Customer Reviews
One of the best of 2008 
2008-05-30
This is the best reviewed album of the year so far on metacritic, and for good reason. It was recently part of the soundtrack for the fourth season finale of House, and generally consists of the sort of melancholic and mellow songs played on acoustic guitar that you would associate with Iron and Wine or Joseph Arthur. Some people don't like the album for precisely this reason, finding the emotional nature of the songs too cloying or downbeat for their tastes. But if you're looking for music to put you in a certain mood, I'd say it's the best "downbeat" album of the year in the same way that Sea Lion is the best "upbeat" album of the year.
even after listening... I still don't know what this guys voice is like... 
2008-05-09
I really love a wide variety of music types: Big Band, Blues, Bluegrass, Classical, indie, Jazz, Folk, Rock of all types... This isn't one!!! There are a couple of interesting tracks though, I sort-of enjoyed Blindsided and Creature Fear/Team but even those songs are pretty-much destroyed by his use of his falsetto vocals which make the lyrics almost unintelligible! I suppose, that may be an attraction that this guy has for some; but it doesn't work for me! Now, for most listeners, even those who enjoy indie and folk, I really think this CD is going to have extremely limited appeal. Well, all I can say is that you had better enjoy listening to someone trying to sing in his falsetto voice before you get this CD... I have no idea of what his real voice sounds like... I would like to know! DO NOT BUY THIS!!!
Re:Stacks 2008-05-05
Bon Iver is a stunning artist. The music is based on folk elements comprising of the most soothy of evening sky melodies that bands like My Morning Jacket try so hard to stress upon. I haven't heard any other album by the artist. I was delighted and the charm the music carries is much more than self-congratulating, it stresses further down the river.
Re:Stacks - for instance, has the kind of tune which melts away any tiredness that comes from a day in the hack or behind your office rack bending over to get a paper you dropped
Flume - This is definitely not a summer song but it's 40 degrees where I live and flume somehow helps. The song has the most irony induced of lyrics.
YOU WILL NOT be able to judge the lyrics on the album. You have no option but to like the lyrics. I feel "For Emma, Forever Ago" is not an album that can be neccessarily be judged because it is what music is. It would be unfair to scrutinize something so poignant and off-shore. The vocalist seems least bothered about the fact that he's singing and this is apparent in every song. Every single sung is with precision and melody. I don't like Wolves too much, not sure what was happening there.
Skinny Love brings a smile but is not the best song on the album.
You know what, I'm just gonna stop talking about the songs. The album cover could have been perfect because the sound is just delirious and uplifting. Bon Iver knows when to pause and sing. When to sing and then pause. Effortless good music.
So far this is my find of the year.
My friends think I'm song last king of Hotland for finding this particular artist.
The music heals. These songs are here to stay.
Believe the hype this time around. 2008-05-01
A dreamy, haunting, headphones in the dark escape. Re: Stacks, oh what a tune. What a tune.
Love it! 2008-04-26
Carl Lackey, owner of Cosmic Debris music shop and the best damned music recommender in the small nowhere place of Anniston of Alabama, played this one for me. I was instantly sold. I love this album. I'm really not sure why I like it, but I especially like "Flume," "Skinny Love," and "For Emma." After Carl un-shrinkwrapped about ten new CDs to let me sample, he played "For Emma, Forever Ago" and I said "that's the one!" I can't really put my finger on it. Anyone singing with a voice like his could easily go in a very bad and weird direction. Strangely enough, it works. Really good. My biggest problem with new music is much of it sounds very disconnected and the attempt to make it "artsy" and "oh so sophisticated" results in music that is a little inaccessible, easy to forget, and hard to sink your teeth into. Not the case with this CD. Lately, my favorite's have been Devendra Banhart, Iron and Wine, and Paul Duncan. I'm adding this as one of my new favorites.
Okay, I listened to some more and now I have decided that I like "re:stacks" the best. Also, I couldn't really get into "The Wolves" at first but when I had a chance to turn it up fairly loud and really listen to it a few times, it really grew on me. This song is really interesting. You think it is over (after thinking it is over several times already) and then it starts back which seems to have this weird effect on me, so that I don't actually want it to ever be over or I feel a little sad when it really is over. The song does build up to some sort of climax which is excellent. I'm not a musician so I don't really know how to describe any of this. All I can say is that this is a damn good album. I have been hearing more and more "new" good music lately and this is absolutely perfect.
Pure Emotion 2008-06-28
I love the emotion. It's something I listen to for the strong feelings it evokes, not lyrics or voice. Although the voice (falsetto or not) does add a tremendous amount of emotional depth. "All of his personal trouble, lack of perspective, heartache, longing, love, loss and guilt that had been stock piled over the course of the past six years, was suddenly purged into the form of..." the album For Emma, Forever Ago.
this years favorite!!!!!!! 2008-06-20
play and play this cd and you feel.....his voice......his music.... into you...its almost.....scary ....so beautifull...its heaven.... its what music is!!!!!!!!!
Hauntingly Beautiful 2008-06-17
I just wrote a very descriptive review for this and realized it was way too long. All I can say is that if you are at all on the fence about buying this album please go ahead and get it. This is an amazing piece of work in every possible way. This is what music is supposed to be.
Unlike anything I have heard before... 
2008-06-07
The album "For Emma, Forever Ago" is simply a breath of fresh air. I have never heard anything like it. I read in a magazine article how Bon Iver had been compared to Iron and Wine, and I love I&W, so I decided to check out the album. I was amazed at the pure vulnerability that is heard on this record. Reading the lyrics and listening to the songs are the best way to experience this one of a kind, genuinely original sound.
Hauntingly beautiful solo debut album 2008-06-04
As one of the likely thousands of folks who stumbled upon this album after "googling" the music from this Season's finale of House, M.D., I can only say that I wish I would have had this amazing disc in my collection months ago. I typically don't enjoy highly inflected vocal performances (Iver sings in a consistant falsetto throughout the entire album) but here it is not obtrusive. The innovative use of sounds, loops, etc, combined with Iver's falsetto don't get in the way at all of delievering a performance that is hauntingly beautiful and melodic. A wonderful solo debut effort!
