Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground

Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground
File:Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground (Bright Eyes album - cover art).jpg
Studio album by Bright Eyes
Released	August 13, 2002
Recorded	December 2001 – January 2002: Presto!, Lincoln, Nebraska
Genre	Indie rock, indie folk
Length	73:08
Label	Saddle Creek (US) LBJ-46
Producer	Mike Mogis
Bright Eyes chronology
Fevers and Mirrors (2000)Fevers and Mirrors2000 LIFTED or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground (2002) A Christmas Album (2002)A Christmas Album2002

Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground is the fourth album by Bright Eyes. This album is the 46th release of Saddle Creek Records. The band made its national television debut in support of the album, performing "The Trees Get Wheeled Away" (a track that was not on the album) on the Late Show with David Letterman. The album is referenced in the Jonathan Franzen novel Freedom when the main characters Walter and Richard attend a Bright Eyes concert in Washington D.C. during the "Lifted" tour.

Track listing

1. "The Big Picture" – 8:42
2. "Method Acting" – 3:42
3. "False Advertising" – 5:52
4. "You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will." – 3:25
5. "Lover I Don't Have to Love" – 4:00
6. "Bowl of Oranges" – 4:48
7. "Don't Know When But a Day Is Gonna Come" – 6:31
8. "Nothing Gets Crossed Out" – 4:34
9. "Make War" – 6:16
10. "Waste of Paint" – 6:29
11. "From a Balance Beam" – 3:40
12. "Laura Laurent" – 4:56
13. "Let's Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and to Be Loved)" – 10:07

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	77/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Blender
Los Angeles Times
NME	7/10
Pitchfork Media	7.7/10
Q
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Spin	8/10
Uncut
The Village Voice	B+

Lifted received positive reviews, ranking fourth on Rolling Stone's list of the best albums in 2002, and was lauded as a breakthrough album for Bright Eyes and Conor Oberst. Kludge included it on their list of best albums of 2002. Blender ranked the album at 52 on their list of "100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever", which appeared in the December 2007 issue.

Personnel

• Conor Oberst – guitar, piano, rhodes, organ, voice (tracks 1–13)
• Mike Mogis – banjos, bells, hammered dulcimer, vibraphone, glockenspiel, mandolin, electric guitar, dobro, pedal steel (tracks 2–9, 11–13)
• Matt Focht, Clint Schnase, Mike Sweeney – drums
• Todd Baechle, Jenny Lewis, Blake Sennett, Choir – vocal harmonies
• Andy LeMaster – electric guitar, keyboards, vocal harmonies (tracks 2–4, 6–8, 11)
• Clark Baechle – drums, clarinet
• Clay Leverett – drums, vocal harmonies
• Jiha Lee – flute, vocal harmonies (tracks 3, 6, 8, 9)
• Chris Brooks – piano (track 9)
• Gretta Cohn – cello (tracks 3, 5, 7, 12)
• Sean Cole – harmonica (tracks 9, 13)
• Julee Dunekacke – French horn (track 3)
• Margaret Fish – bassoon (tracks 3, 13)
• Orenda Fink – trumpet, vocal harmonies (tracks 2, 3, 7, 11, 13)
• Jason Flatowicz – trombone (tracks 3, 13)
• Tiffany Kowalski – violin (tracks 3, 5, 7, 12)
• Matt Maginn – bass (tracks 2, 4, 7, 9)
• Casey Scott – bass (tracks 3, 8, 9, 12, 13)
• Katie Muth – oboe (tracks 3, 6, 8, 12)
• Ted Stevens – electric guitar (track 9)
• Maria Taylor – piano, organ, vocal harmonies (tracks 2–4, 8, 12, 13)

External links

• Saddle Creek Records