Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride Review
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 10.23.2007
American Idol winner returns with the follow-up to her multi-platinum debut…
My Story
I’m not one of those people to say that someone is trash JUST because they were on “American Idol”. Is “American Idol” good for the world of music? No, I don’t think so. I don’t know how manufactured pop stars are good for anything but a corporation’s bottom line. Still, if someone can sing and perform and then has the ability to go into a studio and choose/write some good songs, you have to give them proper respect. I’ve always been intrigued by how “A.I.” winner Carrie Underwood jumped into the world of contemporary country music. Will she deliver now that she’s a big country star?
Her Story
Carrie Underwood came up in the small town of Checotah, Oklahoma, the self-proclaimed steer wrestling capitol of the world. She began singing in front of an audience at the age of three and her love for performing only grew throughout her teenage years. Before graduating, she had learned to play both guitar and piano. She’d also already failed once at being signed by a label, Capitol Records, who rejected her demos when she was thirteen.
Underwood attended Northeastern State University, where she majored in mass communication. It was while in college, in 2004, that she auditioned for the hit reality TV series “American Idol” in Kansas City. Not only did Underwood make it past auditions, she made it to the final 12. Week after week, Underwood impressed the “A.I.” judges and television audience with covers of songs like Faith Hill’s “Piece Of My Heart” and Heart’s “Alone”. Underwood was crowned the fourth “American Idol” winner in May of 2005.
Following her “Idol” win, Underwood rushed out her debut single, “Inside Your Heaven”. The song debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold for both physical and digital sales. Following the standard A.I. tour, Underwood began recording her debut in Nashville. Some Hearts hit shelves in late 2005. The record moved an incredible 300,000 copies in its first week, enough for a #2 charting. It also reached #1 on the Country charts. The first proper single from the album, “Jesus, Take The Wheel”, was a #1 Country hit and hit Top 20 in the Hot 100.
Some Hearts was an amazing run for Underwood. The album has been certified 6x platinum and produced four Top 40 hits, two gold singles (“Heaven” and “Wheel”) and a platinum single in “Before He Cheats”. Three of the singles were #1 hits on the Country charts. Her nearly year-long tour was also a huge success.
To understand the impact Underwood has had since her debut, here’s a list of awards: one Teen Choice Award, eight Billboard Music Awards (including 2006’s Album Of The Year), one Dove Award, four CMT Music Awards, five ACM Awards (including 2007’s Top Female Vocalist and Album Of The Year), two CMA Awards (including 2006’s Female Vocalist Of The Year), one American Music Award, two People’s Choice Awards (including 2007’s Favorite Female Singer) and two Grammy Awards (2007’s Best New Artist and Best Female Country Vocal Performance).
In 2007, Underwood returned to a Nashville studio to work on her second record. The lead single from the album, “So Small”, became a Top 5 Country hit in late summer.
The Album
On October 23, 2007, Arista released Carnival Ride, the second album by Carrie Underwood and the follow-up to Some Hearts.
The Band: 8.0
Carrie Underwood: vocals
There is a roll in contemporary country music that must always be filled. The small-town girl next door. There’s money in that roll, and country is always looking for its next female artist to hole into it. The girl who in the backwards hat and pick-up truck who probably used to work at the local diner who just so happens to have an impossibly huge vocal talent. Lots of women have filled this roll (and its blue jeans) and went on to huge success. Faith Hill, Shania Twain, LeAnn Rimes. Enter Carrie Underwood.
Carrie Underwood is an amazing singer. One thing that “American Idol” does pretty well is weed out most of the awful vocalists before it gets down to the Top 12 (sure, there’s a few shitty singers that get through thanks to their appeal in other departments…Sanjaya and that blowjob girl come to mind, but “A.I.” mostly gives the public some incredible singers to choose from). Carrie Underwood is one of their best pure singers to win the competition, second only to Kelly Clarkson. Underwood could have easily stepped onto Clarkson’s career path, but she had a genuine passion for country music. It’s country’s gain, as Underwood’s rising stock has definitely helped the entire genre. You think Reba McEntire would’ve moved 300,000 copies of her Duets album without Underwood’s hot streak? But I digress. Underwood is an amazing singer and America loves her and her small-town roots.
Thankfully, after blowing up to epic proportions with her debut (and becoming a sponsor for, ugh, PETA), Underwood has remained firmly grounded and doesn’t seem close to launching back into the pop stratosphere of big overproduced ballads and mansions in Europe. On Carnival Ride, Underwood remains firmly rooted in contemporary country. Does it sound like George Jones or Johnny Cash or even Randy Travis (whom is covered here)? No way, but it does sound like the cream of what you hear on country radio these days, which makes it ultimately a success. If you like Rascal Flatts or Shania Twain or Martina McBride or anything else that can be heard in heavy rotation on country radio in you high school parking lots or outside your local Wal*Mart, Cartrie Underwood’s sound is just your cup of tea.
The Songs: 7.0
1. Flat On The Floor
2. All American Girl
3. So Small
4. Just A Dream
5. Get Out Of This Town
6. Crazy Dreams
7. I Know You Won’t
8. Last Name
9. You Won’t Find This
10. I Told You So
11. The More Boys I Meet
12. Twisted
13. Wheel Of The World
Carnival Ride is full of songs about small-town life, being young and beating the odds. It’s purely what you think Carrie Underwood should be. Is that carefully designed? Yes, but Underwood somehow rises above that and makes it relatable. She’s just likeable, I guess.
There’s all the typical themes covered here. High school love (“All American Girl”, which features an amazing high note at the end), uh…even bigger love (“So Small”), and small town dreams (“Crazy Dreams”). Most of it works really well, too, with the exception of the goofy “The More Boys I Meet” (the more I love my dog) and the Randy Travis cover “I Told You So”, which lacks much of the honesty of the original.
Still, when Carrie gets it right, it’s undeniable. Despite the silliness of “All American Girl”, a song about a high school football player and his girlfriend giving up their futures to be together, Underwood’s delivery has you hooked by the end. Same goes for the dead-soldier-boyfriend ballad “Just A Dream”.
In the end, Underwood has defied modern convention and made a contemporary country album, with all its Nashville production and overblown balladry and calculated “small town” mentality, and injected it with a dash of soul. It’s that personality that will keep Underwood on top of the charts and awards shows for the next several years.
The 411: Carnival Ride is quite possibly the best female contemporary country album to come along this decade. Carrie Underwood is not only an amazing singer, but she brings a relatable quality to the songs that helps them come across as completely honest. It’s nothing revolutionary, but it is very good. Country fans will be happy to go along for this ride.
