Beautiful Tragedy [IMPORT]

Lisa Brokop (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 19, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Ellbea Music
• ASIN: B001CY1Z7K
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #254,503 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Break It

2. Beautiful Tragedy

3. November Trees

4. Clouds

5. Band in the Window

6. 30 Shades of Blue

7. I Can`t

8. So Far

9. On The Radio

10. Rapunzel

11. Shackin`Up

12. Just to Be Here

Editorial Reviews

Review

Lisa Brokop Beautiful Tragedy (Ellbea Music) On her seventh studio album, Lisa Brokop leaves the majors behind and goes the independent route. Brokop not only co-produced the project with her husband, Nashville based singer songwriter Paul Jefferson, but co-wrote all but one of the 12 tracks and even plays mandolin. Immediately, you notice how her voice is front and center in the mix. Sounding comfortable and confident, Brokop is a mature woman who isn t scared to share and bare all. The production is predominantly stark, sometimes just percussion and organ but highly effective. I Can t is the disc s centerpiece focusing on Brokop s spiritually commanding vocal accented by percussion, bass, organ (courtesy of the late Richard Bell) and the emotive bluesy guitar of Colin Linden. There is a bit of Saturday night party music but most of this is for Sunday morning when you can get lost in a cup of coffee and let the melancholy envelope and caress you with its sheer beauty. Compelling and inspired, this is Brokop s most personal and best album yet. **** out of ***** --Winnipeg Free Press

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Her Best....., June 20, 2009

By	Satisfied Lone Wolf (Timonium, MD) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

Lisa Brokop always produced expertly, crafted country music radio friendly gems, but she was never given the recognition she deservcd in this tragic country music scene where overproduced fluff meets overexposed minor talents like Underwood, Pickler, Swift and the rest of the Nashville music teeny bopper scene. Brokop had the chops to carry if off, but America did not listen. Her mainstream country albums are some of my favorites.

In Beautiful Tragedy, Brokop leaves mainstream country to produce and sing on a wonderfully exquisite gem of an album that mixes pop, blues and cabaret, and tends to leave her cowboy boots in the wind, except for one song, the weakest one on the cd. I just love this cd, as Lisa shows maturity and growth as a songwriter, and continues to shine with her beautiful tones and phrasing that is so well defined.

Like Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lari White and Jennifer Warnes ( who Lisa reminds me of in so many ways) Lisa has chosen to leave the mainstream star making machinery to record this independent gem that defines who she is- an eclectic singer who will not be defined by the music row moguls. Keep them coming Lisa.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Brokop's CD is Untragically Beautiful, August 28, 2008

By	T. Yap "thy4568" (Sydney, NSW, Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Prime Cuts: 30 Shades of Blue, So Far, On the Radio

On a cursory level, the title "Beautiful Tragedy" sounds oxymoronic. Yet, it's perfect for Canadian Lisa Brokop's seventh studio CD. Despite life's tumultuous tribulations, Brokop has the uncanny ability to see the silver lining around each dark cloud. For according to this Canadian country star, it's the storms and the sunshine that weave together to make life's tapestry beautiful. Such philosophical musing undergirds the entire album, each of these 12 newly penned paeans (all of which save one come are Brokop co-writes) present life in its warts and its beauty. To further augment the uniqueness of such a tapestry Brokop is her distinctive bluesy vocals that call to mind a more subdued Wynonna Judd. With former recording artist Paul Jefferson and Brokop herself on the helm, there's a more organic, stripped down backing to these songs relative to Brokop's earlier CDs. However, this does not mean that Brokop and Jefferson have given kudos to traditional country; rather, this is in essence a soft-rock/pop record with some country sensibilities.

Of the songs that deal with the scabrous side of life, the emotionally charged ballad "So Far" is without peer. With just the accompaniment of the piano, Brokop's tells of how her former boyfriend finally steps up to the altar except that she's not the bride. The pain that exudes out of the speakers I so thick you can cut with a knife. "30 Shades of Blue," though less excoriating, is another melodious mid-tempo song of heartbreak that is worth a mention. Lines from the nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty" become the opening lines of the pretty average (melody wise) lead single "Break It" when Brokop sings, " I`m going to need all the kings horses/all the kings men to help me put the pieces back together again." Perhaps due to her being a new mother, she has allowed her songwriting to be informed by her children's bedtime stories. On "Rapunzel" Brokop uses the heroine of the children's novella as a spring board to deal with issue of letting her hair down by taking more chances. Despite being a little tedious and long, this bluesy ballad actually pass muster. But that's not all as far as children are concerned, the album closes with Brokop's kid singing an impromptu version of "Jesus Loves Me." Depending on your view of children singing, it can either be an exercise of cuteness or revulsion.

On the chipper side of life, "On the Radio" has a hook that grabs you from the get-go. A feel-good inspirational number, Brokop strings together stories of unsung heroes that ought to make her a radio darling. "Shacking Up," despite lyrics showing a lapse in morality, shows another side of Brokop's personality. Here, Brokop shows us she knows how to have fun and it's the perfect interlude on an album that deals with some emotionally heavy themes. "Band in the Window," a single for Pam Tillis, gets reprised here. "Band in the Window" has an infectious small town charm as it celebrates a group of people singing in a local pub just for the sake of singing. Co-written with fellow Canadian artist Victoria Banks, the title cut "Beautiful Tragedy" is a moody piece with a uplifting message over a monotonous tune.


"Beautiful Tragedy" is a well thought out album. Top marks are in order for the uplifting messages of many of these songs. However, many a times, some of these entries here are let down by the average pedantic melodies. Nevertheless, Brokop's philosophy of life is worth repeating as she sings on the title cut, "I'll take all the storms and I'll take all the pain and I'll throw in the good times and weave them up magically into my tapestry - all my life's meant to be's in a beautiful tragedy..."