Black Sheep Boy

Rate It! Avg: 4.5 (694 ratings)
Sample Album
ALBUM INFORMATION

Total Tracks: 11   Total Length: 47:39

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all time fav

megrowland

This album is one of my all time favorites.

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The Best

jongriffin93

One of my favorite albums of this decade.

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Their Best

EMUSIC-00C8CBC6

In my opinion, Black Sheep Boy is the best effort of Okkervil River.

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Love the entire album

Speculus

Every single cut is good, but my personal favorite is "In A Radio Song".

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I am in love with Will Sheff('s voice).

paultaylor_2009

What I love most about Okkervil River is not their songcraft or imaginative lyrics, but simply the voice of Will Sheff. There is something truly beautiful about its meekness - as if his voice's unsteadiness and limited range are not points of criticism, but ultimately its most endearing aspects. Look no further than "For Real" where his voice seems to materialize out of the same darkness he describes ("It's just a drive into the dark stretch / Long stretch of night/ Will really stretch this shaking mind"), and despite the fact that his range is pushed to the limit it seems that this is where Sheff should always exist - right on the edge. However, it seems that "For Real" sets the standard too high as the later tracks pale in comparison. The rest of the album is highly listenable, (the varied instrumentation and rapid dynamic changes should make Shearwater and OR fans alike feel at home) but Sheff's vocals are never truly tested again - something I would have liked to see.

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Top 5 Ever For Me

Macky

I can't get enough of this one. This album is just packed with emotion, be it Will Sheff's voice, tiny little horn parts, or huge drum drums fills. This baby has it all. Its taken me a couple of years, but I think this is probably one of my Top 5 favorite reocrds ever. A true masterpiece.

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a real grower

neuroticcritic

This album slowly sinks its teeth into you, and refuses to let go! Remarkable! I completely overlooked it when it was first released, and about a year later, it caught up with me.

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Awesome

Deanbitterman

This band is incredible, and even better if you have the opportunity to see them live. I suggest downloading their entire catalog.

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really really good

Sair

great album that i discovered thanks to KEXP. i agree with other reviewers that if you like this album, you'll like the others as well. a few great tracks to sample to see if you'll like it are "For Real" and the title track, though I enjoy the entire album.

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the good part

snatcherific

If you're saving your allowance, styick with track 2, "For Real." It's what makes this a five star review, and the 16 bucks I paid for this at the corner record shop was worth it for that track alone.

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Want to get a snapshot of last year's best music? In our Best of 2011 radio station, you'll hear songs from the artists who provided our 2011 soundtrack. No matter what your taste -- indie rock, jazz, doom metal or avant-folk, you'll find it here in eMusic's Best of 2011 Radio. more »

They Say All Media Guide

Okkervil River continue to break the glass between messy nerves and orchestrated elegance on their fourth full-length, Black Sheep Boy, titled after the lovely song penned by Tim Hardin with which the band opens the record. However, their take on the song feels a bit rushed and uneventful, which knocks the tender breath from the lyrics and presents a clumsy start. Opening the record this way is the singular yet major complaint of the album, ironically pushing “Black Sheep Boy,” the intended centerpiece, to the outskirts of the album’s overall feel. Thankfully, the song spans only a short minute, so when “For Real” gently slips into motion, then cracks with a surprise beating of guitar stabs, that’s when the confident dynamics Okkervil River established on their fine 2003 album, Down the River of Golden Dreams, break free. This confidence never wanes through the remainder of the album; it is here that the bandmembers sound like they are emotionally attached to the material and here that the album should’ve begun. Black Sheep Boy’s mix of warm strings with Wurlitzer, barroom piano, horns, and vibes effectively creates a spatial and moody balance to the electric guitar attacks and roomy drums. With these songs, clear desperation creeps through and gives the impression that the band could’ve fallen to pieces at any moment — but somehow held it all together — and the catalyst of the whole passage is Will Sheff’s thick, spitting voice pleading with the cascading dissonance and majesty of the arrangements. Tracks like “In a Radio Song,” a song similar to the moody explorations of Saturday Looks Good to Me’s precursory group, Flashpapr, are where these arrangements take the foreground, but equally effective are the forward, uptempo tracks that are less expansive, such as the super-hooky “The Latest Toughs,” with its compressed falsetto singsong backing vocals, and the bouncy screaming “Black.” Save the title track, Okkervil River continue to deliver the quality of Down the River of Golden Dreams, and though sonic evolution is barely existent from that recording, perhaps it doesn’t need to be; certainly Sheff’s songwriting still floats above that of his peers. – Gregory McIntosh

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