A Classic of the Elephant 6 Collective
As far as lo-fi goes, this took the sub-genre in a whole new direction. Not for everyone, and you'll be hard-pressed to find hit single potential in any of these early 90's noise pop-rock confections, but the lyrics are strong, with a strong Anne Frank theme throughout. If you enjoy this kind of music, you will fall in love with this album. It's as simple as that!

Thank you, Mr. Mangum
By the time I was appreciating music as a young man stumbling onto records, one group I would grow to love was already over - and I was crushed to learn online that there would probably never be a chance for me to see the group perform the songs live. I remember fervently trying to make up for that by searching for hours for Neutral Milk Hotel rarities and demos, an act I normally just don't do - even for bands I really enjoy. I searched for photographs and interviews with Jeff Mangum, wondering where this mysterious, power-voiced balladeer disappeared to.

And I am still reasonably sure that the allure is more than just the mystery, or whatever it was about losing Cobain that made everyone think Nirvana was so great. Even now, after listening to this record for years and years, I'm still floored by the lyrics and delivery, the sheer, brute force and clarity of the communication. I don't think I'll ever shake the eerie feeling of barely-perceived magnitude - of utter awe- I got when I heard the songs on Areoplane at 15 or 16. It makes me utterly uncomfortable to have such a strong one-way avenue of communication from such an enigmatic, commanding figure. When I put the records on now, it's like he just walks into the room, sits you down, and says listen to me. Don't move. Don't speak. Don't breathe until I'm finished, and everything will make sense.

10 years and still incredible
I knew there would be an ocean of reviews for this, and I probably cannot add anything that has not already been said. But I love this album so much, and find so it moving, that on the 10th anniversary of my wife buying and it and playing it for the two of us for the first time, I simply have to express my feelings about it. (In all of her infinite wisdom, she bought this album with no hype, virtually no advance press, a near-total whim. I still remember our reactions listening to it for the first time--try to imagine hearing this with n o w a r n i n g w h a t s o e v e r. We were stunned and stoked when it made amazon's best of '98; we didn't even know anyone outside of Georgia even knew of it.)

By now everyone knows this is a "love it or hate it" kind of album. But to those of us who know, this is one of the most moving and personal pieces of art you will find--not just in the pop music landscape, but really anywhere. It's just like that: you cry. Not because it is sad, which it is; not because it is intimate approaching naked, which it is; not because it is stunningly inventive, which it is; not because it is beautiful, which it is; not because it is completely out of left field, which it is; but because it is all of these things at once, and it alternates between rambling torrents of visceral energy seemingly from line to line. And about the singing--ya know, he HAS to sing it like that. That need to "get it all down" that Mangum's out of control singing conveys is what most makes the album so singularly unique and heartfelt--so absolutely full of immediacy and abandon.

We all lament Mr. Mangum's disappearance from the scene because, selfishly, we want more. We want to see this performed in person, to meld with its soul, and with its making in front of us. But we all must know that this is what happens when someone makes something so perfect: there really is nowhere else to go and nothing else to do. It has happened, and lightning was not meant to strike twice.

Thank you so much, Jeff, for sharing it with us.

Whoooaaa!
Hey World,
Guess I'm the minority here, possibly out of my element? Just cant stand his over pushed voice and the repetative strums. Lastly, and most important his sick demented lyrics about little boys! Who would back this album??? This songwritter is truly a sick man who needs help. Shame on all the reviewers who cant spend time to scratch the surface. Sad sad sad sad!!!

The vocals.... oh, those vocals
This review is really just repeating what others have already said... but I felt it was good to reiterate on the flaws of this album.

I wanted to give three stars but the vocals just bring this album waaayyyyy down and mess it all up. On one side, this is a VERY good album. I love the acoustic structure and all the neat sounds in the music but the lead singer is just annoyingly terrible! For the first song, I was saying "okay, it's rough around the edges but I like it" but by the middle of the CD, he was still singing in that whinying, monotone and had me saying "just shut the #*%@ up, man!". His voice is just unbarable.

If he could just sing in a couple different ways of if he would just not sing at all, it would even out but I think the lead singer just took an album that had very good potential and just made it unlistenable. Still... I will keep this album on my ipod