Along For the 'Ride'

I admit it, I am a huge country music fan. I'm not a hick, I'm not a redneck and I'm certainly not Republican. In fact I'm pretty liberal, but I love all music. There are two kids of music, good and bad. Country just so happens to be included on the list.

I don't believe it's necessary to discuss Carrie Underwood's year on American Idol, because it's irrelevent to her music today. But, because I have the opportunity, I'd like to say that Underwood's pivotal moment (the moment I fell in love with her) is when she belted out the power ballad "Alone" in just the second week of the final twelve in season four of the show. The irony is that Carrie never wanted to be a pop star, she wanted a career in country music and this was sort of inevitalbe.

She managed to please both pop and country fans with her 2005 debut, Some Hearts, which went six times platinum, something unheard of in today's world of music. Her success raised the bar for her follow up album Carnival Ride. Usually second albums are a place where artists fuck up, to put it bluntly. They cant figure out if they want to continue in the direction they were headed with the first album, or they want to show growth by veering towards something different that wont pigeonhole them. Carrie Underwood manages to pull off both. She creates a record that is purely country, but still has an adult contemporary/pop feel to it. She seems to effortlessly reduce the childish drama that her first cd was filled with. Instead singing about vulnerability, smalls towns, and big dreams. She even attempts to spice things up a bit with a song called Last Name about a one night stand. "I dont even know his last name," she sings. Yowza, we'd expect to hear such language from Britney, not miss America's Carrie Underwood. I love it. She can even laugh at herself in the song The More Boys I Meet, in which she sings about never being able to find the right guy. She's willing to give anyone a shot once, but ends up realizing the more boys she meets, the more she loves her dog. Ha. We're with you Carrie.

The fantastic thing about Carnival Ride is how Carrie manages to fill the void left behind by Shania Twain and Faith Hill. She hasn't become a sole pop star (although last album's Before He Cheats was all over pop radio), she's made a career for herself in country. Her approach is completely contemporary country, blurring the lines between classic Deana Carter and arena rock filled Kelly Clarkson.

I belive all CD's survive on the strength of their songs, and this cd is filled with strong tracks. Even if you aren't a fan of country music, a song titled I Know You Wont is the standout of the album. It's a ballad about vulnerability and owning the fact that you know your significant other is unhappy, but you choose to stay anyway. This song in particular is what makes classic music, not just country, and is quite possibly the best country song I've heard all year. Her voice is unbefuckinglievable and shows such control, you'd think she's been singing for a lifetime.

The CD is fantastic. The appealing thing about it is that Carrie manages to sell these songs to the listener, thus taking us along for the ride. It's a tad cliche, but she makes us believe her. This album has genuine heart and genuine emotion and realness, something we don't often hear from country artists.

Grade: A-

Standout Tracks:

I Know You Wont

Last Name

The More Boys I Meet

You Wont Find This

The moment I fell in love with Carrie...<3