Brandi Carlile - Live at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony - Music & Performance - CD

Culled from two incredible sold-out shows in November 2010 at the prestigious Seattle concert venue, LIVE AT BENAROYA HALL WITH THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY features Brandi and her band performing a finely drawn repertoire of original songs and well-chosen covers accompanied by full thirty-piece orchestra. LIVE AT BENAROYA HALL WITH THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY features arrangements created for Brandi by Sean O'Loughlin and the legendary Grammy winning Paul Buckmaster. The set list includes Brandi's best-known songs, fan favorites and incomparable interpretations of cover songs.

Recorded during her 2010 tour in support of Give Up the Ghost, this live album finds Brandi Carlile performing a mix of original songs and cover material alongside the Seattle Symphony. Carlile's earthy pop/rock is a far cry from classical fare, perhaps, but the pairing doesn't sound as odd as you'd think. With their cathartic melodies and storybook lyrics, her songs have always tended to fare equally well in acoustic settings and full-band arrangements. Backed by a full orchestra, they take on an anthemic quality while still highlighting everything that makes Carlile's music so appealing, keeping the spotlight on her voice -- which has never sounded better -- and festooning it with all sorts of pretty flourishes. Occasionally, the symphony pulls away entirely, leaving Carlile and her longtime backing band -- including brothers Tim and Phil Hanseroth, who perform a spot-on cover of "The Sound of Silence" toward the end of the set -- to remind everyone what the core of this music sounds like. But Live at Benaroya Hall is more concerned with dressing up Carlile's music in elegant, orchestral clothing, and the results are pretty stunning, from the grandeur of "The Story" -- now featuring horns, woodwinds, and strings -- to the graceful ebb and flow of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," which vacillates between simple guitar arpeggios and lush symphonic swells. This isn't Brandi Carlile's first concert album, but it's certainly the best. ~ Andrew Leahey, Rovi

Performer	Brandi Carlile
Music genre	Alternative
Music subgenre	Rock
Media format	CD
Original release date	2011
Language	English
Has parental advisory label	N
Number of discs	1
Track listing	Curtain Call, Sixty Years on, Looking Out, Before It Breaks, I Will, Shadow on the Wall, Dreams, Turpentine, The Sound of Silence, The Story, Pride & Joy, Hallelujah, Forever Young
Record label	Sony
Target audience	General/trade
Songwriter	Brandi Carlile
Track name	Curtain Call, Sixty Years On, Looking Out, Before It Breaks, I Will, Shadow on the Wall, Dreams, Turpentine, The Sound of Silence, The Story, Pride and Joy, Hallelujah, Forever Young
Music media format	CD
Is edited	N
Is enhanced	N