Carnival Ride

by

Carrie Underwood

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While most country stars go forward and reach for mainstream pop records, like Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood went in reverse. Her first disc had more than a few pop elements but this disc starts off with a foot stomper, "Flat on The Floor" and doesn't let up with fiddles, twang and chorus after chorus that will make you want to shout them out of your car windows. To say she has made a solid country disc in the vein of vintage Reba or Dolly is an understatement.

Underwood has even learned some new vocal tricks, as if she needed more, "Get Out of This Town," builds from an already assured vocal into a firestorm. Underwood isn't afraid to just go with the vocal and give a stronger reading as well. That was evident in her cover of "I'll Stand By You," which was simply stunning.

"Carnival Ride," is void of any weak tracks and this day and age that's a rare finding, some are stronger than others but, Jebus, the girl is giving her all to prove that she's a more than just a pretty face who sings country, she's trying to prove it's in her blood. And when you hear "You Won't Find This," that brings about that sing songy chorus that Shania Twain loves so much, you'll be a happy camper with your purchase.

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.