For Emma, Forever Ago
| Bon Iver
For Emma, Forever Ago
For Emma, Forever Ago is the debut studio album by American indie folk band Bon Iver. It was first self-released in July 2007, and later saw wide release on the Jagjaguwar label in February 2008. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Vernon gives a soulful performance full of intuitive swells and fades, his phrasing and pronunciation making his voice as much a purely sonic instrument as his guitar.
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Consequence of Sound
I prefer my “Skinny Love” like I prefer most of my music (that is, sung by Brian Fallon), but I am glad to be able to give genuine props to the man who wrote one of my favorite tracks. I’m sorry I hated you for so long, Justin Vernon.
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Consequence of Sound
Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago Remains Universally Relatable 10 Years Later.
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Rolling Stone
One of the all-time great breakup albums, not to mention one of the era’s surprise success stories.
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A.V. Club Music
The album evocatively conjures the loneliness of a long northern winter, placing Vernon's lovely songs in a distant, blurred vacuum of physical and emotional isolation.
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The True Blue Note
There is an incredible power in silence. For Emma is just as much about the instrumentation and vocals as it is the emptiness that occupies the remaining space on each song.
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Write the World
Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, holds a kind of transcendence that goes uneclipsed today.
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BBC
Something utterly enthralling from start to finish.
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Drowned in Sound
This album is simply wondrous.
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Uncut
A remote cabin in Wisconsin. Two dead deer for food. A guitar. The result? A classic debut album.
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The Guardian
Nothing is overplayed, but nothing feels throwaway either.
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The Guardian
For Emma, Forever Ago is a real work of inspiration and a totally unexpected one at that.
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KRUI.fm
The influence and impact of “For Emma, Forever Ago” cannot be overstated. Who could’ve guessed that one of the most iconic albums of the 2000’s would come from one man isolated in the Wisconsin woods?
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Secret Meeting
Vernon’s self-imposed imprisonment may actually have helped his recovery and we end with a more hopeful and resolved emotional consciousness.
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SPIN
Play Emma when your fire burns low. It’ll help keep you warm.
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Stanford Daily
Since “For Emma,” Vernon has become one of modern music’s most versatile, vital figures.
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Splice Today
Justin Vernon went into the woods to recover from a breakup, and in the process he created a modern masterpiece.
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Identity Theory
As Vernon moves from chaos to calm, from anger to contentment, he succeeds in making something haunting and believable.
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Immortal Reviews
Bon Iver's Cold, Heartbroken "For Emma, Forever Ago" Still Rings Powerfully.
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All Music
A haunting debut album.
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Uproxx
A Cathartic Triumph.
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Fringe Arts
I could sort of keep writing this play forever, there’s just so much more I want to explore.
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Much
For Emma, Forever Ago changed the folk music landscape forever.
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Treble Zine
For Emma is, at its very core, a meditative canvas on which to spill the inner haunts of a gifted scribbler cut off from influence and left to his own resources.
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Sputnik Music
Classic.
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Yahoo!
Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago Remains Universally Relatable 10 Years Later
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Albumism
Earnest-singer-songwriter music is not usually my style, but For Emma, Forever Ago is undeniably good.
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musicOMH
It’s rare to be so gushing about a debut album – yet after living with this album for a few weeks, you’ll be hard pressed to find any flaws.
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Radio UTD
In my opinion Bon Iver’s falsetto gives what TV on the Radio’s falsetto could not deliver and I can’t wait to hear what else Vernon has to offer!
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Lstnd
For Emma is a perfect foray into the mind of Bon Iver.
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Pop Matters
Like Phosphorescent, Bon Iver mines fragile beauty from acoustic guitar, floating vocals, and low-fi recording.
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Music Feeds
We don’t keep in touch as often as we used to, but I find myself returning to you, like clockwork, every winter – like the seasons, I too have changed. But you serve as a reminder of the boy I was, and the man I hope to god I’m becoming.
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The Mezzanine
For Emma, Forever Ago is a must-listen album.
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Melting Album Reviews
Rarely ever is it that an album achieves such a profound impact, born from the heaviest of emotions.
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Sound Output
No matter how the album is perceived, from a critical, analytical standpoint or simply as a listener, it is unique.
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Colorado Sound
The album cements itself as a singular masterpiece.
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Chimpomatic
Stacks brings the record full circle and tapers it off with delicate melody, gentle, resolved guitar strums and the sweetest vocals on the record. It leaves you with quiet resolution and the silence that reigns after the song is finished is all the richer for the sounds that have proceeded it.
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Sound Opinions
The production is grating, the lyrics nonsensical and the vibe drippy and snoozy.
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Indie Muse
Bon Iver’s acoustic strumming and unique and soulful vocals make listening to him therapeutic and pleasurable.
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RTE
It's an over-used expression, but this is truly an album delivered direct from the rawest recesses of the heart.
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Popdose
For Emma, Forever Ago is very old sounding, very ethereal, very far away, and not because it’s produced poorly but because it’s produced so well.
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Exclaim!
Vernon comes at this tired genre with fresh and ambitious eyes, making this an extremely assured and breathtakingly beautiful debut.
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