Fleet Foxes’ 2008 debut likely represents the largest gap in this week’s lineup between the critical reception and my own. This album was praised as the second coming of the Messiah by countless magazines and websites.

Reading those reviews, I got the impression Fleet Foxes could solve the Middle East conflict if you could just get those leaders to share a set of earbuds.

So I suppose a letdown was inevitable when I purchased the CD with extremely high hopes. I mean, I’m always looking for the next wonderful thing and this looked like as good a candidate as any. Even the album’s artwork was fascinating, with its Renaissance festival fresco feel. The music promised to be a resonant mixture of the classic and the contemporary.

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