2LP – Black Vinyl.

About the album:
The first three are innocent in a way, because we didnt have an audience when we were making them, Oberst says. But fromLiftedon, I was definitely aware of an audience.Liftedwas well-received right away, and then everything happened withWide AwakeandDigital Ash. Thosetwo albums came out simultaneously. And their lead singles Take It Easy (Love Nothing), from the austere, remoteDigital Ash, and Lua, from the warm,folkyWide Awake– debuted in the top two slots on the Billboard Hot 100. First Day of My Life, also fromWide Awake, would later be voted the Number Onelove song of all time by NPR Musics readers poll.

Bright Eyeshad officially broken through. It was a heady, exciting time, but also fraughtand tense, both because of the bands careening new fame,and because of the state of the world. When Bright Eyes made their Tonight Show debut in 2006, they chose to perform none of their shiny new hits, insteaddelivering a searing, harrowing rendition of their caustic anti-Bush anthem, When The President Talks To God.

These days, Oberst is still amusing himself by messing with the extremes Bright Eyes baked into this eras releases, extremes that reflected thepolar, with-us-or-against-us, fractious feel of the times. The reworkedDigital Ashtracks, originally so clean and elegant, are, on the companion EP, full ofharmonica and mandolins folky vibes, Oberst says. While the analogue sweetness of theWide Awakesongs have been put through a detached nihilism filter.

Tracklist:

Side A
1. The Big Picture
2. Method Acting
3. False Advertising
4. You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will.

Side B
1. Lover I Dont Have to Love
2. Bowl of Oranges
3. Dont Know When But a Day is Gonna Come

Side C
1. Nothing Gets Crossed Out
2. Make War
3. Waste of Paint

Side D
1. From a Balance Beam
2. Laura Laurent
3. Lets Not Shit Ourselves (to Love And to Be Loved)