Vanessa Carlton: An Album Review (2002)

What’s not to like with Vanessa Carlton? Her amazing voice, stunning lyrics, and awesome piano playing make her seem much older than her 20 something years. Her songs  promises to make Vanessa a household name, but more than that, it plainly shows that she is more than just a young female singer-songwriter. She is a talented musician and that is evidenced by every note of her every song.

I am just so proud of Vanessa for begging to be different from everyone else. She does what the pop industry is terrified of… she's herself. No elaborate vocals or gyrating to an infectious beat. Beautiful, smooth, sultry and expressive melodies laced with a unique and elegant-sounding voice. For your information, she came out of her shelf when she debuted her song. She was a ballerina for years but instead of pursuing a career on ballet, she chose to be a musician. If you will look around the music scene today, you’ll see no signs of this singer. Vanessa Carlton disappeared way too quickly, and when you think of some of the more successful people she was competing with at the time, this is a sad fact. If you want a fresh, unspoiled talent to listen to, I strongly suggest that you listen to Vanessa. Too bad she is nowhere to be found in the present. As far as I can remember, her debut song still haunts my playlist in my friendster profile. She provide  us with high quality of music that people of any age can relate to.

Album review: Be Not Nobody

 Vanessa Carlton's album, Be Not Nobody, is nothing short of incredible. From the opening chords of "Ordinary Day" to the last trailing notes of "Twilight", Be Not Nobody is an album you won't be able to turn off.

The album started of with “Ordinary Day”. It has an ethereal and interesting message of spontaneity and chasing down dreams. It's upbeat and somewhat classical sounding. She expresses her feelings of inferiority in the relationship in the song “Unsung”. The vocals and strong backbeat make it an interesting contrast with the rest of the album. The keys employed and the melody combination of the song “A thousand miles”  are signs of sheer brilliance. The lyrics aren't spectacular, but the piano more than compensates. “Paradise” is sheer brilliance. The girl described in the song is fighting an internal conflict with herself even though she's in "paradise." The lyrics are vague and could be perceived differently by different people, the smoothness of the melody and emotion of Vanessa's voice make it impossible to deny this song.  “Paint in Black” is best cover songs I've heard in years. Her voice is bursting with emotion and power as she pounds through the song with passion and varying tempos. Twilight is absolutely beautiful . With its evasively smooth and substantial lyrics , you cant get enough of it.


On the other hand, I found two songs that are actually not my thing. “Pretty baby” has a catchy bridge but compared to the other song by Vanessa, this is totally skippable. “Sway” is a total turn  off. It lacks power and the lyrics have nothing special to it.
 Be Not Nobody is a breath of fresh air in a world that is bogged down by teeny-bopper and dance anthem. The music is so real. A must listen to people who goes for sensible music.