| Rabbits On The Run | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Vanessa Carlton | ||||
| Released | July 26, 2011 | |||
| Recorded | 2009 - 2011 at Real World Studios | |||
| Genre | Pop, Indie Pop, Piano pop | |||
| Length | 37:25 | |||
| Label | Razor & Tie | |||
| Producer | Steve Osborne | |||
| Vanessa Carlton chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Rabbits on the Run | ||||
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Rabbits on the Run is the fourth studio album from Vanessa Carlton, which was released on July 26, 2011 under the label Razor & Tie.
Contents |
On October 2, 2010, Vanessa Carlton tweeted that she had completed her fourth studio album.[1] In February 2011, a video was posted to Carlton's official website. In the video, she explained the process for producing her album, and stated that she questioned whether or not she would make another record, as she had been experimenting with writing film scores. She further explained that after deciding to produce another record, Carlton felt she needed to create the ideal environment in order to produce what she felt was the perfect album.[2][3] She said that she wanted to capture a creepy, honest, dreamy, fantastical sound with 'Rabbits on the Run,' a title and concept inspired by books like Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time, and Richard Adams's Watership Down. In order to achieve that sound, Carlton recorded the album direct to tape and recruited a tight-knit team of collaborators, which included producer Steve Osborne, The Upwelling guitarist Ari Ingber, and My Morning Jacket drummer Patrick Hallahan. She also enlisted the help of a children's choir, namely the Capital Children's Choir,[4] saying that some of her melodies were "just built" for choral arrangements.[3][5] It was also mentioned in the video that the recording for the album took place in Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios in Box, England, which Carlton considered as the secret "fifth element she needed" to complete the album.[6]
On March 1, 2011, it was announced that Carlton had signed with Razor & Tie.[7][8] According to Amazon.com the paperback sheet music accompaniment to the album will be published in September 2011.[9] On November 10, 2011, it was announced that an EP would be released entitled Hear the Bells It contains the songs "Do You Hear What I Hear?", "Happy Xmas(War is Over)," as well as acoustic versions of her 2002 single "A Thousand Miles" and the new song "Hear the Bells." It contains a similar sound and style to Rabbits on the Run.
Carlton performed lead single "Carousel" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Today Show, and was interviewed on Chelsea Lately. She also performed "I Don't Want to Be a Bride" on Conan.
Carlton recorded a 'Master Class' for VH1, teaching viewers how to play 'Carousel'.[10]
Carlton also conducted an interview with ABC News in June 2011, discussing the meaning behind the album's title. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcLo1Nh14rY&feature=related)
As part of promoting the album, Vanessa recorded a cover of Mumford and Sons' 'The Cave' for Billboard.com (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpX80bxWccI&feature=related)
The lead single from Rabbits on the Run was "Carousel", released on May 3, 2011 with an accompanying music video released online May 16, 2011.
On September 19, A tweet from Vanessa's account made by her management stated that "I Don't Want To Be A Bride" would be one of the songs that would be on sale the following week. It is also implied that it is to be the next single off the record.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 72/100[11] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| PopMatters | [12] |
| Allmusic | [13] |
| Slant Magazine | [14] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B+) [15] |
| Los Angeles Times | (Favorable) [16] |
| The Silver Tongue | (Favorable) [17] |
| The Tune | [18] |
Rabbits on the Run received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 72, based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[11]
As of August 2011, Amazon.com had voted the album number 51 on their top 100 albums of 2011.[19]
All songs written and composed by Vanessa Carlton except as noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Carousel" | Carlton | 3:16 |
| 2. | "I Don't Want to Be a Bride" | Carlton, Ari Ingber, Steve Osborne | 4:01 |
| 3. | "London" | Carlton | 4:17 |
| 4. | "Fairweather Friend" | Carlton | 3:55 |
| 5. | "Hear the Bells" | Carlton | 3:44 |
| 6. | "Dear California" | Carlton, Ingber | 3:19 |
| 7. | "Tall Tales for Spring" | Carlton | 4:28 |
| 8. | "Get Good" | Carlton | 3:54 |
| 9. | "The Marching Line" | Carlton | 3:30 |
| 10. | "In the End" | Carlton | 2:53 |
| iTunes Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks[20] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 11. | "Tall Tales For Spring (Acoustic Version)" | 4:31 | |||||||
| 12. | "Carousel (Acoustic Version)" | 3:03 | |||||||
| 13. | "London (Acoustic Version)" | 4:16 | |||||||
| 14. | "Carousel" (music video) | 3:22 | |||||||
| 15. | "The Four Elements of Rabbits On the Run" (video) | 4:26 | |||||||
| 16. | "Behind the Scenes of the 'Carousel' Video" (video) | 1:26 | |||||||