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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

For Emma, Forever Ago
by Bon Iver


9.3

based on 26 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 68 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Bon Iver @ Jagjaguwar

The debut album from ex-DeYarmond Edison member Justin Vernon.

LABEL:	Jagjaguwar
RELEASE DATE:	19 February 2008
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rock, Indie

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Delusions of Adequacy

It’s seamless in its construction, poetic in its songwriting and moving in its aesthetic impression.

100

Uncut

For Emma, Forever Ago is such a hermetically sealed, complete and satisfying album, the prospect of a follow-up--of a life for Vernon beyond the wilderness, even - seems merely extraneous.

100

musicOMH.com

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.

100

Observer Music Monthly

For Emma, though only nine tracks long, is as beautiful, bleak and intimate as anything 2008 is likely to throw up.

100

Mojo

Isolation doesn't get more splendid than this. [June 2008, p.100]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Wisconsin singer-songwriter Justin Vernon, who records as Bon Iver (a bastardized version of the French phrase for "good winter"), still manages to put his own stamp on a moribund genre with his quietly startling debut, For Emma, Forever Ago.

Drowned In Sound

This album is simply wondrous.

No Ripcord

Although For Emma, Forever Ago works best as a concise listen, as each song segues naturally into the next, tracks like 'Blindsided' and 'For Emma' quickly rise as shining standouts.

Austin Chronicle

For Emma is a paradigm of uninhibited closure, a gentle touch on a sad day.

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.

NOW Magazine

As good as it is, it’s clear that Vernon still has room to grow. A few songs could have used a little extra instrumental kick, and while his songs are great, you can tell he has more to offer. Keep an eye on this one.

Hartford Courant

His double-tracked voice makes these songs truly mesmerizing.

Village Voice

While none of Bon Iver's background notes scream "new"--dissolved love affair, check; band breaks up (Vernon's freak-jug outfit, DeYarmond Edison), check--the chilling, rusty grandeur of For Emma will stop you in your snow tracks, however little it snows around here.

All Music Guide

For Emma captures the sound of broken and quiet isolation, wraps it in a beautiful package, and delivers it to your door with a beating, bruised heart.

Prefix Magazine

The strength is in Vernon’s ability to make a quiet, lonely album that is not boring.

Spin

Vernon's voice--delicately layered and yearning--gives standouts 'Skinny Love' and 'Flume' their stunningly direct emotional impact, but his sturdy folk cords, earthy melodies, and plainspoken, pastoral lyrics prevent the album from descending into self-pity. [Mar 2008, p.97]

Dusted Magazine

Vernon’s voice is the showpiece here––a fragile, technically imperfect falsetto, he multi-tracks it into a shimmering, heat-giving force on each of the record’s nine songs.

Sputnikmusic

For Emma, Forever Ago is a heartbreaking and heartwarming album that ventures deeper than the its simple history could predict.

Tiny Mix Tapes

The most subtle incorporation of drum machines, horns, and vocal effects transforms Bon Iver’s music from the quiet afterthought that characterizes much of today’s indie-folk into a sonic landscape of moods and nuances.

Q Magazine

This remarkable album's impact resides in its sound; the lyrics, when they can be deciphered, are standard she-left-me stuff. [June 2008, p.147]

Under The Radar

For all its apparent weightlessness, this is one heavy debut. [Winter 2008, p.80]

Paste Magazine

cokemachineglow

A sure-footed assertion of the artist's individual talents and landing it a spot among the best folk records of 2007 has to offer.

Stylus Magazine

Vernon’s music is stripped-down, uniformly quiet, and confessional, his clipped, cracked, Will Oldham-inspired lyrics not evidence of cabin delirium, but the work of an artist warmed by a creative glow that only pure isolation (read: freedom) can fully render.

PopMatters

Bon Iver defiantly makes a small-scale statement on For Emma, Forever Ago, so much that if you don’t concentrate, you’ll pass this over.

Hot Press

This writer is a firm believer that every album you pick up should be a universally accessible experience. Solitude, sanctuary and silence spawn an exorcism of sorts.

The average user rating for this album is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 68 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Daren H. gave it a10:
My favourite record of the year. An ambient, honest, simple, soul-searchingly wonderful record. Can't stop listening to it.

Linus G. gave it a10:
Re: Stacks must be the most beautiful sentimental song I have ever heard. Great to listen to when looking at old pictures from college parties.

Ben G. gave it a10:
This album is fantastic. It's so raw and emotional. It's hands-down the best album of the year.

Chad S. gave it a10:
On the title track, this songwriter uses, then surpasses, the best Damien Jurado("Tragedy"), M. Ward("Chinese Translation"), and Beiruit("Postcards from Italy"), song. It sounds like the soundtrack to Rob Sheffield's "Love is a Mix Tape", the memoir about the rock critic's late-rock critic wife. Of all the sadly beautiful songs on "For Emma, Forever Ago, "For Emma" is the most sadly beautiful. It might be the best of its kind since Elton John's "Your Song". "Skinny Love" is my other favorite. Violent Femmes didn't do punk, but they gave good pathos on acoustical instruments, just like "Skinny Love". The "creature" in "Creature Fear", must be the girl, the proverbial "Emma", but it's also a funny reference to the animals outside this songwriter's "recording studio", his cabin. A raccoon? A chinchilla? A rabbit with rabies? He's girl and squirrel afraid. I'm afraid I'll never hear another album like "For Emma, Forever Ago". This is rare music, indeed.

T R. gave it a9:
Cool album. I can't wait for his next.

Craig gave it a10:
I think this was the best album of 2007. Hauntingly beautiful. Skinny Love never gets old.

foxoff gave it an8:
Wow, this is a brilliant album. I am giving an 8 because it lets itself down a little towards the end and well, since I believe nothing's ever perfect, 9 is my highest score. Skinny Love is going to be played to everyone who will listen and who I believe will appreciate it. There's some others too, but that one hit me right away. Nice job!

For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver

For Emma, Forever Ago
by Bon Iver