Rabbits on the Run

I have been long anticipating Vanessa Carltons return to music with this her 4th studio album.
I am a huge fan and knowing she had left her label again I was aware we could be left with a long wait for Rabbits on the Run. I think this may be her most personal record yet. In interviews she has talked how she was unsure if she would make another record and it took a lot of soul searching to come to the decision to make this. I think they way she has gone about it, searching out producers and musicians who could help her fulfil her vision for this record has given us these songs that give us a glimpse into her life and her feelings.

Carousel is a lovely little song, very fun and light and talks of loving life and seeing it for the ride that it is. Very enjoyable to listen to.

I Don't Want to be a Bride may be my favourite song. I'm hoping it'll be a single. Its very lyrical and the underlying music has a lovely quality. I have often pondered this subject myself and found it interesting as people usually write about falling in love and getting married so to have her say in a song that this may not be right for everyone was very cool.

London is hauntingly beautiful. Its so very simple but wonderful.

Fair Weathered Friends talks about the struggles she has had with fame the longer she's been in the business. How you have to fight to keep real and not be affected by the people around you, the friends that are only there when the going is good. And the people who are real friends and stick around during the tough times.

Hear the Bells sounds quite surreal, its hard to describe but its a little new agey and nothing like any other song of Vanessas. Her voice goes so well with the music, they go together perfectly.

Dear California I think is the first song of Vanessa that clearly features guitar more than her piano.
This is definitely her love song to the state and the music is very laid back and having been to California I could imagine listening to this driving down a long highway there and it would fit perfectly. This has a slight country feel to it. This is definitely the record that shows the most experiment with her sound.

Tall Tales for Spring takes us back to some great piano playing by Vanessa. It sounds a little more like what we are used to hearing from her. It has some lovely lyrics and shows us Vanessas song writing at its best.

Get Good and we're back to guitars again. This song talks about the struggles in life, how hard it can be to battle through, but how its worth the heard work to get through it, not worry and get good again. Its a very upbeat message that no matter how hard living can be, we'll all get through it and be thankful in the end.

Marching Line is so very unique, I haven't heard anything like this for a long time. Its so simple with a very simple piano in the background. But its also very complex in the lyrics and the storytelling. I think its about stepping up and taking the risks and just going for it. Not always having someone to lead you and you have to just join the marching line and make your own path and not rely on other people to lead the way.

In the End....... finished off this record perfectly, its very scattered in the music, it doesn't flow smoothly and I think that the whole point. I think its about how things don't stay in one piece as they come to an end. They splinter and change into different things I'm sure different people will get different things from all these songs. Thats what I love about good music. You can draw your own things from it, different people will hear different stories being told and feel different things.

You can definably feel the influence of the producer who has worked with Doves in the past, but this blends very well with Vanessa's style. This record really moves forward from her first three and shows her progression so well. There's still the unique Vanessa stamp too it and if I have one criticism it is that I did miss her piano a little. The songs here are a lot different than from her previous work so if you were expecting that then you may have been a little disappointed. But I know that this album was going to be a change in direction and one that I have embraced. Not many artists make the music they believe in any more. They follow whats popular and whats selling. This album may not rake in the big money that some mainstream artists are and I think its a shame that a lot of people may never hear this album because it is a truly remarkable collection of songs that have come from Vanessa's heart. She's very brave to follow up on what she wanted to do and not go along with what is popular in the mainstream and it has left us with what may be the best album I've heard this year and I hope many other people get the same enjoyment and Vanessa Carlton gets the recognition that she deserves.

I have always recognised Vanessa for the talent she is and loved her piano based melodies from the beginning. Even though I know she is easier to dismiss in the wider mainstream. People have to admit the girl can seriously play the piano and craft a great melody, I also believe her voice is much underated. These days she seems to more at peace with her own sound and is definately learning how to get the most from her voice as the years go on. I am truly heartened to be able to say that Rabbits on the Run represents a real departure from her previous work and unlike suggestions from certain professional reviews I maintain that this new production team is the most sympathetic to her artistic vision she has ever had. I say the fact that they don't turn every track into commercially viable, radio friendly tracks, (by the industry's standards, I mean - for they are still catchy and memorable tunes) is a really good thing. These songs are better than that! I defy anyone not to find the experimental conceptual funky fresh folky fantasy ethereal gutsy vibe on this album really rebellious and beautiful. That the songs are beautiful and honest should be all that matters surely?

Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear.

I've loved all three of Vanessa's previous albums, and I was eagerly anticipating this one.

You see, there are artists in this world -- the likes of Bob Dylan, Tracy Chapman, Matt Johnson -- who write songs of such awesome power and poetry, that they don't need strong production to make them shine through; even, that such production would sully them, because their songs are already perfect, already polished gems.

But Vanessa Carlton is not one of those. Oh don't get me wrong -- her songs are beautiful, crafted and inspiring, but they're also rough diamonds. She needs sympathetic production to bring out the inner poetry, to polish the inner beauty and make it shine.

And this album has no production values at all. It sounds terrible. And I mean that literally -- the songs are good, but they SOUND terrible.

I miss the production values of her first album. I miss that sound. It was sweet, and this isn't.