The Story

Brandi Carlile | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 3, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000NDIAWY
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (173 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,858 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Brandi Carlile story so far is fairly short: fresh-faced singer-song writer from rural Ravensdale, Washington, quietly releases a 2005 debut that has critics and fans reaching for their thesauruses searching for appropriate adjectives to describe her voice. Patsy Cline, Jeff Buckley, kd lang, Beth Orton, Linda Ronstadt, and Aimee Mann get name-checked as Carlile and her guitar-and-bass-playing Hanseroth twins-led band criss-cross the country for two years, first as openers, then as headliners. Cue the overproduced, disappointing follow-up album? Not so fast. On The Story, Carlile teams up with veteran roots producer T Bone Burnett, who brings in vintage equipment and strips down her sound. Instead of using overdubs, the new songs--most of which were already road-tested--are recorded live, giving the ballads and midtempo rockers a tough, uncompromising edge and a fuller, more aggressive attack. Echoes of country and folk color the bucolic "Have You Ever" and the unadorned acoustic "Cannonball," but it's the sweeping drama of the more epic-sounding "Until I Die," "Late Morning Lullaby," and the U2-styled "My Song" that leave the greatest lasting impressions. Carlile and Burnett make a perfect team: he allows her malleable voice room to soar in the mix while she brings sharp original songs that exude confidence, pride, and emotion. It's a combustive combination and one that results in a sophomore release every bit as good, and in many respects better, than her first. Stay tuned as the story continues. --Hal Horowitz

Brandi Pics

Product Description

Enhanced UK pressing of the American singer/songwriter's 2007 album features unique artwork and four bonus tracks: live versions of 'Downpour' and 'Josephine' plus enhanced videos of 'Turpentine' and 'The Story'. On The Story, Brandi Carlile opens up her heart, soul, and psyche in a series of memorable songs that invite you into her world. The intensity and authenticity of her music brought her to the attention of the Grammy Award-winning producer T Bone Burnett (Counting Crows, Roy Orbison) who came on-board to produce The Story. 17 tracks. RCA. 2008. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's great when she jumps through the speakers and screams, May 7, 2007

By 

Jesse Kornbluth "Head Butler" (New York) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Story (Audio CD)

Brandi Carlile's second CD starts with a song that pretty much positions her for the knowing listener. That is, if you like Melissa Etheridge and Rosanne Cash and Emmylou Harris --- smart, sensitive singer-songwriters who can shout as well as whisper --- you're going to like this singer-songwriter too.

That is, she's pleasant. Accomplished. But derivative. And, thus, hardly essential.

The second song --- the title song --- begins. It's written by one of the twin brothers who are Carlile's house band. It rocks a little harder, and then, at 2 minutes and 56 seconds, it returns to its opening:

All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I've been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don't mean anything
When you've got no one to tell them to
It's true...I was made for you

And as Brandi Carlile delivers those lines, something happens that I can't recall occurring for donkey's years. The singer doesn't "sing" the first few lines. She explodes out of your speakers. Looks you right in the eye. And flat-out screams.

Do you shiver? I did. And I'm the guy who likes a lot of emotion.

From there on, Brandi Carlile was as necessary to my life as caffeine. "I started losing sleep and gaining weight/And wishing I was ten again/So I could be your friend again." There's stuff like that in every song.

Thirteen songs. Love songs, all. If, that is, you define love as living in each other's guts, or trying to get there, or wondering why you're not there any more. I adore authenticity, but this is more of it than I'm used to --- to pay attention to every song on this CD is to be forced to compare Carlile's emotional resources with your own.

But this CD is in no way harrowing. Carlile and her friends may slit a vein before they write, but as a piece of music, "The Story" is very pleasing. For every shout there's a gorgeous trill. For every heavy lyric, there's a clever melody. And for every heartache, there's a notion like "Your friends are never gone/if you look to the sky and pray."

It is entirely possible to listen to Brandi Carlile and think: up-and comer, pleasant voice, nice songs, great in the car and at parties. I hope I get there soon. For now, at 2:56 of "The Story," the world stops and a woman I'll never meet gets in my face to tell me what love costs. And whatever I'm doing, I honor her with my full attention.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The story has only begun (hopefully), March 30, 2007

By 

Carlos (NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Story (Audio CD)

Brandi Carlile faces a dilemma and I bet she knows it. She's a little bit alternative, a little bit folk and a little bit country. This pretty much guarantees that mainstream radio, with it's segregated programming and lack of imagination, will probably ignore her. While she's certainly young and cute enough, she does'nt gyrate on stage and croon about her bedroom which means MTV will have no use for her either. Well, radio aand MTV's loss is our gain because Brandi Carlile might just have the most expressive and beautiful voice I've heard in a long time. I was blown away by the first song I heard from this album on a free sampler CD. It was the title track "The Story". What impressed me was Brandi's sudden launch into a harder edged rock sound, her powerful vocals almost cathartic. I was curious and maybe a bit apprehensive about whether the entire album would have the same sound. Well, I should have known better. Brandi is NOT one dimensional. This new CD picks up where her debut left off. It alternates between heartfelt ballads, Americana and midtempo rock ("Cannonball" being a particular favorite). The copyright dates on the songs are from 2001 through 2006 so this may be a collection of road-tested "trunk songs" i.e. songs Brandi and the twins have been playing live for a long time now. Regardless, Brandi Carlile can sing the birds out of the trees. Honestly, her voice is so mesmerizing and her use of it so artful that you have to wonder why she's not the top selling female artist in the country. As evidenced by the strength of her two CD's, I'd say Brandi's got a long and legendary career ahead of her.
Now I know what you're thinking, why not 5 stars then? Well look.... I'd give REVOLVER 5 stars...I'd give PET SOUNDS 5 stars, know what I mean?

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No sophomore slump here..., April 3, 2007

By 

Randall J. Omdahl - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Story (Audio CD)

Brandi Carlile has been on the periphery of my radar for a few months now, and The Story has permanently converted me to one of the faithful. I keep playing the title track over and over again, just can't get this song out of my head. The sheer emotional power rips through your soul like an out-of-control freight train, stirring up heartache, lost love and painful past memories -- yet is healing and bittersweet all at once. And when the Hanseroth twins double-barrel power chords come crashing in on the chorus, the song just plain shreds. This ain't no bubblegum pop. The talent, wisdom, loss, torment and life experience present in her vocals contradicts her 23 years, and it appears that she has successfully channeled the spirit of Patsy Cline for a new generation. Thank you Brandi, I sincerely wish you a long and rewarding career. And for all of you listeners hungry for something different, do yourself a favor and buy this album right now -- as well as her excellent debut.