Her record company

[MeganJane]

Personally I think the way they changed her songs on HAT were awful. It made a too upbeat Vanessa. I think this last record, and her personality at her concerts have really turned me off from Vanessa for a while. I mean I still support her, but her last cd sucks. The music is good, but the instrumentation, and the plastic-ness of it really took its toll - EX. HOM is upbeat, and not as emotional as it could have been. I don't know I STILL think that Harm was the best and HAT was my least favorite cd.

Hmm, I looked for an emoticon with clapping hands but there isn't one.
I agree about H&T being too upbeat in a plastic-y way. Personally I think even the songs that aren't really "upbeat" as such sound diluted and therefore bland to me.
I find H&T both cheesy and dull. I know some people find it to be excellent, but I don't. I found her music to be so interesting and full of character before and I miss it.

So what is her "personality at concerts"? (Never been to one unfortunately...)

[Manda]

Be Not Nobody in my opinion was the best Vanessa Carlton that I was ever exposed to, musically. Harmonium was okay, some songs that were just too pop for me but others were good. Heroes & Thieves was very very disappointing. I hardly ever listen to it, when I do I listen to the actual song Heroes and Thieves, Home, or More than this. Everything else is just plastic. I was listening to BnN again the other day, I have never gotten sick of that CD. I miss that side of Vanessa deeply...her tours are not what they used to be and I feel like I'm becoming less of a fan because of the direction she is choosing to go. I don't know who she is anymore and that does make me really upset, she was my hope and inspiration for so many years.  :cry:

[amberbeads]

i hardly ever listen to BNN. i think it is much too polished. it sounds like adult contemporary and she was still so young. the songs have potential but they lack emotion and the piano lacks richness and sounds like it was run through a computer fifty times. not to mention her voice sounds pretty terrible most of the record.
i think HAT is so special to me because i can honestly identify with almost every track on the record. i feel like she spied on me for the last 3 years of my life and then wrote an album about it.

[tylor2000]

I like Ron Fair's work on BNN.  It made a good song even better.   He is very talented.  I also like Stephan's influence on the second album.  Just in a different way.  The third album is also very interesting in some ways and VC makes some interesting music.  It's funny how you can put two artists together like different spices or flavors and you come up with something different everytime.  I wonder what VC and Toby would come out with if they were to make something.  I think it was Enya who worked with Toby and they came out with something either one of them might not have done by themselves.  It still was distictively Enya and still distinctively Toby but 100% professional.  So I'm wondering what that would come out with.

[pswik91]

i don't know what v has in stores for us in the future, but I hope that it's something juicy!!  No matter what she decides to do i'm backing V 100000%  Good Luck V

[_all_is_well_]

Well I dont really like the Inc, but I do like H&T, I also like Harmonium, and BNN. I really dont think either Harmonium or H&T got enough promotion and they were released with two different record labels. Vanessa just isnt really cut out for main stream again. I would love a hit but then to me every song is is kind of like a hit.

[tylor2000]

I said(typed) white houses but I meant Harmonium.

[Cyril]

Vanessa just isnt really cut out for main stream again. I would love a hit but then to me every song is is kind of like a hit.

I do agree with you. 2002 is in the past...

[Ghisy]

i think it is much too polished. it sounds like adult contemporary and she was still so young. the songs have potential but they lack emotion and the piano lacks richness and sounds like it was run through a computer fifty times.

I agree with that statement. "BnN" is great but lacks personality at times.
"Harmonium" and "H&T" are absolutely great albums, they feel so "Vanessa-ish" to me. Not to mention that "Home" is the best song ever.  

And I don't understand what some people mean by Vanessa's personality at shows?! She's always been very nice to me and she was even sick the first time she agreed to meet me! (so she could have easily said no)

[iluvvanessa]

[/quote]

And I don't understand what some people mean by Vanessa's personality at shows?! She's always been very nice to me and she was even sick the first time she agreed to meet me! (so she could have easily said no)[/quote]

totally agree, she's always been more than friendly to me. she let me pet lord victor and shook my hand, i mean come on! how is that not nice?

[KeyboardGuy90]

Alright, so obviously we're not all going to agree as to what the best Vanessa album is... but here's what I think.

For me, Harmonium and Heroes & Thieves are the best... and, while Be Not Nobody has some great moments, it's not even close to the other 2 in terms of musical complexity, vocal abilities, and melodic content.

Harmonium is more like the sophomore album to Be Not Nobody (which it is, but hear me out). Think about it: same record label, slightly more mature direction, more creative control, Ron Fair still being available, etc.

And obviously, Heroes & Thieves, seeing as it is on a different record label, is going to sound a little bit different. However, I actually think that while it can get very commercial and synthesized at times, the songs themselves are wonderful. What I think could have made this better is using the same style of arrangement and mix that they used on the two previous albums: supplementing V's inspiring piano (not synthesizer, piano) accompaniment with strings and other such orchestral instruments. Honestly, that's the only thing that I think may have obstructed the presentation of these equally wonderful songs.

[charmedguy18]

The Inc. Sucked.
But BNN Ron Fair's album?
No. She wrote that entire album herself, as opposed to Harmonium and H&T which were all co-written.

[charmedguy18]

Be Not Nobody in my opinion was the best Vanessa Carlton that I was ever exposed to, musically. Harmonium was okay, some songs that were just too pop for me but others were good. Heroes & Thieves was very very disappointing. I hardly ever listen to it, when I do I listen to the actual song Heroes and Thieves, Home, or More than this. Everything else is just plastic. I was listening to BnN again the other day, I have never gotten sick of that CD. I miss that side of Vanessa deeply...her tours are not what they used to be and I feel like I'm becoming less of a fan because of the direction she is choosing to go. I don't know who she is anymore and that does make me really upset, she was my hope and inspiration for so many years.  :cry:

Other than BNN being the best (imo, Harmonium), I agree.

[itsthefiveofus]

I agree that BNN was her album, but in a way it was just all recycled. Most of the songs were from Rinse and they were just changed the way Ron Fair wanted them. Sure she agreed to them but I feel she was more happy with Harmonium. I like Harmonium the most I just hate how it was pretty much tossed to the literal back burner.

[B]

There are a number of factors which play a role in the success (or non-success) of an album and artist.

I personally was surprised at how much of a failure the return of Irv Gotti and The Inc. was. What that can be attributed to, I'm not really sure. All of the previous things Irv did to promote his artists and get out into the mainstream never really developed. That could have been due to Irv not holding the keys to the castle (so to speak), the changes the industry underwent since Irv was last successful, or many other factors.

As for BnN, that CD was loaded with pop/ac type songs that could sell on the radio. While some people criticize that, that is why it sold so many records, along with the monetary push it received from A&M. I still think the original cut of Pretty Baby would have sold better than the radio remix, but I'm not a big fan of radio remixes.

Harmonium had very little monetary push, which left on the table the potential for songs such as Private Radio and Who's to Say to blow up in the mainstream. I think between Private Radio and Who's to Say V could have blown up all over again, but it never happened.

Heroes & Thieves got more monetary push than Harmonium, but other than Nolita Fairytale the CD does not have one song that would even fit in on typical pop or ac stations. That isn't to say the songs are bad, because they're not, but they're harder to sell to the mainstream because they're not cute and catchy and such.

My personal favorite album is probably Harmonium because of the growth in V's voice from 2002 to 2004, and the breadth of songs on the album.

It is truly hard to compare the three albums because they, and the circumstances surrounding them, are all different.