Albums That Will Change Your Life (and Where to Buy Them): Bright Eyes- LIFTED or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground

We here at Vinyl Revival deeply love music and want to share with you important albums that are on vinyl for your listening pleasure. That is why every day we will have a segment on an album that will change your life and where you can find these albums new on vinyl.

So to start, we offer to you the 2002 indie/folk classic LIFTED or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground by Bright Eyes on Saddle Creek Records. For anyone unfortunate enough to never have heard Bright Eyes, they are the brainchild of lead singer Conor Oberst, who began the band in 1995 at the age of 14. Oberst has often been praised as the next Bob Dylan, no small task to live up to.

While there have been a number of album released by Bright Eyes since Lifted, it remains their most acclaimed work and a benchmark for Oberst as a song writer. Lifted is an album that was meant for a record player. It has an earthy, home-recorded sound which resonates on vinyl as Oberst's strained voice spits out some of his most personal lyrics about love, loss , family and a sense of hopelessness. The inside of this double LP contains lyrics in the style of a novel, with each song acting as a chapter in the story. We recommend sitting down, reading the lyrics throughout the album's hour and 13 minutes and enjoying what the full experience has to offer to you.

If you live in Syracuse like myself and want to purchase Lifted, I recommend checking out The Sound Garden at 124 Walton Street (keep it tuned in here for a full look at The Sound Garden in the coming days). If you are not from Syracuse, or are afraid to go out in public, you can click right here and buy the album from the official Saddle Creek store. This is a reissued album on 180 gram virgin vinyl (instead of the typical recycled plastic), which means it will have a higher sound quality and also will be tougher to wear out. Also, Saddle Creek is kind enough to offer a free digital download of the album with the purchase of the double LP for those of you who are iPod friendly. So what are you waiting for, get on it and enjoy Bright Eyes and while you wait for your album to arrive here's the music video for the first single off the album, Bowl of Oranges.