Editorial Review:Album Description:14-track CD album - Carla Bruni has always had a certain poetry. A definite je ne sai quoi. The grace, style & beauty of this Italian-born, France-raised thirty-something is legendary; her intellect & vitality striking, even formidable. Now as the first lady of France, Carla Bruni is one of the most photographed women of the world but she doesn't want this to affect people's perception of her or her music. She wants the music to speak for itself and here it does.
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Disc 1:- Ma Jeunesse
- Possibilité d'Une Île
- Amoureuse
- Tu Es Ma Came
- Salut Marin
- Ta Tienne
- Péché d'Envie
- You Belong to Me
- Temps Perdu
- Déranger Les Pierres
- Je Suis une Enfant (Sur Les Motifs du Lied Robert Schumann)
- Antilope
- Notre Grand Amour Est Mort
- Vecchio E il Bambino
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
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Missing the wit
Nice CD, but missing the intelligence and wit of the former "Quelqu'un m'a dit". The texts, as well as the tunes, have become simpler, less interesting, and have lost their twist and bite.
Rating: 
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Absolutely fabulous
I love French music and I love this CD, because it is sung in French, but more than that, I truly enjoy Carla Bruni's voice. As I listen, I just smile. Truly what I was hoping for and got.
Rating: -
Not Bruni's best, but still magnificent
Ms Bruni is a superbly gifted chanteuse.
There's no bad song on this album (actually, not one on any of her three albums).
The lyrics are ironic, insightful, mature and clever. The arrangements are gorgeous, and they make this a truly "folk" album.
In "Ma Jeunesse" and "Je Suis Une Enfant" Bruni jokes about her age and revels in the memory of childhood.
"Salut Marin" is a perfect folk waltz, dedicated to her late brother Virginio.
"Ta Tienne", which is the best song on the album in my opinion, is reminiscent of "L'Excessive" and "Le Toi Du Moi": it's just as fun and cheerful.
"Il Vecchio E Il Bambino" was originally a political song (by Francesco Guccini), but it fits the mood of the album, despite its genuinely peculiar meaning.
Other amazing tracks are her cover of "You Belong To Me", "L'antilope" and "Notre Grand Amour Est Mort" (those who say Bruni's singing voice is flimsy had better listen to this track, and to the whole album).
I still think "Quelqu'un M'a Dit", her debut album, is better than this last effort of hers -- still, "Comme Si De Rien N'Etait" is the best album I've bought this year, so far.
Rating: 
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Comme si de Rien n'Etait==Carla Bruni
I was extremely disappointed. I thought I would receive several songs sung by Carla Bruni. All I requested was Comme si de Rien n'Etait and that is all I got. There were two other instrumentals on the CD.
Rating: -
An Instant Masterpiece : A Classic thats Not for Everyone
Carla Bruni's music isn't taken very seriously anymore, which is a pity because she is a fantastic musician first. In fact, I would rate her career in modelling a far, far second - because give this woman a guitar and tell her to sing and it WORKS. Her voice, a strong reed of an instrument, is a luscious thing to behold - capable of 'driving men insane' (as a French daily once said while reviewing her first CD), but she is also well aware of the limitations of her voice. She never chooses material she cannot sing or do justice to, and wonder of wonders, the woman plays the guitar on virtually every track here.
Benjamin Biolay as a musician on your record is a fine compliment indeed (he is perhaps the greatest living male French recording artist in the world right now), and Carla surrounds herself with producers and musicians who bring out the best in her.
If you liked her first album "Quelqu'un M'a Dit", you will immediately realize that this album is at least twice as good as that one. Unlike that debut CD, there is absolutely no filler here, and you can play this back and forth a hundred times and still find a note here, an instrument there, that will make you rush to play back the whole thing yet again. How many albums can you say that about?
My personal favorite is the poignant and stunning "Ma Jeunesse", which opens the album and sets its' tone. Carla Bruni is past 40 but loves talking about age and wisdom it brings (which is something I love about French women, by the way). On this song she sings about youth and how it passed away so quickly - there is almost a sarcastic tone to the song that I found very interesting. The most accomplished track on the record however is the second song "La Possibilite d'une Ile", which is actually a poem set to music (which is a hard thing to do to begin with). Carla carries on her tradition of setting obscure poetry to music. Followers of her music will remember that her second album "No Promises" consisted of old English poems set to contemporary folk-pop music (it didn't work, but it was an admirable effort nonetheless).
"Ta Tienne" coins an entirely new French phrase and is the fastest paced song here. "Je Suis un enfant" is almost like a mirror image of the first track "Ma Jeunesse" as the singer compares herself to a child, and "Tu es ma came" is a spellbinding ode to a lover, with analogies and allegories abound. Considering the woman writes most of her own lyrics, the album as a whole is masterful, but also immensely listenable. Its rare to find something like this in the French recording field - a field that of late has been overtaken by the 'Reality TV' syndrome a la American Idol.
Whether or not Carla Bruni is the first lady of France or not should not affect your purchase decision - the bottom line is that this is an album of unparalleled beauty, especially since it also pays homage to Carla's Italian ancestry (the gorgeous album closer), and it interestingly features a lot of songs related to age, growing older, and looking at love and relationships with the benefit of time. To find a female singer doing something like this is indeed refreshing.
"Comme si de rien N'etait" is easily Carla's best album. It seems that each year I find one French album to term a 'classic'. Last year it was Vanessa Paradis' flawless "Divinidylle", which brought her back from musical obscurity. Carla Bruni takes that crown this year, with this absolutely wondrous selection of songs. If you are looking for a mellow, folk-influenced French language album for your solo nights at home with wine, rain and some great home cooked food, this is the perfect album for you. Its very much a solo record though, in the sense that you will appreciate it more if you play it on a good sound system and let it play all the way through while sipping your wine. I often find myself doing this a couple of times a week with this album, and its a staple in my household. I hope you discover it too.
Five Stars. Highly Recommended.
