8 I The Behrend Beacon Bright Eyes' new style garners Bob Dylan Comparison Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst fights oncoming fame as a result of his new album By Scott Muska student life editor The rising popularity among indie music and the glorification of indie bands has been astounding in the last few years, especially among college stu dents. One of the hands who has been feeling the heat of the masses is the group Bright Eyes, who released their latest album, Cassadaga, last Tuesday. The band's rise to stardom and increasing popu larity can be attributed mainly to the group's lead vocalist and songwriter, Conor Oberst, who con veys a personality that is not at all interested in fame. This is evident in the song "Landlocked Blues," when he sings "I'm makin' a deal with the devils of fame, sayin' let me walk away, please." He may just have to accept the attention, though, because it doesn't seem that it is going to go away anytime soon. Cassadega is both the most antici pated and highly produced Bright Eyes album to date, due largly to the support that the hand is receiving from iTunes. Apple was offering pre orders on a digital version of the album with an exclusive bonus song for the better part of a month prior to the release, and the video for the first sin gle, "Four Winds," has been receiving heavy play on the MTV channels. It is no secret that the lyrics form the nucleus of the band, as Oberst has garnered a reputation as a possible heir to Bob Dylan's folk singing throne by many critics, though he is known far and wide as a sloppy guitar player with a less-than-angelic voice. This has changed with Cassadaga. with instru mental support from the two other "permanent members" of the band, Mike Mogis and Nate Walcott, who have seemingly taken the melodic pressure off of Oberst and allowed him to focus more on the lyrical aspect of the songs. "Best Song for Each Day of the Week" Sunday: U - Monday: New Order- "Blue Monday" Tuesday: Lynyrd Skynyrd- "Tuesday's Gone" Wednesday:Hey Mercedes- "Our Weekend Starts on Wednesday" Thursday: Donovan- "Jersey Thursday" Friday: The Cure- "Friday I'm in Love" Saturday: Elton John- "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" "Top Five Ska Bands of All Time" By Andrew McLachlan 5. Mu33o 4. Reel Big Fish 3. Five Iron Frenzy 2. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones 1. Less Than Jake By Chris LaFuria "Sunday Bloody Sunday ri LME.I IT Li r'lr \,:,) On this album, Oberst has become more evi dently parallel with the legendary Bob Dylan through his protests songs, which include the opening track "Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed)," and the deeply heartfelt song "No One Would Riot for Less," where he illustrates his strong stance against the war in Iraq and his disagreement with the American government. The single "Four Winds" also shows Oberst's stance against organized religion when he sings that "The Bible's blind, the Torah's deaf, the Koran is mute. If you burn them all together. you get close to the truth." The album also addresses Oberst's trials and tribulations with women and love in the song "Make a Plan to Love Me," which has been spec ulated to be about his relationship with celebrity Wynona Rider. He also discusses a relationship with an older woman in the song "Classic Cars. - To ward off the unwelcome and daunting effects of fame, Bright Eyes have taken measures to ward off listeners who are used to more pop and less brutal music. One of these tactics has been to frighten them, which they do on the first track of Cassadaga by having a two minute long introduc tion of a ghostly and haunting female voice ram bling about the nature of the Cassadaga spiritual ist camp, which is the inspiration for the name of the album and au area that Oberst visited before making the album. All things considered, this is one of Bright Eyes' and Oberst's greatest musical accomplishments. It is arranged beautifully and there is not one unlis tenable song on the entire record. It could very well become the band's best selling album to date, and it could shoot them into the world of stardom, a world that they seem to want to avoid, though true talent and great music are very hard things to College Medium 1 Topping & Cheesestix $9.97 1 Extra Large 3 Topping $11.98 Don't for Offers good 7 Days a Week from 4pm -11 pm Box Office Breakdown Aprill3-15, 2007 1. Disturbia $22,224,982 2. Blades of Glory $13,826,38. 3. Meet the Robinsons $12,467,155 4. Perfect Stranger $11,206,163 5. Are We Done Yet? $8,952,686 * Statistics courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo.com "Top Five Super Villains" By Scott Musky Senator McCarthy Darth Vader The Juggernaut Lex Luthor Saw ~~: ~ ~'nvl.:; E. • !c ~. - r -- i - ni [ - I Lij Better Ingredients. Better Pi77'd. Large 1 Topping $7.50 2 Medium Cheese $9.98 et 2 Liters it Sides Better Service Ask for plates, cups, napkins DMERig, Friday, April 20, 2 Specials
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