For Emma, Forever Ago
Encyclopedia
For Emma, Forever Ago is the debut album from Wisconsin band Bon Iver
. It was self-released in 2007 and received wider release on the Jagjaguwar
label in February 2008 (and on the 4AD
label in the UK in May 2008). The album was widely acclaimed, receiving spots on critics' end-of-the-year lists, as well as several awards.
, Justin Vernon, suffering from mononucleosis
, secluded himself in a cabin in northwestern Wisconsin
for three months planning to "hibernate." Three months of solitude resulted in the creation of For Emma, Forever Ago. "All of his personal trouble, lack of perspective, heartache, longing, love, loss and guilt that had been stockpiled over the course of the past six years, was suddenly purged into the form of song."
The record is entirely the creation of Justin Vernon, "despite its complexity, the record was created with nothing more than a few microphones and some aged recording equipment."
The album was self-released in July 2007 and quickly gained attention from various music publications like Pitchfork Media
. In February 2008, the album was re-released through the Jagjaguwar
label with a new album cover. In May 2008, 4AD
picked the album up for release in the UK and Europe.
Peter Gabriel
recorded a cover of "Flume" for his album, Scratch My Back.
, earning it the "Universal Acclaim" tag. In an early review, online magazine Pitchfork Media
rated it very favorably, as well as including it in their list of the best albums of 2007. The New York Times
called the record "irresistible". May 2008's edition of the British music magazine MOJO
rated the album five stars, and tagged it with the title "MOJO Instant Classic".
Robert Christgau
's C-plus rating may be the harshest review of the album (compared to 26 other, mostly positive, reviews on Metacritic). Christgau compared Justin Vernon's lyrics to the poetry of Robert Creeley
, and complained that not only did the former's lyrics fall short, but that the album's "solitary meditations...lose definition faster than an angel's breath on a January morn."
Criticisms of the album sometimes center around the audio quality of the album, pointing out that it is hard to make out words during certain parts of songs. However, even many of the negative reviews commented on the future potential: "If he relies just a little too much on the atmosphere and creaking spaces between notes filled by the character of the cabin in which he recorded, that's something that more recording, more songwriting will surely fill out."
In Australia, "Skinny Love" was played on alternative radio station Triple J
and became a hit with listeners, making the listener-voted Hottest 100
countdown of the most popular songs of 2008
at #21.
The album has sold 130,000 copies in the United States up to January 2009.
Additional musicians
Production
Design
Bon Iver
Bon Iver is a Grammy nominated folk band founded in 2007 by American indie folk singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. It includes Michael Noyce, Sean Carey, and Matthew McCaughan. Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago independently in July 2007. The majority of that album was...
. It was self-released in 2007 and received wider release on the Jagjaguwar
Jagjaguwar
Jagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
label in February 2008 (and on the 4AD
4AD
4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...
label in the UK in May 2008). The album was widely acclaimed, receiving spots on critics' end-of-the-year lists, as well as several awards.
History
Following the break-up of his previous band DeYarmond EdisonDeYarmond Edison
DeYarmond Edison is perhaps best known as the former band of the members of Bon Iver and Megafaun. Guitarist and vocalist Justin Vernon created Bon Iver; the remaining members went on to form the freak folk group Megafaun.-History and Breakup:The band began as friends from Eau Claire, Wisconsin,...
, Justin Vernon, suffering from mononucleosis
Mononucleosis
Mononucleosis , is a disease most commonly caused by the Epstein-Barr virus . The EBV virus affects the lymphocytes- white blood cells that battle infections by attacking antibodies. Mononucleosis can also be caused by Cytomegalovirus , a herpes virus most commonly found in body fluids...
, secluded himself in a cabin in northwestern Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
for three months planning to "hibernate." Three months of solitude resulted in the creation of For Emma, Forever Ago. "All of his personal trouble, lack of perspective, heartache, longing, love, loss and guilt that had been stockpiled over the course of the past six years, was suddenly purged into the form of song."
The record is entirely the creation of Justin Vernon, "despite its complexity, the record was created with nothing more than a few microphones and some aged recording equipment."
The album was self-released in July 2007 and quickly gained attention from various music publications like Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
. In February 2008, the album was re-released through the Jagjaguwar
Jagjaguwar
Jagjaguwar is an indie rock record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.-History:In 1996, in Charlottesville, Virginia, friends of Darius Van Arman who performed in a band under the moniker The Curious Digit had just recorded a new album, but they were signed to no label...
label with a new album cover. In May 2008, 4AD
4AD
4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...
picked the album up for release in the UK and Europe.
Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
recorded a cover of "Flume" for his album, Scratch My Back.
Track listing
Reception
For Emma, Forever Ago was received very well by critics. It has an 88 rating on MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, earning it the "Universal Acclaim" tag. In an early review, online magazine Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
rated it very favorably, as well as including it in their list of the best albums of 2007. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called the record "irresistible". May 2008's edition of the British music magazine MOJO
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
rated the album five stars, and tagged it with the title "MOJO Instant Classic".
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
's C-plus rating may be the harshest review of the album (compared to 26 other, mostly positive, reviews on Metacritic). Christgau compared Justin Vernon's lyrics to the poetry of Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school's. He was close with Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, John Wieners and Ed Dorn. He served as the Samuel P...
, and complained that not only did the former's lyrics fall short, but that the album's "solitary meditations...lose definition faster than an angel's breath on a January morn."
Criticisms of the album sometimes center around the audio quality of the album, pointing out that it is hard to make out words during certain parts of songs. However, even many of the negative reviews commented on the future potential: "If he relies just a little too much on the atmosphere and creaking spaces between notes filled by the character of the cabin in which he recorded, that's something that more recording, more songwriting will surely fill out."
In Australia, "Skinny Love" was played on alternative radio station Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
and became a hit with listeners, making the listener-voted Hottest 100
Triple J Hottest 100
The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music poll, based on the votes of national Australian radio station Triple J listeners, in order to determine their favourite song of the year. Voting is conducted by the internet and begins roughly two weeks prior to the new year for the previous year's songs...
countdown of the most popular songs of 2008
Triple J Hottest 100, 2008
The 2008 Triple J Hottest 100 was announced on Australia Day, 26 January 2009. It was the sixteenth countdown of the most popular songs of the year, as chosen by the listeners of Australian radio station, Triple J....
at #21.
The album has sold 130,000 copies in the United States up to January 2009.
| Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhapsody Rhapsody (online music service) Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version... |
US | 100 Best Albums of the Decade | 2009 | #17 |
| Rhapsody Rhapsody (online music service) Rhapsody is an online music store subscription service, launched in December 2001, and available in the United States only. On April 6, 2010, Rhapsody officially declared its independence from RealNetworks. Downloaded files come with restrictions on their use, enforced by Helix, Rhapsody's version... |
US | Alt/Indie's Best Albums of the Decade | 2009 | #8 |
| Mojo Mojo (magazine) MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music... |
UK | Top 50 Albums of 2008 | 2008 | #4 |
| Observer Music Monthly The Observer The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,... |
UK | 50 Albums of the Year | 2008 | #1 |
| Paste Paste (magazine) Paste is a monthly music and entertainment digital magazine published in the United States by Wolfgang's Vault. Its tagline is "Signs of Life in Music, Film and Culture."-History:... |
US | Signs of Life 2008: Best Music | 2008 | #4 |
| Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics... |
US | Album Winners | 2008 | #8 |
| Pitchfork Media Pitchfork Media Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock... |
US | Top 50 Albums of 2007 | 2007 | #29 |
| Pitchfork Media Pitchfork Media Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock... |
US | Top 200 Albums of The 2000s | 2009 | #29 |
| Q Q (magazine) Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology... |
UK | 50 Best Albums of the Year | 2008 | #34 |
| Rolling Stone Rolling Stone Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J... |
US | Albums of the Year | 2008 | #92 |
| The Skinny | UK | Top Ten Albums of 2008 | 2008 | #2 |
| Spin Spin (magazine) Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard... |
US | The 40 Best Albums of 2008 | 2008 | #31 |
| Uncut UNCUT (magazine) Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections... |
UK | Top 50 Albums of 2008 | 2008 | #4 |
| New Musical Express NME The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles... |
UK | Top 50 Albums of 2008 | 2008 | #24 |
| Rough Trade | UK | Top 50 Albums of 2008 | 2008 | #1 |
| Rockfeedback Rockfeedback Rockfeedback.com is a London-based music website that has been online since 2000. It reviews alternative and indie music, global gigs, interviews, videos, mp3s and competitions. It was designed and maintained by Transgressive Records co-founder Toby L, who founded the site at the age of 15... |
UK | Top 100 Albums of 2008 | 2008 | #4 |
| Under the Radar Under the Radar (magazine) Under the Radar is an American magazine that bills itself as "The solution to music pollution" and features interviews with accompanying photo-shoots. Each issue includes opinion and commentary of the Indie music scene as well as reviews on books, DVDs and albums.Items are reviewed based on a... |
US | Top 50 Albums of 2008 | 2008 | #19 |
| New Musical Express NME The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles... |
UK | The Top 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade | 2009 | #87 |
Chart performance
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
64 |
| U.S. Top Independent Albums | 4 |
| U.S. Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
1 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
42 |
| Ireland Albums Top 75 | 16 |
| Belgium Albums Top 50 | 20 |
| Dutch Albums Top 100 | 95 |
Personnel
Band- Justin Vernon: vocals, guitar, engineering
Additional musicians
- Christy Smith – drums, vocals
- John Dehaven – trumpet
- Randy Pingrey – trombone
Production
- Nick Petersen – mastering
Design
- Brian Moen – art direction
- Griszka Niewiadomski – photography
- Deb Sorge – hand lettering
- Daniel Murphy – layout design
- Gilbert Vernon – photography