The Singles Jukebox

No, not a Black Box cover. Our proofreaders checked…

[Video]
[5.50]

Harlan Talib Ockey: I’ve heard thousands of attempts to make this song — the piano ballad that gradually escalates into exorcistic blue-eyeshadowed arena rock — but this is one example that actually sticks the landing. “Right on Time” builds so organically the structure almost blurs into one ardent monologue, powered by Carlile’s sensitive yet dynamic voice. Its greatest detriment is that the lyrics read like they were scrambled by an AI; I’m pretty sure there’s a narrative in here about a dysfunctional relationship breaking up, but a bunch of stock phrases seem to have been inserted at random to fill out melody lines. Still, it’s impossible to argue with the way Carlile soars into the final chorus with the force of an opera character singing for her life.
[7]

Michael Hong: The slow crescendo feels too slow compared to Carlile’s sudden operatic howl, but there’s enough that comes after its peaks to make “Right on Time” sound patient and grateful in its emotional release.
[6]

Edward Okulicz: Obviously this is massive, and in the right context would bring the house down, but you already know the right context for this song to bring the house down is at some awards show. And Carlile sings this like she’s already up there thanking God and her manager, such that “It’s getting the point where I can’t CARRY ON!!!!” is a weird mix of tasteful ballad and crass emotional overload. I am somewhat in awe of it, but another part of me resents it intensely.
[5]

Juana Giaimo: It takes a lot of boldness to release such a big piano ballad like this one in 2021 — who has so much energy these days? Still, I feel that the musical grandness isn’t reflected in the emotions. Her voice sounds rather tired and when it reaches the high note towards the end, it doesn’t feel like a dramatic culmination, but rather like a compulsory step of even piano ballad. 
[6]

Alfred Soto: Brandi Carlile’s whisper-to-a-yarl approach takes getting used to. With the wrong tune, she can shatter panes as far away as the John Hancock Center. “Right on Time” is okay Carlisle. When she sang “I never held my breath for quite this long,” I chuckled. 
[6]

Samson Savill de Jong: I’d say that I was grateful for the blast of music two minutes in waking me up from this snorefest of a song, but “Right on Time” is so formulaic that I’d subconciously accounted for it and barely even registered it.
[4]

Andy Hutchins: Brandi Carlile’s “The Story” is one of my favorite songs, its composition and performance both about as close to perfect as music gets for me. It strikes me like I imagine lightning would, its passion so overwhelming that I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to listen to it without crying — I recognized its force when first I heard it, and upon returning to it over and again as years and love and life have shaped me, I’ve never found it diminished. “Stories don’t mean anything/Unless you’ve got someone to tell them to” is less a lyric I think about than a truth I’ve internalized. So I know the peak of Carlile’s powers as a performer and the deftness of her longtime writers, the brothers Hanseroth, and while “Right on Time” is a smart inversion of the dynamics that give “The Story” its punch — a crystallization of a relationship into a moment, practically the opposite of the latter song’s panorama of life’s ocean roiled by storms — its simmering, searching wistfulness can’t help but pale in comparison. As a lead and leadoff single from an album that will surely have more to say, “Right on Time” is quite good. One problem with being spoiled by perfection or similar, though, is that I can’t quite shake the propensity to assess artists I consider capable of masterpieces as if their every effort is a potential one.
[6]

Austin Nguyen: If you liked P!nk at her piano or Lady Gaga at her guitar, I present: the next Great Power Ballad, coming to a battle round of The Voice near you. If you didn’t — well, just pray the organ thaws out of its iceberg by next time.
[4]