Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0777913121220
Format: Import
Label: Audiogram Canada
Manufacturer: Audiogram Canada
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Audiogram Canada
Release Date: 2007-05-01
Studio: Audiogram Canada

The second album of French/Italian model-cum-chanteuse. Two years in the making, No Promises is a unique and personal interpretation of some of the greatest poets of the American and British traditions, including texts by Emily Dickenson and W. B. Yeats. Naive. 2007.
"Come, let me sing into your ear," purrs Carla Bruni to open her second album, her French/Italian heritage betrayed in a pan-European accent that's as breathy and relaxing as a summer afternoon nap on the Riviera. Though the prospect of a former supermodel's career exploits is sometimes prettier than others (depends if you prefer the Project Runway pronouncements of Heidi Klum or the talk show/tabloid antics of Tyra Banks), Carla Bruni approaches music armed with something of a legitimate pedigree, both her parents having been musicians in their own right. Calling the album No Promises may reflect some intentional lowering of expectations for Bruni's experiment here, setting 11 reverently-chosen lyric poems by the likes of Emily Dickenson, W.B. Yeats, and Dorothy Parker to her own mellow, wispy music and pleasant voice. Where artists like Feist or Keren Ann use spare instrumentation and airy vocals to achieve delicacy and nuance, the compositions on No Promises seem to run together without much to distinguish one from another, and the result is neither offensive nor particularly inspirational. Maybe next time Carla Bruni will inject a little more fire into her belly and add some sparkle to her hushed soundscape. --Ben Heege

Customer Rating:
Summary: Shoot for the Stars, and You'll Reach the Tree-Top
Comment: While I authentically respect Carla Bruni's prowess as a musician (try finding her amazing rendition of "Deranger les pierres" with Julien Clerc on video), her second album remains an oddity even in her reasonable musical arsenal. While her debut album remains to this day a breakthrough of sorts (remember this was before the general public even knew her much), this CD seems like a weird experiment that doesn't quite go anywhere.

Despite being a listener of mood music and concept albums such as this - Isobel Campbell being a prime mascot of the genre - I was half expecting some sort of masterpiece when I first got it. However, it has to be said that of all her albums, Carla is the most monotonous on this one. Her husky, breathy voice is reduced to a flat drill here, and it looks like shes actually struggling with her English language lyrics.

"Those Dancing Days are Gone" was the first single, and easily the most listenable thing here. However, once you reach Track 4, a certain sameness creeps in, and it all goes downhill very, very quickly. I think the problem is not the song selection, but rather the lyrics of these great texts being enunciated with incorrect syllable stress almost everywhere - Carla doesn't let these songs breathe - its evident shes laboriously reading off a page, and that isn't pretty.

Unlike Susheela Raman who took ancient Sanskrit texts, set them to blues and jazz, and in the process won huge fans from both the art circuit and the mainstream, Carla's experiment here is just an experiment. Its not very listenable. And mostly, its not very good (though I admit I did give it four to five listens to find something of any worth, but was unlucky)

The main problem also remains that the album actually gets even slower and duller as it progresses. The beauty of "Autumn" as a poem is totally lost, and by the time we get to the most lyrically intriguing song - "Ballad at Thirty Five", most listeners would have tuned out. I also must state that the two closing tracks - in particular the final track, is a sure cure for insomnia.

When Bruni does a ballad with class, she really nails it. "Ma Jeunesse" from "Comme si de rien n'etait" for example is a prime contendor for the kinds of songs she is good at, but give her a bunch of poems to set to music, and shes totally lost. I think even she probably gave up halfway on this record (which is perhaps why she has never sung any of these songs live or in concert)

Two Stars.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Absolutely monotonous
Comment: Watching a movie, I felt in love with one of the songs. I did some research and the song was Quelqu'un M'a Dit, from Cara Bruni's debut disc by the same name. I rush and bought it, and I was not a bit disappointed. Besides having great looks, Ms. Bruni has a beautiful voice, the guitar arrays were quite decent, and the melancholic tone was lovable.

When I heard she had released a disk in English, I was eager to hear it... and as soon as I did I was terribly disappointed. This disk is absolutely monotonous. She basically took one guitar array, and adapted it to several different poems. The lyrics, yeah, they are nice... but they are not original. She still has that voice of a goddess, but I don't feel the disk is actually worth it.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A gossamer grab-bag of European air.
Comment: Since the focus of this column is music, I won't dwell on supermodel singer Carla Bruni's recent marriage to French president Nicolas Sarkozy, because it's irrelevant to her recorded output -- at least so far. No Promises is Bruni's second album, an all-English setting of poetry by such icons as Yeats, Auden, Dickinson, and Parker. Given the introspective nature of these lyrics, it's no surprise that the album is a gossamer grab-bag of European air. Bruni's intimate vocals are mated with classical guitar, harmonica, cello, bass, and light percussion. For those given to reflecting slowly over turns of phrase, No Promises promises a provocative soundtrack. For the rest who wouldn't know subtlety if it whacked `em upside the head, No Promises promises nothing -- and delivers the same.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: I LOVE this album!
Comment: I truly do not understand how anyone can give less than a 5 star rating for this album. I find it amazing that Carla Bruni took these poems and made them into intriguing, sexy songs. Her voice is so unique and I just cannot say enough about the greatness of "No Promises." When I've had a bad or stressful day, I put this album on and I am immediately calmed. I can't wait for her next album and hopefully she'll release another one in English. I'm extremely surprised that "No Promises" did not pick up as much attention in the U.S. as it deserved.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Mais oui, c'ets horrible
Comment: OK, so she has taken poems by some of the greatest English poets and writers and shows some taste in literature but not in music. This is horrific: it even has a gy from that horrible french group Telephone on it. Avoid! It is the pretentious production of somebody with too much time and money.

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