Carrie Underwood Album: “Carnival Ride”

The second album from Carrie Underwood packs slightly less punch than her debut, but is still more than enough to further cement her place in the contemporary country hierarchy. Solidly country, this album showcases Underwood as a singer/songwriter with writing credits on four of the tracks - first single "So Small"; the excellent "All American Girl"; "Crazy Dreams" and the comedy track "Last Name". (If you liked Alan Jackson's "I Don't Even Know Your Name", you'll see lots of similarities to the aforementioned "Last Name".)

All the tracks are worth a listen, but some are immediately worth an instant replay. My recommendations are:

Flat on the Floor - a hard-rocking track with attitude

All-American Girl - instant single material with heartwarming lyrics

So Small - soaring first single about not sweating the small stuff

Just a Dream - a tear jerker with a wonderful chorus

Crazy Dreams - catchy beat just slightly reminiscent of Pink Floyd's "Education"

I Told You So - slow ballad written by Randy Travis

Wheel of the World - an easy listening track with inspired backing music

If the four tracks on which she has songwriting credits are any indication, Carrie Underwood has nowhere to go but up - should be a wild ride. (4.5 stars)

Amanda Richards, October 23, 2007

Okay, I was nervous to hear this album. I LOVED her debut and I love So Small but sometimes artists just fail on Sophomore albums. Okay, that is so not the case here. She is amazing! She knows just the right songs that suit her. If you are a fan of Carrie my biggest recommendation is to go get this album. Easily one of my favorites. Every song is amazing and it showcases her voice perfectly.

Even better than her first CD, if that was possible. I love the music and I love the words to the songs. The themes are current and thought-provoking. My favorites are "All American Girl" and "Just a Dream". Carrie runs the gamut of emotions on this CD. Definitely worth every penny! This CD will stay in my player for who knows how long!

Bottom-Line: The bulk of "Carnival Ride" is entirely formulaic and forgettable.

There is much wrong with the oft superficial hit show, and hit maker American Idol, but the show has a knack for finding female talent. Carrie Underwood who won the fourth season of the much watched Fox classic is one of those talents, sort of. Her first album, Some Hearts (certified 6x platinum), was rushed onto store shelves and downloads queues just a few short months after she won Idol, in 2005 and spawned the smash hit Before He Cheats, which is still on some music charts. Lesser hits include Wasted, Jesus Take The Wheel, Inside Your Heaven, and Don't Forget to Remember Me.

Then in the fall of this year she released her second album "Carnival Ride" (already certified 2x Platinum), which has already spawned a number one (C&W) hit, So Small, track No. 3 (currently No. 11 on the Billboard C&W charts). And the next release track No. 2 All-American Girl, co-written by Underwood, is currently climbing the Billboard C&W charts.

Accolades notwithstanding, "Carnival Ride" falls short of the musical mark for me. While there are (fleeting) hints of Underwood's Oklahoma upbringing sprinkled throughout Carnival Ride, there was enough mod-American feel on the CD to label it anything but slightly marginal Pop. Throughout much of the album Underwood sing in the same key: high and screeching; there was little soul in her voice, and that leaves the whole CD flat and lifeless.

The much lauded All-American Girl is a choppy mess; the sentiment and melody are there but the execution of the lyrics is an experiment gone tragically wrong. Long notes are suddenly cut off or end without much flair. And at times Underwood voice weakens until it trails off into nothing; what were they thinking?

The first hit from the CD, Track No. 3 So Small, is a trite been-there-heard-that-before nothing of a song about the life and love as the salvation of us all. Underwood's vocal performance is acceptable, but then there's the one octave problem again; where is the range, the talent that made some of the songs from Some Hearts such a hoot to listen to?

By far the best track on the CD is track No. 8 Last Name a song like Before He Cheats from Some Hearts is a down-home bran-burning fiddle screeching vocally fun song to listen to. And here Underwood seems to find more of her authentic self, more of her country roots, and she seems to have fun belting out the song.

It is undeniable that Carrie Underwood has legions of fan--my thirteen year old daughter among them, she loves this album--that will help make "Carnival Ride" every bit as successful as her first CD. However, the CD offers very little for the unconverted, in terms of Underwood's artistic or vocal growth. "Carnival Ride" is a pleasant enough offering; i.e. it is wholesome and pleasant both of which make for a suitable commercially viable Pop, or Country-Pop CD, but it does not make for very aural art.

Most of the songwriting (despite and perhaps because of Underwood's contributions) and all too typical over production lack substance, style, and soul, and as a result "Carnival Ride" is a lackluster example of both. Despite the contribution of professional songwriting notables like Hillary Lindsey, Cathy Dennis, and Luke Laird, outside of Last Name, there isn't a song on the album that's stands out or is all that noteworthy. In other words the bulk of "Carnival Ride" is entirely formulaic and forgettable.

This is my first purchase of this ladies CD but will definately not be my last. The CD has a good mix