Album of the Week

For this week's Album of the Week, I decided to go with Cover Stories: Brandi Carlile Celebrates 10 Years of The Story An Album to Benefit War Child. Because 2017 is the tenth anniversary since Brandi's album The Story (my favorite album by her) was released, The Story was revisited but with other artists covering Brandi's songs. Proceeds of the album goes to War Child.

I first heard the album on NPR prior to the album's release and really enjoyed what I had heard so I ordered a copy, especially knowing that my $$$ would go to charity.  As someone who really isn't all that into country music, I found the majority of the album quite pleasant to listen. I absolutely adore Dolly Parton's interpretation of "The Story". Dolly did my favorite Brandi Carlile song justice. Dolly could probably turn the worst pop song out there and make it sound good. While I like Kris Kristofferson's cover of "Turpentine", I just felt that this version sounded more like a spoken word track than an actual song and really didn't have much emotions like the original track has. The melody is still there but I will take the original over his and I do like Kris Kristofferson as an artist, just not crazy about his contribution to the album. A big MEH for me on "Wasted" that Jim James did. His track and The Indigo Girls' version of "Cannonball" are my least favorite tracks on the album that I have to skip. Not big on the vocals on both tracks. Other faves includes "Have You Ever" from The Avett Brothers, "Losing Heart" from The Secret Sisters, "Downpour" from Margo Price (my favorite country artist), and "Again Today" from Pearl Jam. While I do like Adele's contribution to the album "Hiding My Heart", I just felt that she sounded out of place  on album with mostly country/folk artists. I can also say the same about Pearl Jam but I like their version of "Again Today" a bit more than Adele's version of "Hiding My Heart".

That said, nothing beats the original The Story. It is one of my favorite albums I have bought in the past couple of years.I have included the original album. The Story has held up so well in ten years since it first came out. There is nothing pretentious or fake in Brandi's music. Brandi is a fantastic storyteller. One day I will see her live in concert.



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