Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 13, 2002 | |||
Recorded | December 2001 – January 2002 | |||
Studio | Presto!, Lincoln, Nebraska | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 73:08 | |||
Label | Saddle Creek (US) LBJ-46 | |||
Producer | Mike Mogis | |||
Bright Eyes chronology | ||||
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Singles from Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground | ||||
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Singles from Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil,Keep Your Ear to the Ground:A Companion | ||||
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Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil,Keep Your Ear to the Ground is the fourth studio album by Bright Eyes and the 46th release of Saddle Creek Records. The band made its national television debut in support of the album,performing "The Trees Get Wheeled Away" (a track that was not on the album) on the Late Show with David Letterman .
The album will be reissued by Dead Oceans alongside a six-track companion EP on November 11,2022. [2]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 77/100 [3] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [4] |
Blender | [5] |
The Guardian | [6] |
Los Angeles Times | [7] |
NME | 7/10 [8] |
Pitchfork | 7.7/10 [9] |
Q | [10] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [11] |
Spin | 8/10 [1] |
The Village Voice | B+ [12] |
Lifted received positive reviews,ranking fourth on Rolling Stone's list of the best albums in 2002,and was lauded as a breakthrough album for Bright Eyes and Conor Oberst. Kludge included it on their list of best albums of 2002. [13] Blender ranked the album at 52 on their list of "100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever",which appeared in the December 2007 issue. [14]
Lifted was the band's first to reach The Billboard 200,spending one week at No. 161. The set has sold 184,000 copies in the United States,according to Nielsen SoundScan. [15] As of 2009 it has sold over 340,000 copies in the US. [16]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The Big Picture" | 8:42 |
2. | "Method Acting" | 3:42 |
3. | "False Advertising" | 5:52 |
4. | "You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will." | 3:25 |
5. | "Lover I Don't Have to Love" | 4:00 |
6. | "Bowl of Oranges" | 4:48 |
7. | "Don't Know When But a Day Is Gonna Come" | 6:31 |
8. | "Nothing Gets Crossed Out" | 4:34 |
9. | "Make War" | 6:16 |
10. | "Waste of Paint" | 6:29 |
11. | "From a Balance Beam" | 3:40 |
12. | "Laura Laurent" | 4:56 |
13. | "Let's Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and to Be Loved)" | 10:07 |
Total length: | 73:08 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "The Big Picture" (Companion version) | |
2. | "You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will." (Companion version) | 3:51 |
3. | "Laura Laurent" (Companion version) | |
4. | "Nothing Gets Crossed Out" (Companion version) | |
5. | "November" | |
6. | "Waste of Paint" (Companion version) |
Chart (2002) | Peak position |
---|---|
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [17] | 31 |
UK Albums (OCC) [18] | 131 |
US Billboard 200 [19] | 161 |
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [20] | 2 |
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [21] | 11 |
Bright Eyes is an American indie rock band founded by singer-songwriter and guitarist Conor Oberst. It consists of Oberst, multi-instrumentalist and producer Mike Mogis, arranger, composer and trumpet and piano player Nate Walcott, and a rotating line-up of collaborators drawn primarily from Omaha's indie music scene. Between 1998 and 2011, the band's albums were released through Saddle Creek Records, a Nebraska-based label founded by Justin Oberst and Mogis. In January 2020, the band announced their return, having signed with Dead Oceans.
The Faint is an American indie rock band. Formed in Omaha, Nebraska, the band consists of Todd Fink, Graham Ulicny, Dapose and Clark Baechle. The Faint was originally known as Norman Bailer and included Conor Oberst. He quit shortly after the band was formed, though the Faint continued to share a spot with Bright Eyes on Saddle Creek Records.
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Every Day and Every Night is an EP by Nebraskan indie rock band Bright Eyes. It became the 30th release by Saddle Creek Records on November 1, 1999.
Conor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, the Faint, Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Monsters of Folk, and Better Oblivion Community Center. Oberst was named the Best Songwriter of 2008 by Rolling Stone magazine.
The Rising is the twelfth studio album by American recording artist Bruce Springsteen, released on July 30, 2002, on Columbia Records. In addition to being Springsteen's first studio album in seven years, it was also his first with the E Street Band in 18 years. Based in large part on Springsteen's reflections during the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the album predominantly centers upon themes of relationship struggles, existential crisis and social uplift.
Turn On the Bright Lights is the debut studio album by American rock band Interpol. It was released in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2002, and in the United States the following day, through independent record label Matador Records. The album was recorded in November 2001 at Tarquin Studios in Connecticut, and was co-produced, mixed and engineered by Peter Katis and Gareth Jones.
Digital Ash in a Digital Urn is the seventh studio album by American band Bright Eyes, released on January 25, 2005 by Saddle Creek Records, the same day as their sixth album I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. It peaked at number 15 in the US and 43 in the UK. In US it has sold 268,000 units. In 2007 it was awarded a gold certification from the Independent Music Companies Association, which indicated sales of at least 100,000 copies throughout Europe. In contrast to the acoustic nature of I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning, Digital Ash in a Digital Urn is more electronic.
When I Look in Your Eyes is the fifth studio album by Canadian singer Diana Krall, released on June 8, 1999, by Verve Records. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year, the first time in 25 years that a jazz album was nominated in that category, and won two awards for Best Jazz Vocal and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical at the 42nd Grammy Awards. The album also won the Juno Award for Best Vocal Jazz Album in 2000.
Murray Street is the twelfth studio album by American rock band Sonic Youth, released on June 25, 2002 by DGC Records. Murray Street is the first album by the band to feature Jim O'Rourke as an official fifth member to bolster the group's sound.
Todd Fink is the lead singer of the band The Faint. He attended Omaha's Westside High School.
Plans is the fifth studio album by indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, released August 30, 2005 on Atlantic Records.
"Lover I Don't Have to Love" is a song by Bright Eyes released as a single in 2002 and released on the album Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground.
Quality is the debut studio album by American rapper Talib Kweli. The album was released on November 19, 2002, by Rawkus Records. It received wide critical acclaim and had some commercial appeal from the song "Get By", produced by Kanye West. Kludge magazine included it on their list of best albums of 2002.
Clark Alan Baechle is an American founding member of the Omaha-based electronic rock band The Faint, along with his brother, Todd Fink. Although he is primarily known for playing drums, he also sings backup vocals and is heavily involved with other aspects of the band's output, such as programming electronic instruments and sequencers, and designing and programming lights for their live shows.
Jiha Lee is the former keyboardist of the Good Life and has performed with Bright Eyes. Having left the Good Life after their second album, Black Out, she returned to record the track "Inmates" for Album of the Year. Her recordings with Bright Eyes include vocals and flute on tracks from Fevers and Mirrors, Lifted, and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. She also played the flute on the track "Hail To Whatever You Found in the Sunlight That Surrounds You" on the Rilo Kiley album The Execution of All Things.
Cassadaga is the eighth studio album by Bright Eyes, released in the UK on April 9, 2007 and in the US on April 10. Around 25 to 30 songs were recorded in 2006, with 13 of these appearing on the final track list. The album is named after the town of Cassadaga, Florida, a community of mediums and followers of spiritualism. Z Berg of the Like, Sherri DuPree and Stacy King of Eisley as well as solo artist Rachael Yamagata all appear on this album. The first single, "Four Winds" was released on March 6, 2007, from the Four Winds EP with five B-sides not on Cassadaga.
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