Well not a complete review because I haven't listened to the whole thing carefully yet but my first impressions are very favorable. The story behind the review: This weeks email coupon included a discount on this CD. I seldom open those but I did this one. I had never heard of the Brandi Carlile. Still something drew me to this CD; I believe in trusting those kinds of gut feelings/intuitions. I put the CD in this morning to listen to while getting ready for the office. As you can tell from my previous post I wasn't in the sunniest of moods.
So far I like this CD very much. Ms. Carlilie's has that sort of deep female voice that can be described as smoky or sultry -- a woman's voice. A voice that makes you believe she has stories to tell from all the bittersweet corners of life. In fact, it seems that these sorts of bittersweet stories are the theme for the CD. The title song, The Story written by Phil Hanesroth, includes these lines.
All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I have been
And how I got to where I
The songs also invite you into them to remember and honor your own stories and to experience your future stories even more deeply, more fully. For example the song, Have You Ever also by Phil Hanesroth, poses these questions:
Have you ever wandered through the woods?
And everything feels just as it should
You're part of the life there
You're part of something good
If you've ever wandered through the woods
If you've ever wandered through the woods
Have you ever stared into a starry sky?
Lying on your back and asking why
What's the purpose I wonder who am I
If you've ever stared into a starry sky
If you've ever stared into a starry sky
Have you ever been out walking in the snow?
Tried to get back to where you were before
You always end up not knowing where to go
If you've ever been out walking in the snow
If you'd ever been out walking you would know
All in all a blind purchase that was well worth the $10. My only criticism is that a few times Brandi seems to reach for high notes that are not comfortably in her voice range. Those notes feel unpleasantly sharp and detract from the overall flow of the music.
The instrumental part of the music is also outstanding. Much instrumental work strikes me much like a grocery store purchased peach -- good but lacking in the WOW factor. The instrumental work on the album is more like a peach picked right off the tree at the peak of ripeness. It has more body, more sweetness, more interest. The drums are a bit heavy at times but that is probably a personal preference issue. The instrumental work was actually the first thing that grabbed my attention.
For the record: I don't really know what I am talking about having no real training or expertise on which to base my opinions. These are merely my uneducated and personal gut reactions to the CD.
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