Vanessa Carlton Albums Ranked

Vanessa Carlton is a one-hit wonder, best known for 2002’s ‘A Thousand Miles’. You may question why I’m ranking a one-hit wonder’s albums, but she’s actually made a string of strong records. She’s grown from her debut, which spawned ‘A Thousand Miles’.

I look at my first three albums as ‘Vanessa 1.0’, but ‘Vanessa 2.0’ is where the inner freedom comes, that started with [2011’s Rabbits on the Run] and these collaborations.

Vanessa Carlton, Vice

There are two clear chapters in Carlton’s career. In the 2000s, she was signed to major labels. She made mainstream pop/rock, fuelled by her ear for a piano hook. From 2011’s Rabbits on the Run, she switched to artier territory, more atmospheric and impressionistic.

Carlton’s just released her seventh album, Veils. How does it stack up with her previous work?

Carlton wrote the riff to ‘A Thousand Miles’ on her parents’ piano at 18. Her mother told her it would be a hit. It helped her get a record deal, but Carlton had little control over her debut album. Her record company told her things like “Every space on your record is real estate, Vanessa!”

Be Not Nobody is a slick, mainstream record. ‘A Thousand Miles’ is the standout track, but the single ‘Ordinary Day’ is also worthy. There’s a cover of The Rolling Stones’ ‘Paint It Black’, more successful than you’d expect.

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Carlton reconnected with producer Dave Fridmann for Veils. It’s a subdued record, with Fridmann adding a pinch of abrasiveness to Carlton’s pretty piano and vocals. It’s clearly a significant record for Carlton – she stated that “Our veils tell a story, when we choose to take one off or when we put one on…it is such a personal act.”

It’s Carlton’s subtlest record. There’s a string of strong songs at the start. ‘Woke Up High’ has a psychedelic edge, while ‘The Mountain’ is pretty and invigorating. The back half is some of Carlton’s most insular music – songs like ‘I’m Not There’ and ‘Strawberries in Winter’ are mournful and austere.

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Carlton sent unsolicited demos to Dave Fridmann, known for his work with quirky art-rock bands Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips. Fridmann provides Carlton with a sparse, atmospheric sound, less centred on the piano.

‘Future Pain’ taps into an art-rock sound that’s closer to The Flaming Lips than you’d expect from Carlton. The triumphant instrumental coda is built around a great piano riff. ‘The Only Way To Love’ is a great pop song with a memorable chorus that would have fitted onto Carlton’s previous records. 

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Harmonium sold a fraction of the copies of Be Not Nobody. ‘White Houses’ is one of Carlton’s best songs, but it’s perhaps too intimate to serve as the lead single for a blockbuster. But despite the lack of success, her artistry has deepened. Stephan Jenkins, lead singer of Third Eye Blind and her then-boyfriend, produced the record.

The upbeat pop/rock of ‘Private Radio’ isn’t as strong as ‘White Houses’, but it might have made for a better lead single, different stylistically from Carlton’s earlier work. Carlton is moody and less hooky on tracks like ‘Annie’ and ‘Half A Week Before Winter’, but feels more substantial than her debut.

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Carlton described Rabbits on the Run as the start of “Vanessa 2.0”, freed from commercial expectations. She worked with English producer Steve Osborne and recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World studios in Bath.

There’s an appealing mystical edge that wasn’t present on Carlton’s previous records. Songs like ‘Hear the Bells’ and ‘The Marching Line’ have a haunting quality. My favourite song, though, is the pop/rock of ‘I Don’t Want To Be A Bride’. Piano-based, it would have fitted comfortably onto her earlier records, but it’s especially intimate here.

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Recorded in the same studio with the same producer, it’s even more pastoral, full of imagery taken from nature. Carlton’s becoming more subtle with age. Nothing here sounds like a hit, but it’s well written and accomplished.

Even the song titles capture the feel of Wind in the Willows – there’s a song titled ‘River’ and another titled ‘Willows’. Even though Liberman is low key and mellow, there are still memorable tunes like ‘House of Seven Swords’ and ‘Willows’. 

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Incongruously, Carlton’s third album was released on Murder Inc. Records. Stevie Nicks supplies backing vocals on ‘The One’. It only sold 75,000 copies in the states, but it was her best record yet, Carlton developing into a classy pop/rock artist.

‘Nolita Fairytale’ reflects Carlton settling down in the New York neighbourhood of Nolita.  There’s a lovely piano line on the title track, while ‘Spring Street’ is gorgeous. The closer ‘More Than This’ is gently anthemic, the perfect closer to an accomplished album.

As with all of her post-2002 career, Carlton continued to make excellent music, but only a fraction of her original audience was listening.

10 Best Vanessa Carlton Songs

What’s your favourite Vanessa Carlton album?