Barricades & Brickwalls

Kasey Chambers

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 12, 2002)
• Original Release Date: February 12, 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B00005V0WK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,583 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #11 in	Music > World Music > Australia & New Zealand
  #33 in	Music > Indie Music > Country > Country Folk
  #53 in	Music > Country > Outlaw Country

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The hard-edged title cut kicking off this disc suggests that Kasey Chambers might be exploring an entirely different frontier than she did on her 2000 debut, The Captain, but the dozen tracks that follow are much more in line with the sparkling country-folk of her first album. That's good, because at this early stage in her career, there's no reason for Chambers to stray from her obvious strengths: simple but honest lyricism set to tastefully twangy instrumentation and spiked by her alternately sweet and sassy voice rising straight from the South (even if, in her case, it's South Australia). Various guest vocalists add breadth to the proceedings, with results that range from slightly disappointing (Lucinda Williams on "On a Bad Day") to effectively reflective (Paul Kelly on "I Still Pray") to wondrously evocative (Buddy Miller on "Runaway Train") to downright transcendent (Matthew Ryan on "Million Tears"). Mostly, though, it's Chambers's confidence and charm that shines brightly and clearly. --Peter Blackstock

Product Description

From one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters to emerge in years, 'Barricades And Brickwalls' has already hit the top of the charts and is 1 1/2 times platinum in her native Australia. Wrapping her stunning voice around true-life stories, Kasey Chambers storms America's musical barricades and brickwalls with melody, emotion and wisdom. Warner Bros. Records.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Sophomore Effort!!, April 7, 2002

By	Maudeen Wachsmith "BeachReader" (Port Townsend, WA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I loved Kasey Chambers THE CAPTAIN but after the recent disappointing effort by another fave, Shelby Lynne, it was with a bit of trepidation that I listened to BARRICADES & BRICKWALLS. I'm here to say that Kasey Chambers does not disappoint. Her sophomore effort is as stunning as THE CAPTAIN and with the grammy-winning Lucinda Williams and the grammy-nominated Buddy Miller backing her up, how could she go wrong? My favorite cut is A LITTLE BIT LONESOME which sould have been a perfect song for Patsy Cline. But it is all Kasey here. I was thrilled to see her add a Gram Parsons song to this album but other than that one cut, all songs were written or co-written by the talented Ms. Chambers. Ironically, this Aussie has been called a new voice in Americana music. Well, the US only wishes they could claim her. She is absolutely amazing and if I were to describe this CD, I would call it "Julie Miller does Lucinda Williams." Aussie or not, I highly recommend Kasey Chambers to those who are fans of Americana or alternative country music.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anybody Want To Move To Australia?, February 19, 2002

By	Clark Paull "(Sleepin' with the TV on)" (Murder City) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

At the tender age of 20-something, Australia's Kasey Chambers is a certified triple-threat: a scary-good writer and performer, with a voice that angels would sell their souls for. Toiling away in the genre that some hack has christened "alt-country," Chambers' second release "Barricades & Brickwalls" raises the stakes quite a bit from her stellar debut, 1999's "The Captain," which was criminally shuffled aside in a year which saw record company-created automatons like Faith Hill and Shania Twain scaling ridiculous heights of popularity, propelled by a dangerous combination of (admittedly) good looks and fluffy pop ditties with nary a trace of twang or compassion. Chambers' songs of of defiance (the title song), self doubt ("Not Pretty Enough"), and despair ("A Little Bit Lonesome") all shine through with unflinching honesty, beauty, and grace, adjectives which haven't been used to describe country music much ever since Garth Brooks first poured himself into a pair of skin tight jeans and strapped on his Time-Life operator head set. Chambers is given stellar support on "Barricades & Brickwalls" by Lucinda Williams (to whom she is often compared, along with a young Emmylou Harris), Buddy Miller and countrymen Paul Kelly (another genius floundering in obscurity, at least in America) and The Living End (love 'em - think of a combination of early Clash and your choice of second generation rockabilly bands), but what will really haunt you and convince you she has captured lightning in a jar is that voice, alternating between tenderness, sorrow, and joy. Stunning...

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Improves on the debut, June 20, 2005

By	Greg Brady "columbusboy" (Capital City) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Aussie twanger Kasey Chambers put out a fine debut in THE CAPTAIN. On this one, she occasionally allows more breathing room for the guitars and dances closer to the rock end of the country-rock equation. Her voice is still the same marvelous childlike instrument (think Julie Miller) but she ups the songwriting a tad this time out. There are more tunes that lodge themselves insistently than with the first effort.

HIGHLIGHTS:
The disc kicks off with the brassy title tune, a declaration of intent as Kasey snarls "Iron bars and big ole cars/Won't run me out of town/I'll be d**ned if you're not my man/Before the sun goes down." She follows that up with the meek "Not Pretty Enough" leaving you to wonder which one is the "real" Kasey. Perhaps it's both..you get another dose of melancholy in "On a Bad Day" (Chambers' pal and backer Lucinda Williams guests on harmony) but on weeper "Little Bit Lonesome" (Chambers channeling Hank Sr.?) and "If I Were You" Chambers again insists that if her lovers don't "get" her, it's their problem. ("I'm only half of what you see...") "Crossfire" is an edgy rocker with Kasey this time playing the runaround romeo ("If you don't hate me, you'll learn to/I thought I had it clear from the start/I don't have a heart...") Perhaps the strongest track is the visceral "Ignorance" (hidden after track 13), as Chambers recoils from the world's evils. ("If you're not pissed off at the world/Then you're just not paying attention")

LOWS:
No real clunkers this time out, though "Runaway Train" sounds like a knockoff of the title track. She didn't really bring anything new to the Gram Parsons cover either. ("Still Feeling Blue")

BOTTOM LINE:
If you like alt country or Julie Miller, this is highly recommended. If you love traditional country (Loretta Lynn, George Jones, Johnny Cash) and you're looking for something new that "sounds old", you'd be well advised to give this one a listen.