The Captain

Kasey Chambers

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 10, 2000)
• Original Release Date: October 10, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B00004Y6ND
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #52,181 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

An immediate hit in Kasey Chambers's native Australia, The Captain is both engaging and off putting, a debut disc that rarely rises above country-rock clichés, but they're agreeable clichés. Chambers has a strong and versatile voice that's occasionally little-girl precious (think Natalie Imbruglia), but is more often beautiful, high, and fragile (imagine Julie Miller, whose husband Buddy contributes harmony here). All of which makes it the perfect instrument for the conflicted title track, where Chambers expresses desire for love and support, then pushes that admirable impulse to such a subservient extreme ("You're the captain, I am no one") that one can't help but fear the song's a recipe for heartbreak--especially since the song is delivered without a shred of irony. But if you don't dissect her words too much, Chambers's fetching melodies, roots-rock arrangements, and Lucinda Williams-derived phrasing are always entertaining. --David Cantwell

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Country Album of 2000? From An Aussie? Yes!, April 16, 2001

By	Ron Frankl (Hendersonville, NC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

What does it say about the current state of country music that the best country CD released in the last year was recorded by an Australian woman in her early twenties? Further, what does it mean when this wonderful album fails to find a market and disappears with hardly a trace, despite a bushel full of glowing reviews?

Sadly, such is the case with "The Captain," the debut album from Kasey Chambers. Chambers is the offspring of a musical family; the family group, the Dead Ringer Band, is one of Australia's finest country bands (don't laugh), and her father, Bill Chambers, is also part of the duo Bill and Audrey. For her part, Kasey is a terrific songwriter who's blessed with a pretty, girlish voice reminiscent of Julie Miller and Mary Karlzen, with a country twang.

"The Captain" is a wonderful album of mostly upbeat "hard country" that never falls into the retro trap. This is not the nonsense that passes for country in Nashville these days; this is the real deal. An album like "The Captain" would hardly seem so special if Music Row were less interested in such artistically deadening pursuits as repeating a successful musical formula over and over until its worthless (c.f., Shania, Martina, Faith, etc.) and instead focused on making great music.

Strong melodies and creative arrangements are found everywhere on this album. Chambers wrote or co-wrote all twelve of these intelligent and often witty songs, with "Cry Like A Baby," "The Captain," and "We're All Gonna Die Some Day" three of the highlights, but there's really not a weak track here. Chambers sings with personality and spunk throughout.

It almost makes me cry (I won't, though, at least not now) that this fine CD hasn't become a hit, despite being out for over six months. If you love real country music you'll love "The Captain," and if you think hate country, this album may change your mind. Kasey Chambers is clearly a major talent. Here's hoping she gets another chance to record.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rockabilly Masterpiece from Down Under, February 19, 2002

By	James Cantrell (Tennessee) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If the Nashville music scene were not dominated by Yankee businessmen whose focus is on pandering to the mass audience of teeny-boppers and suburban soccer moms,which has them push sugary, poppish drivel like Garth Brooks, Shania Twain, and Faith Hill, more people would have heard of this album. I caught the title cut on an independent radio station that plays traditional country, country rock, Southern rock, folk rock, bluegrass, and blues. I was bowled over by 'The Captain.' When I got the album, I discovered the title cut to be the weakest among the first 7, and both 'The Hard Way' and 'Don't Go' are each as good as 'The Captain.' There is not a single throwaway on this album. Chambers' lyrics are piercing. The guitar work throughout is sharp, never ostentacious, never cheap. Chambers' voice is an original: plaintive, wailing, keening. She would be ideal to keen over the massacred at Culloden or the corpse of Ned Kelly.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Addictive, August 10, 2001

By A Customer

Every once in while you buy a CD that you play once, it sounds good you play it again, and then next thing you know, you're playing it three times a day, taping it for friends and wondering when the next album is coming out. the captain is such a CD.

I heard the captain on a Boston radio station, noted the artist's name and ordered the CD from Amazon. I got it on a Monday, its now Friday and I'm at the three times a day stage.

Its more country than rock, but Kasey Chambers is no Faith Hill. She is refreshingly unique. You will not be disappointed.