Vanessa Carlton: Rabbits On the Run Album Review

 A month ago, I reviewed Vanessa Carlton's "Icon: Best of Vanessa Carlton".  Today I'll be reviewing her fourth album, "Rabbits on the Run".  "Rabbits on the Run" was released four years after Vanessa's third album, "Heroes & Thieves" and was musically a little different.  Here's my track by track review.

1) Carousel: The first single from the album.  Out of all the songs on the album, this song feels like it could've been on "Heroes & Thieves".  The album's title comes from a lyric in the song, "Time won't wait so don't be late, white rabbits on the run".  I think it was a perfect choice to be  the first single.  10/10

2) I Don't Want to Be a Bride: Kind of an ironic title for a song now that she's married.  In this song Vanessa talks about not wanting to be a bride and would rather skip to the ever after part.  Personally I feel the same way, except that I'm a guy.  It was released as the second single but a video was not made or released.  10/10

3) London: When I got the album i ignored this song.  And almost three years later I still ignore it sometimes.  The song has my favorite lyric on the album, "and I've never been so sure, that after all these years I'll never learn."  7/10

4) Fairweather Friend: Out of all of the songs on this album, this one is the one I relate to the most.  Rumors are that the song is about her ex-boyfriend, Stephan Jenkins from the band Third Eye Blind, who co-wrote a lot of the songs on her "Harmonium" album.  10/10

5) Hear the Bells: When I first heard the song I thought it was an outtake from her "Harmonium" album since it sounded so dark.  It was released as the third and final single from the album.  Since Vanessa's label was unable to do a video for "I Don't Want to Be a Bride", "Hear the Bells" got a video instead.  This is also why "Hear the Bells" is seen as the second single from the album.  The video for the song didn't really match what the song was talking about though.  But I guess a weird video is better than no video.  10/10

6) Dear California: Before the album was released, this song was rumored to be the third single.  At that time I hated the song.  Nowadays I listen to it a lot and I love it.  It probably would've been a hit if it was released as a single.  10/10

7) Tall Tales for Spring: Before the album was titled "Rabbits on the Run", it was called "Tall Tales for Spring" which would've made this the title track.  The title was changed though in the end.  It's very different from the rest of the songs on the album, especially with it's hook being "madness, madness" which sums up what the track is.  7/10

8) Get Good: Unlike most of her songs, which are more piano driven, "Get Good" starts out on a guitar.  It's a great change and it's a good song to listen to if you're having a bad day or if you're depressed.  10/10

9) Marching Line: I used to love this song at first.  In fact when I got the album it was one of my five favorite songs on the album, but over the years it has gotten a little boring.  8/10

10 In the End: Like "The Last Song" on Hilary Duff's self-titled "Hilary Duff" album, "In the End serves more as an outro than a song.  It's a very dark and it's also hard to hear Vanessa's beautiful voice on this.  5/10

 Despite it getting positive reviews from critics, the singles from "Rabbits on the Run" failed to chart, which is a shame because it's a great album.  My favorite songs on the album are "Fairweather Friend", "Hear the Bells", "Get Good", "Dear California", and "Carousel".  Out of 100 points I give the album 87 which is 87%, a B+.  Vanessa's working on her fifth album and hopefully it'll be released this year!