# 1. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin (Sub Pop)
Tada! (make a fanfare sound in your head). Cease to Begin, Band of Horses sophomore effort was in my humble opinion 2007's best album. I'm not going to say without a doubt. Because believe me there has been some doubt. Not great doubt though. This one and Kristofer Åström have had a battle in my head for some time now but finally a decision had to be made and this beautiful album won. This is the only album this year that I went to the record player to turn on again immediatly after it had finished. I was literally paralyzed throughout the whole first listen of this album. It really is that great. Even a little bit better than 2006's Everything All the Time.
Ben Bridwell's voice is so damn amazing. I almost well up with tears just thinking about it. Just to hear the lines "I could sleep, I could sleep, I could sleep" from the opener "Is There a Ghost?" had me sold. I was a huge fan of the first album but this time around I have gotten virtually obsessed. They just sound so good and like nothing else around. Well, that's not entirely true since both My Morning Jacket and newcomers Alberta Cross have some of the same sound. Still there's just something about this band from Mount Pleasant, North Carolina. The band also relocated to their native North Carolina from Seattle before recording this album. The feeling I get from the album is that I'm sitting on the front porch of a house in a really green place in the USA on a warm summer evening just listening to the grass grow.
Each and every song on the album is fantastic. If I were to pick any favourites it would be "Is There a Ghost?", "Ode to LRC", "Detlef Schrempf", "Islands on the Coast" and "Marry Song".
The song "Detlef Schrempf" has some of my favourite lyrics, it's just so emotional. "..So take it as a song or a lesson to learn. And sometime soon be better than you were. If you say you're gonna go, then be careful and watch how you treat every living soul. My eyes can't look at you any other way.."
I am lost for words now. The best album of 2007 period. Everything is going to be ok, at least that's the feeling I get when I listen to Ben Bridwell sing.
"The world is such a wonderful place.."
Tada! (make a fanfare sound in your head). Cease to Begin, Band of Horses sophomore effort was in my humble opinion 2007's best album. I'm not going to say without a doubt. Because believe me there has been some doubt. Not great doubt though. This one and Kristofer Åström have had a battle in my head for some time now but finally a decision had to be made and this beautiful album won. This is the only album this year that I went to the record player to turn on again immediatly after it had finished. I was literally paralyzed throughout the whole first listen of this album. It really is that great. Even a little bit better than 2006's Everything All the Time. Ben Bridwell's voice is so damn amazing. I almost well up with tears just thinking about it. Just to hear the lines "I could sleep, I could sleep, I could sleep" from the opener "Is There a Ghost?" had me sold. I was a huge fan of the first album but this time around I have gotten virtually obsessed. They just sound so good and like nothing else around. Well, that's not entirely true since both My Morning Jacket and newcomers Alberta Cross have some of the same sound. Still there's just something about this band from Mount Pleasant, North Carolina. The band also relocated to their native North Carolina from Seattle before recording this album. The feeling I get from the album is that I'm sitting on the front porch of a house in a really green place in the USA on a warm summer evening just listening to the grass grow.
Each and every song on the album is fantastic. If I were to pick any favourites it would be "Is There a Ghost?", "Ode to LRC", "Detlef Schrempf", "Islands on the Coast" and "Marry Song".
The song "Detlef Schrempf" has some of my favourite lyrics, it's just so emotional. "..So take it as a song or a lesson to learn. And sometime soon be better than you were. If you say you're gonna go, then be careful and watch how you treat every living soul. My eyes can't look at you any other way.."
I am lost for words now. The best album of 2007 period. Everything is going to be ok, at least that's the feeling I get when I listen to Ben Bridwell sing.
"The world is such a wonderful place.."
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