It has been more than three years since I was first wooed by the raw, intimate album that is Bon Iver’s “For Emma, Forever Ago.” The long wait for a new album ended for fans this summer when sophomore LP “Bon Iver, Bon Iver” was finally released. This album was a bearer of great expectations – especially after Justin Vernon (the front man of Bon Iver) appeared in various side projects with bands like Volcano Choir, and even collaborations with Kanye West.
This new creation is a completely different flavor of Bon Iver. At first listen, the album is underwhelming and disappointing. It lacks the catchiness of “Forever Ago,” and the songs seem to blend together, creating one long, confusing and anticlimactic song. It appeared to be another pretentious “indie” album trying to convince the world of how unusual and “different” it is. Lyrically, “Bon Iver, Bon Iver” is very vague and enigmatic. It’s extremely difficult to understand the verses in each song, and the repeated chorus line, “Never gonna break, Never gonna break,” is the only easily comprehended part of any of the songs, but are powerfully piercing.
This is not a sing-a-long album. Where “Forever Ago” was raw, direct, focused, and driven mainly by haunting falsetto and acoustic guitar, “Bon Iver, Bon Iver” is vague, disorganized, and overwhelmed with peculiar sounds and excessive instruments. However, the album deserves a few more listens, because while it is instrumentally claustrophobic and confused, it still rings true to the spirit of Bon Iver by being passionately emotive, bold, and very beautiful. This is definitely an album you have to listen to a few times in order to appreciate.
The highlights of this album- “Holocene” and “Towers” take Justin Vernon’s heartbreaking vocals and compliment them with swelling tones, snare drums, trumpets (played by Sufjan Stevens), a bit of synth, piano and violin. However, both of these tracks are very guitar driven, which helps the listener follow along without losing sight of the direction of the song. In these two songs, as well as “Wash” and “Michicant,” the added instrumentation glorifies and amplifies the songs into something that builds until it becomes completely breathtaking.
However, the rest of the album contains mostly filler songs that could be decent, but lose their interest due to poor arrangement. For instance, “Minnesota, WI,” has a great chorus and is vocally stunning, but is completely inundated by random instruments that just seem to be thrown in for the sake of building up an instrument repertoire for the song, and with little regard to effect. The controversial “Beth/Rest,” has a great melody and mood. However, with the intrusion of auto tune, blaring saxophone, Casio drum hits, and multiple synths, the song turns into something messy, obnoxious, and cheesy.
Overall, it’s a bold, mixed-results album with a few gems, a few more fillers and a whole lot of emotion.
Final verdict: 7/10.
startop
September 12, 2011 at 1:45 pm
i think you may want to check your facts a bit. sufjan stevens did not play trumpet on this album. c.j. camerieri (who plays trumpet in sufjan’s band) is the trumpet player.
Brendon Mizner
September 12, 2011 at 3:28 pm
I have to admit that at first listen I was also disappointed with this album. But after taking it all in, I feel that it is an exceptional second album. Sure, it is not even close to the same style as “For Emma” was, but you can’t suffer a girlfriend break-up, a band break-up, and then go into seclusion in a cabin for three months every time you want to write a new album. After recently seeing a live Bon Iver show, I must say that the added instruments give this album an added dimension that, while not overly necessary, still delivers emotion through the music and lyrics of Justin Vernon. Michicant and Holocene continually speak volumes to my soul. The flow of Perth into Minnesota, WI followed by Holocene and Towers and Michicant could be on of the best five track sequences I’ve heard on an album in a long time, just saying.
John
September 13, 2011 at 6:48 am
You’re an idiot.
Kyle
September 14, 2011 at 6:53 am
This is the best album of the year. You crazy.
Gary
October 25, 2011 at 6:44 pm
good review, i mostly agree, but I’d give it a 5/10 for snobbiness.
Poor William
November 10, 2011 at 1:50 am
Very well-written and critically thought out review! Well done!