Digital Ash in a Digital Urn

In this case, both as good as any previous album (and, given Conor Oberst's previous form, that's a high benchmark to compare with), but inevitably, as Bruce Springsteen has found, they will be forever compared with one another. Thankfully, there isn't a difference in quality between these two albums, more a difference in approach, which makes for equal, delightful brilliance. The domination of the US singles chart ("Take It Easy" at #2, and "Lua" at #1 simultaneously) suggests that both could be equal hits, and deservedly so. --Thom Allott