the lyrics like wtf do they mean. You need a theasaurus for some of it.

In Minnesota, WI one of the lines is like Armour let it through borne the arboretic truth you kept posing...what's that mean? lol But some songs are beautiful with their words particularly Perth and Holocene. Holocene is one of the best songs I've ever heard. Might be a weird comparison but this to me is kind of like a indie folk version of Chrstopher Cross's song Sailing. Both are very soothing songs and hypnotic in their sound and make you appreciate living.

The middle of the album is not fascinating and slows down a lot. Songs start to sound the same. Towers is good. I think it's about a relationship Justin had in college. Hinnom, TX, Wash. and Michicant probably the weakeest songs on the album. Calgary is by far Bon Iver's most underrated song and in looking at their catalog that could be the one that's most underappreciated. It's a good song especially when it picks up in the end. Lisbon, OH is a nice instrumenatal piece. It's a quiet song like you're walking in a downtown of some small town late at night. Vernon does a good job with the instrumental tracks. Team from For Emma is phenomonal and one of the best instrumental tracks I've heard.

Lastly, the album closes with Beth/Rest, which is very hit or miss to listeners. I love it. It's got a very late 80's sound to it and I tend to like that kind of music. It reminds me of Bruce Hornsby and the song in theme actually reminds me a lot of his closing song the Red Plains on the Way it is. Lyrically, again it's a very tough song to decipher, but I think the ultimate message is that the memories you have with people will always be there, even if you're no longer in contact with the person.

It's not for everyone, but I'm a fan of this album. It's a very soothing album and Vernon does a good job depicting place and time in his songs. This is the album that made me a fan of Vernon's. Bon Iver's future kind of looks up in the air now, but I'm looking forward to the rest of Vernon's career.

From CellarDoor TOP 100 COMMENTER 12/11/2011 15:52 | #32696 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

"Beth / Rest" is easily one of the worst tracks this year. It ruins the whole album in one mess of fac simile 80s synths. Eughhh (Edited)

For Emma is my second favorite song of all time. For Emma Forever Ago is my favorite album of all f*cking time. Holocene is good, the sexy jazz start of Minnesota, Wi is good, Towers is good, and so is Michicant. Wash comes the closest to the epicness of For Emma Forever Ago, and the rest of the songs... They suck. It feels like he made a U-turn in his music, but at least the album flows decent, it doesn't just feel like a collection of songs, with the exception of Beth/Rest *shudders*. I agree with tbau. Fuck you pitchfork.