Norah Jones - The Fall
By Nick Manteris · 0 Comments · Leave a Comment
The Fall is the fourth studio album from Norah Jones and if it continues the trend of her other albums – selling about half as many copies as the one before it and hitting number one on the charts – then sales on her new number one record should only reach about three and a quarter million copies worldwide. She would also need two thirds of those sales to be in the US to get another multi-platinum certification, but the unlikeliness of that event means she may have to cope with the embarrassment of having a single-platinum record. Not many people would want to walk in the shoes of Norah Jones right now, that’s for sure.
Seriously though, Norah Jones has been incredibly successful since she stepped onto the scene seven years ago. She swept the Grammys with her (diamond-certified) first album, winning in every nominated category. “I felt like I went to somebody else's birthday party and I ate all their cake.” She explained to Katie Couric in a 60 Minutes interview, “Without anybody else getting a piece. That's how I felt.” She also performed an alternate version of “Don’t Know Why” with Elmo on Sesame Street and starred opposite Jude Law in Wong Kar Wai’s first English feature film, My Blueberry Nights.
“Chasing Pirates” – in spite of the enduring allure of pirates themselves – is a poor choice for a first single…it would have been a much better option to go with either “Young Blood” or “It's Gonna Be” since both songs are better and more upbeat. The other significant tracks on the album are “Even Though,” “Light As a Feather,” “I Wouldn't Need You” and “Waiting.” Most everything else is average, with “Back to Manhattan” and “Man of the Hour” residing somewhere below that.
- Score
- 72%
The Fall ranks right behind her best (and least successful) album, Not Too Late. Both of those releases are better than her debut, but in many cases, as we all know, quality and record sales have very little to do with one another. Norah Jones’ level of musical success is disproportionate to her musical abilities, but she’s actually a better than average (and delightfully subtle) artist – especially within her chosen genre…it just seems like she gets a little more than she really deserves. Which is totally cool if you can get it…as long as you are prepared for someone to point it out. Her albums are definitely worth listening to and she’s doing stuff that’s different than just about anybody else out there, but keep in mind: if you invite her to your birthday party she might eat all the cake.
