10 Greatest One Man Band Albums

When you're looking to put a record together, inspiration can come from all sorts of places. One day you might not find the will to put your soul down on paper, and then the next your life will throw you curveballs that serve as rocket fuel for new songs to follow. While many would kill for that immediate inspiration, For Emma Forever Ago proves that it sometimes comes at a price.

Sick with mono and just coming off of the breakup of his long time girlfriend, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon shacked up in a cabin in the middle of the woods and turned in some of the greatest performances of his career. Aside from the vocoded vocals and more digital soundscapes coming from the production, the entire project feels incredibly intimate, almost like Vernon put you in the room as you watch this close connection become more and more fractured with the passage of time.

It's no surprise that Kanye West ended up seeing a bit of a kindred spirit with Vernon just a few years later, calling him in to work on both My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Yeezus in some capacity. As much as a record like this may seem draining on the surface, you can't deny the raw passion that made its way onto the speakers.