I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
by Bright Eyes
User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 214 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 177 out of 214
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 214
  3. Negative: 23 out of 214

Review this album

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. JayH
    Jan 25, 2005
    10
    Connor Oberst shows his ingenuity and talent in I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. His use of folk music, combined with his beautiful lyrics make this album worth buying twenty times over.
  2. loren
    Jan 25, 2005
    10
    Simply brilliant, a timeless album that encapsulates a generation more vividly than any other could
  3. DelboyS
    Jan 25, 2005
    6
    I have yet to understand the hype surrounding the obvious but uneven talents of Oberst. While this album is well written, it is hardly a masterpiece and it is only the talents of Emmylou Harris that make this more than an average record. The best I can say about this album is that Oberst finally stops whining like a kitten caught in a combine and actually sings.
  4. CassiusClay
    Jan 25, 2005
    10
    Album of the year!
  5. victorh
    Jan 24, 2005
    9
    a solid, acoustic album that, though seemingly lacking in the emotion of earlier works, contains just as much depth found in the beautiful melodies
  6. Jon
    Jan 24, 2005
    9
    A stark contrast to Digital Ash, and not just because of the difference in sound. While Digital Ash is easily the worst Bright Eyes release ever, I'm Wide Awake is by far the best. The experimental approach to Digital Ash is admirable, but I think it is now clear what Bright Eyes should be sticking to; raw emotionl alt-country.
  7. margo
    Jan 24, 2005
    9
    All in all a great album.. I picked it up at one of his concerts and it's absolutely amazing. Each song is beautiful and I would highly recommend it.
  8. jasonw
    Jan 24, 2005
    9
    musically its a notch above mediocre.......lyrically, unmatched in the last decade. guess im bias because he reminds me of myself in the young, rhetorical, and good looking kind of way (me being a smartass)....but he is quite the lyracist. keep it up conor
  9. TimB
    Jan 23, 2005
    10
    breathtaking
  10. LFirebrand
    Jan 22, 2005
    10
    Oberst at his best. Lyrically tight with no awkward turns of phrase, the emotions are lucid but more reigned in than on previous Bright Eyes records. The only miscalculation is the re-worked "Landlocked Blues," previously recorded as the superior "One Foot in Front of the Other."
  11. adamj
    Jan 21, 2005
    10
    Breathtakingly beautiful. Putting a Picasso picture into words.
next
Page:

Awards & Rankings

17
#17 Best Album of 2005
28
#28 Most Discussed Album of 2005
28
#28 Most Shared Album of 2005

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Universal acclaim - based on 33 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 33
  3. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. Stylus Magazine
    100
    Bright Eyes may well be on the verge of finally bridging the gap between his precocious talent and the maturity of an ageless songwriter.
    Read full review
  2. AllMusic
    40
    Far from being the second coming of Dylan, Oberst is as precious as Paul Simon, but without any sense of rhyme or meter or gift for imagery, puking out lines filled with cheap metaphors and clumsy words that don't scan.
    Read full review
  3. The A.V. Club
    80
    A culmination of Bright Eyes' decade-long habit of reviving folk-rock conventions and social engagement for a generation raised on the celebratory egomania of rap and reality television.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »