Meander

I'm a big Carbon Leaf fan. They are amazing live, and none of their CDs (except 5 Alive, a live recording) come close to capturing the joy they exude onstage. I saw them open for Guster, and CL was Much Better than Guster. Check out the live video clips [...]

Of all their albums, this is their first, and consequently the roughest. The personnel on this album was a bit different, too. Barry was still the singer, but other people (person?) were in the band that have since moved on. It is clearly influenced by other music of that period -- which is not a bad thing, there was some great stuff during '97. So it rocks pretty hard, particularly on "Skeleton Man" and "Strain."

It still has the ever-present Carbon Leaf quality though. The lyrics are not as polished as the later albums (a merch gal for CL described it as: "Did you have a journal in sixth grade? Did you want anyone else to actually read that stuff? That's how Barry feels.") The lyrics aren't bad by any means, but it's not the profound poetry found on Echo Echo, Ethers, or the other albums. The harmonies aren't as fleshed out on Meander, nor is the balance as good. But oh, the melodies will get stuck in your head for a day or two at a time.

My favorite songs are "Kettle", "Shellfish", "One Day" (one of two songs -- the other is "Desperation Song"[Echo] that got me hooked on Carbon Leaf) and the first two songs are also addictive and likely to be put on repeat. But the latter two soundclips here lack the great choruses. Alas. And for some reason "Weirdhausguy" gets stuck in my head, although it is certainly weird.

I don't care so much for "Live like you", "Winter's Dream" or "Country Monkee." But there are cool moments in every song, so none of the songs are terrible. I mean, three of the songs on my "ultimate CL mix" are from this album. It's quality.

It's not as Celtic-influenced as the other albums, so CL fans used to later albums might be a bit shocked. It took me five listens or so to get to appreciate this album; I was disappointed at first.

Great driving music. Put on the cruise control or get pulled over by the cops for rocking out and flying down the expressway.

Check out my Shadows in the Banquet Hall review for a rundown on all the CL albums. Get hooked on them and see shows now before they come famous and you can no longer afford tickets. Heard "Life Less Ordinary"? That's Carbon Leaf, and they'll be hitting it big soon.

When the Leaf was but a tiny little bud. (1995 self-released CD) "MEANDER".

Discovered this band within the past year and in listening to their most recent CDs had a desire to explore their roots.
Better than I expected ! Great quality/production. Interesting choice of songs. There are a couple of forays into some very odd `head-banger-snarling-vocal' songs which I am glad they eventually got out of their system. Very apparent R.E.M. influence. They were a college/bar/backyard party band early 1990s (graduated college in 1992). Not much of the Celtic Rock influence I expected from early stuff (judging from the flavor in recent works) ...perhaps they embraced that a little later (which is good). The stuff that I particularly like contains elements very apparent in the recent stuff (I am primarily familiar w/ the latest 2 CDs) - including almost identical riffs & lyric bits.
My Favorite tune on the CD is ONE DAY. Other recommended tracks are 'LIVE LIKE YOU' 'CLOCKWORK' & 'KETTLE'.
Listen to the CD, read the lyrics, listen again - This is a group that is best understood & appreciated after multiple listenings.

Fisrt off, I need to correct the prior review. All band members are the same since the Band began excpet for the Bass player. Palmer Stearns was the first bass player and had a major role in writing a lot of the first album. Strain was actually a bass solo that Palmer played around with when he was in highschool. As far as the album, this one is my favorite with Echo, Echo being a close second. I like Carbon Leaf best when they rock and they seem to be doing that less and less - take Indian Summer and the new release, Love, Hope, Loss, Repeat - yawn, it reminds me of sitting through the Lilith Fair concert - I went to impress a girl - noone is worth that torture. Of course, seeing CL live is the best way to experience the band. Songs that are stagnant on the CD come alive when played live. So, support CL and do yourself a favor, go see a show.

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