I just recently received the entire lot of ani's 'official bootleg' series (yes, there are seven others that you gave purchase via her site), and I have to say that Carnegie Hall is, by far, one of the best.

While there are only a few songs from way back in the day, it's a fine compilation of some of her best work. After years of being an Ani fan, I still find myself astounded by her brilliance and talent as an artist and musician.

Carnegie Hall is a solo album...just Ani with her guitar. Though many of the songs are new, it is very reminescent of a lot of her earlier work.

For new Ani fans, get this CD and listen to: The first three tracks, Gratitude, and, of coursre, Out of Range.

Well, I was in FYE, with their little scanny-headphone "preview your cd' things.

This one won out over reprieve.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think I totally know reprieve from five minutes of samples, and I plan to but it too, but for that day, that moment with a spare twenty dollar bill in my hand, this live album was better than reprieve. (or, at least, it will be until I buy reprieve and like it better.)

I've only been following ani's works for about two years, so I'm not totally familiar with all her material. However, my two favorite tracks are Self Evident and Serpentine; They are both on this album, one after another. And, at the time of this recording, they were just works in progress. It's cool to hear the way they progress from this live show to their respective album versions. And, while I still don't get the concept of "official bootlegs" (how can a bootleg be official, exactly?) I plan on buying every other ani bootleg. That is, after I buy reprieve.

I really like this one. Not as good as Living in Clip, but probably my second favorite of her live albums. Her storytelling in between songs can get very kooky and great, i love them. This is a must have for any Ani fan.

Ani DiFranco, famously independent within the music industry, continues to self-release all of her output on her own "Righteous Babe" label. Ani has released a couple of live albums over her 17 year career to date, including the definitive and all-encompassing 2002 release "So Much Shouting, So Much Laughing", which is basically a "greatest hits live" release.

"Carnegie Hall 4.6.02" (15 tracks, 68 min.) was recorded on the same tour that would give us the "So Much Shouting" release, but this recoding is very different: for one, this is just Ani solo, no backing band. For another, this recording includes early versions of 2 epic songs within the Ani DiFranco catalogue: the 10 min. "Serpentine", in which Ani assails anything and everything that represents "authority", including Democrats and Republicans alike, but of course also "big business". (The fleshed out version of this song was eventually released on the 2003 album "Evolve".) The other piece is the 9+ min. "Self Evident": not a song, but a spoken piece in which Ani resets the 9/11 tragedy in her own words and world ("On the day that America fell onto its knees"). While I don't see the connection, Ani has no trouble linking 9/11 to her beliefs that there is no freedom of the press here and that America is not a democracy. Does it not strike anyone as ironic that Ani is not bothered by anyone saying these things and makes a living, and a very nice one at it, performing all over this country and proclaiming these "truths"?

I saw Ani and her band in concert on that Spring, 2002 tour, and when she brought "Self Evident" (which was a new piece at that time), the entire theater was just bowled over by the performance. I don't necessarily agree with her view of things, but one cannot help but admire the "art" and the "artist" in such a performance. The "Carnegy Hall" album is not essential as such in Ani's catalogue (if you don't have it yet, check out the "So Much Shouting" live album), but this album does bring a fascinating "snapshot of a moment", as Ani puts it herself in the excellent liner notes.

I have never owned an Ani Defranco CD before. I wanted to hear her music, because I thought I would like it based on my other musical preferences. I randomly bought this CD used. I thought one of her LIVE albums would make a good into to her music.

Unfortunately most of what I got with this CD is talking. Each track has approximately 1 1/2 minutes of her talking nonsense before each song begins. When she does sing, her guitar playing is no better than average and her lyrics are sub par.

In Ani's defense, I hope its just this album, but I'm hesitant to buy any more.