Written by: Elijah Polance
Discussions about favorite “three album runs” in music are common among online music forums and influencers. As the title suggests, it explores the three best consecutive albums released by an artist.
For me, no artist is more deserving of the crown of succession than the indie band Bright Eyes, fronted by Conor Oberst. Their early 2000s run, starting with Fevers and Mirrors, continuing to Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, and ending with I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning, is something to marvel at.
But raw quality isn’t what makes these three albums stand stronger than the trios other artists muster. Instead, it is how these albums build off one another in lyrical content, reflecting Oberst’s maturing perspective, and the complementing genre progression that make this run shine.
Fevers and Mirrors, released in 2000, starts off the sequence. It’s made up of standard indie rock with some indie folk thrown in, but there are bits of lo-fi production and emo influence along the way. Oberst’s vocal delivery is emotionally strained, sometimes near instability.
There’s a lot of angst and pessimism with Oberst’s jaded narration. The “woe is me” approach can feel immature, even though the lyrics keep from self-indulgence. The band even pokes fun at their gloominess with a fake interview towards the end, but self-awareness doesn’t fully absolve them from the dramatic approach.
Next is Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, released in 2002. The record has a more even split between Bright Eyes’ folk and rock sides and is more orchestral, using choirs, strings, and horns. Oberst performance remains energetic, but he sounds more relaxed with less emotional tension in his voice.
There’s still a hefty amount of negativity, but it’s offset by some lightness and naivety, with Oberst singing about love, enduring, and straight optimism. It’s more mature than their prior album, albeit not by much. It’s like a teenager moving past an edgy phase and entering one of young, poetic sensibility.
To round it off is I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning, released in 2005. As solid as Bright Eyes’ prior two albums are, this blows them out of the water. It’s almost entirely folk-driven, with a handful of songs comprised of only acoustic guitar. While Oberst has occasional passionate outbursts, most of his vocals are gentle, sometimes merely a whisper.
But more than anything, Oberst’s writing comes full circle. His cynicism is almost gone, replaced with melancholic self-reflection and restrained frustration. It’s an album about addiction, anti-war sentiment, love, and loss. Oberst has talked about how this was the first time he had enough experience to really know the world while still having some innocence to entertain hope. His newfound knowledge packages this album as a more polished and mature project than anything Bright Eyes accomplished before.
While there’s a fair share of flaws spread out among these three albums, it’s how the band patches them up and evolves, both musically and lyrically, that makes this my favorite three album run.
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