Sunday, March 15, 2015

Vanessa Carlton: Harmonium Album Review

 In 2004 Vanessa Carlton released her second album, "Harmonium".  The album was darker than her first album "Be Not Nobody", in fact the album was almost called "Pleased to Meet You: Vanessa Carlton, the New American Goth".  Wow that's a mouthful.  Here is my track by track review:

1) White Houses: The first single from the album and the only single to be released in the U.S.  The song only peaked at number 86 though, this was due to the song not being played on radio much because it was a "coming of age" song about a girl losing her virginity.  They played songs like "Slow Motion" and "Lean Back" during those days but "White Houses barely got any airplay?  What has this world come to?  The song was the only single to have a video.  10/10

2) Who's to Say: Many people don't know this, but this was the third and final single from the album.  It was only released in Asia though.  The song is about being in a relationship that everyone disapproves of.  Many people can relate to this, especially teenagers.  Wish it had a video.  10/10

3) Annie: Vanessa wrote this song after she met a girl on tour who had leukemia.  It is a beautiful song but it's hard to listen to sometimes because it's sad.  A beautifully sad song.  9/10

4) San Francisco: I still find it hard to believe that her label at the time felt that there wasn't a song on this album that could be a hit on radio, when this amazing song is on the album.  If it was a single then it would've put the album back in the charts.  This song feels like it could've been on "Be Not Nobody" and it makes me cry sometimes.  10/10

5) Afterglow: I usually ignore this song.  Not because it's bad or anything like that, it just doesn't jump out to me.  Oddly enough this was one of Vanessa's favorites on the album.  The song is about letting go of your anger.  8/10

6) Private Radio: The second single from the album.  It was initially set to be the first single from the album but it was changed for unknown reasons.  When I first heard it I instantly loved it.  I was surprised when I found it was about insomnia.  Great song that should've been a hit!  10/10

7) Half a Week Before the Winter: This is my favorite song on the album.  It's also a very dark song.  Anyone can relate to this for example the lyric "the unicorns are riding high, powerful in coats of white" are the entertainers, actors, jocks, etc. and lyric later "the vampires are growing tired, the coats of white will turn to red", the vampires being the people that want to see them fail.  The song is basically about survival of the fittest.  While the it's strange to have the song be called "Half a Week Before the Winter" when it doesn't really represent the song, I still love the song and wish it had a video.  10/10

8) C'est la Vie: No this isn't a cover of "B*Witched's" song.  Vanessa wrote the song after being dumped and to her the term "c'est la vie" at the time meant "f*** it".  It actually means "that's life" but the song is great so doesn't matter.  10/10

9) Papa: I thought the song was called "Plastic Love" for awhile.  Vanessa has said that the song isn't about her father and it was about, in her words, "a different kind of daddy".  Hmmmm.  Interesting.  The song is good but I wish it was longer.  10/10

10) She Floats: This song is another dark song.  Both musically and lyrically.  I read someone that Vanessa wrote it from the perspective of someone who has passed away.  Very creepy.  The screams also freaked me out when I first heard it.  The song is the longest song on the album at 5 whole minutes.  8/10

11) Where the Streets Have No Name: From a dark song to a more upbeat song.  If you bought the Japanese version of this album, then you got this song as a bonus track.  It is cover that was originally performed by "U2".  It's very uplifting and positive and a great rendition of the song.  10/10

12) The Wreckage: This song is a hidden track on the album.  Vanessa wrote this song about wanting to start a car crash.  Well if does that I hope she's able to pay for the damages.  Yes that was a bad attempt to be funny when the song is a little dark.  8/10

 While Vanessa had more control on this album then the last one, her label wasn't happy with it.  This led to the label barely promoting it which in turn led to poor album sales.  After this, her then label, A&M Records, told her to go back to the studio to write some "hit songs for radio so they could release a re-release of the album.  She initially did go and wrote songs with Linda Perry (who's written for Christina Aguilera and P!nk) and The Matrix (who worked with Avril  Lavigne) she later had a "revelation" and left the label after promotion for the album.  It's an amazing and it's a shame it didn't get the attention it deserved.  I love all the songs and the album.  Out of 120 points I give the album 113 points which is 94%, an A.  Thank you for reading this review and I hope you like it!

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