Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	86/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The A.V. Club	A−
The Daily Telegraph
The Guardian
The Independent
Los Angeles Times
NME	9/10
Pitchfork	8.1/10
Rolling Stone
Spin	8/10

Once I Was an Eagle is the fourth studio album by British singer-songwriter Laura Marling, and was released on 27 May (US/Canada, 28 May) 2013. "Master Hunter" was the album's first official single release. It was nominated for the 2013 Mercury Prize. The record achieved unanimous critical acclaim, and has been cited as one of the best singer-songwriter records of the 21st century.

Marling began debuting songs from Once I Was An Eagle, as early as mid-late 2011, before the release of her third album, A Creature I Don't Know. These songs included "I Was An Eagle", "Pray For Me" and "Master Hunter". The album, according to Marling, is the "plain[est]" album she has written. She has commented that it follows a central figure, who angrily shuns naïvety and love, and over the course of the album regains a "second naïvety". The album is written in three tunings, which mark the basic changes in emotion. The first half ("Take The Night Off" to "Devil's Resting Place") has a darker, more melancholic tone, whereas the second half ("Undine" to "Saved These Words") has a more upbeat and open tone, if not jubilant. Marling has stated that there is a greater cohesion to 'Once I Was An Eagle', in terms of themes and the development of the music. Many critics have noted that the first half feels more like a continuous idea, intensified by the first four songs ("Take The Night Off", "I Was An Eagle", "You Know" and "Breathe") which flow together as one.

Following the conclusion of her tour for her previous album, Marling began production on her fourth album. Unlike her previous three albums, she chose not to work with a band, and instead she enlisted the help of producer Ethan Johns and cellist, Ruth de Turberville, to assist with the album's production. Marling recorded the album in 10 days at Three Crows studio in Bath, England. The guitar and vocals were recorded live in one take. The album is considerably longer than her previous efforts, with sixteen tracks, and running in at over an hour.

The album was announced on 8 March 2013, along with a streaming of "Where Can I Go?" on Laura Marling's official SoundCloud page.

Long time collaborators, Fred & Nick, created an 18-minute film called When Brave Bird Saved, written and directed by the pair, which was a "visual introduction" to the first four songs on the album, "Take The Night Off", "I Was an Eagle", "You Know" and "Breathe". The four songs seamlessly flow into one another, much like "Don't Ask Me Why" and "Salinas" on Marling's previous album, A Creature I Don't Know. The name from the film is derived from the titles of the last four songs on the album, When Were You Happy? (And How Long Has That Been), Love Be Brave, Little Bird, and Saved These Words.

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