A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995–1997

A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997
Compilation album by Bright Eyes
Publication (s)	January 1998
Label (s)	Saddle Creek
Format (s)	CD
Genre (s)	Folk Indie rock Singer-songwriter Lo-fi
Title (number)	20th
running time	approx. 77 minutes
occupation	Conor Colonel
chronology - A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997 Letting Off the Happiness (1998)

A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997 is Bright Eyes' debut album . It was recorded between 1995 and 1997 and released via Saddle Creek in January 1998 .

The album was recorded almost single-handedly by Conor Oberst and - in contrast to later releases by Bright Eyes - contains very few contributions from other musicians. It can therefore more or less be viewed as a one-man project by Conor Oberst. (see also section Musicians involved )

Track list

1. "The Invisible Gardener" - 2:24
2. "Patient Hope in New Snow" - 4:07
3. "Saturday as Usual" - 3:38
4. "Falling Out of Love at This Volume" - 2:17
5. "Exaltation on a Cool Kitchen Floor" - 2:26
6. "The Awful Sweetness of Escaping Sweat" - 4:05
7. "Puella Quam Amo Est Pulchra" - 3:11
8. "Driving Fast Through a Big City at Night" - 2:11
9. "How Many Lights Do You See?" - 3:31
10. "I Watched You Taking Off" - 3:57
11. "A Celebration Upon Completion" - 4:15
12. "Emily, Sing Something Sweet" - 3:01
13. "All of the Truth" - 3:44
14. "One Straw (Please)" - 2:49
15. "Purple" - 2:51
16. "A Few Minutes on Friday" - 4:08
17. "Supriya" - 2:29
18. "Solid Jackson" - 4:31
19. "Feb. 15th" - 4:06 am
20. "The 'Feel Good' Revolution" - 3:31

style

The album sounds very lo-fi due to the lack of professional recording technology . Most of the songs are sparsely orchestrated. Conor Oberst's idiosyncratic singing is therefore often the focus.

reception

The album did not receive much attention when it was released, so the few existing reviews only look at the album in retrospect, when Bright Eyes was already a certain level of awareness.

Allmusic rated the album on the occasion of a re-release in June 2000 with 2.5 out of 5 points. On the one hand, the reviewer praised the songwriting skills of the young Conor Oberst ( "Even at a young age, it's clear that Oberst is an extremely talented songwriter" ), but criticized in parts the singing ( "there are plenty of sour moments [...], but they are almost always the result of the singer's delivery " )

Participating musicians

• Conor Colonel
• Ted Stevens - drums on The Awful Sweetness of Escaping Sweat
• Todd Fink - drums on A Celebration Upon Completion
• M. Bowen - drums on One Straw (Please)
• Neely Jenkins - backing vocals on Feb 15th
• Matthew Oberst, Sr. - guitar on The 'Feel Good' Revolution

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Allmusic review