Kasey Chambers - Barricades & Brickwalls [Bonus Disc] (CD)

Sophmore sucess!

By whiskeyandaprayer  Feb 16, 2002 | 1 out of 1 found this Barricades & Brickwalls [Bonus Disc] review helpful

Kasey Chambers is back! Welcome news for those of us who have been on pins and needles since buying The Captian. Barricades and Brickwalls is a more diverse collection than before yet still retains her trademark strength and integrity.The title tra...ck opens the album in a bluesier, edgier place than anything on her previous work. You can really hear Lucindia William's influence. This track as well as "Runaway Train" and "Crossfire" show that Chambers is comfortable with her newfound rock flavor, without getting lost in it. For those who worry that she is growing away from her outback country roots she offers up "A Little Bit Lonesome" and "Still Feeling Blue" either one of which could have been dragged out of a '50's western bar. As usual, however, Chambers is at her best when the music is stripped down to the basics of her and a few acoustics. As those who know her know Chamber's most powerful instrument is her voice. In an era when honey sweet voices are produced until every ounce of emotion is wrought from them, Chamber's bursts on the scene like an uncouth infant. Her voice rails like a child who has just realized for the first time that monsters a real, but they do not live under the bed. There are a few tantrums, a few wailing fits, but mostly just modulations of hurt. There is an edge to that nasal twage that reminds us all of innocence at the very moment it is lost.The powerhouse coupling of her achingly beautiful voice with her fresh, yet world weary writing is unmatched in the realm of mainstream country. "I hope, I stand, I take it like a man" she asserts in "Not Pretty Enough," a song for every girl who grew up knowing she'd never be prom queen. From the freinzed "Runaway Train" to the quiet of her outback home, Chamber's strips down her soul. The final combination of "I Still Pray" and "Ignorance" pack a punch that can only be followed by a moment of silence. "You can turn off the TV and go about your day, but just 'cos you don't see it doesn't mean it 's gone away," she reminds us. At one point is "This Mountain" she states "If your heart don't break you won't be free." By that standard this album allows us an insight into a soaring and hard won freedom.It is as impossible to compare this album to "The Captian" as it is to compare Chambers to anyone else. Think Lucinda Williams with an pinch of Jewel; Mary Chapin Carpenter with a dash of Steve Earle. Perhaps Emmilou Harris comes the closest, because like Harris Chambers offers a styalistic variety while remaining rooted in deeply in country soil. And she satiates her audience while leaving them with the impression that the best is still to come. Read more Less