Reviews From The Blog

From time to time I get some albums sent my way (hint, hint to the powers that be out there), I figured I should probably get some music reviews up on this here blog. So with that in mind I recruited my eager music loving friend Dan The Man (who also posts things here) to help handle the task of cranking out some critiques. For the inaugural post - in what I hope to be a continuing series here - is his take on the latest from Vanessa Carlton - Heroes & Thieves (not your typical HFTB artist, but hey doesn't mean it's not worth giving a listen to)....




Vanessa Carlton has what Kelly Clarkson wants - a writer’s credit on all her songs and the so-called “artistic integrity” that comes along with it. What V.C. doesn’t have, however, is a pop anthem that would make for a killer theme song on The Hills (Natasha Beningfield has it locked down anyways).

At any rate her new album Hero’s and Thieves (and first for her new label The Inc. - don't worry she hasn't gone gangsta) has Carlton crooning with a singer-songwriter’s passion and sincerity that many of her fellow female pop singers struggle to understand. While it’s doubtful that any of these songs will burn up the charts and ride the royalties train like her hit single “A Thousand Miles” (currently underscoring Zales Diamonds commercials), tracks like “The One” with Stevie Nicks and “Come Undone” prove Carlton’s versatility as a vocalist and her maturity as a pianist. It's on the albums first single “Nolita Fairytale” that Carlton proves that she can still ride the pop radio air-waves with catchy loops and peppy lyrics and even tug on heartstrings of more than a few lovesick highschoolers.

Though judging by the spending habits of Carlton’s target demographic (with their bedazzled cell-phones and closets full of neglected Bratz dolls) musical virtue won’t move the kind of units that pay for the beach house in Malibu (The ‘Bu) - perhaps it's that distinction that will work out for VC in the long run. Carlton doesn’t fit the caricature of the stunningly hot starlet with a so-so voice and a completely submissive role in the creative process. She’s kind of cute in a ridiculous “independent” way, and when beauty fades for the rest of the pop singers, VC will still have her artistic talent. Like its creator, the album has staying power and both Carlton and her work can only get better with age.