Carnival Ride - Truth in Labeling

Carrie Underwood - Carnival Ride

Real Score: 5.5
Nashville Adjusted Score: 6.5

Argh! After hearing the lead-in single "So Small," and reading recent comments from Carrie about keeping it country and whatnot, I was expecting so much more. Surely she'd use her clout to get some stronger material - to gently force some more songwriterly material onto Clearchannel radio. Nope. What I got was a tolerable, but far from excellent, country pop unit shifter. It's easy on the ears while it's traveling in one and out the other.

The opening song, "Flat on the Floor," was a punch in the gut to my expectations. Sure, it sounds kinda country, and it's catchy, but the lyrics... the lyrics...
"I'm flat on the floor with my head down low
Where the sky can't rain on me anymore
Don't knock on my door 'cause I won't come
I'm hidin' from the storm 'til the damage is"
What??? Carrie, please don't release that song as a single. The collective IQ of America's youth is low enough.

I love “The More Boys I Meet”…that saying had to turn into a hook one of these days and the quirkiness of this song makes it a real winner. "Just a Dream" is another very solid track - a soldier-who-didn't-come-home tearjerker that far outshines most other songs of similar ilk - and probably the strongest song on the album aside from "So Small." Carrie's cover of Randy Travis' "I Told You So" is spot-on, if lacking a shade in authentic pain. "Wheel of the World" strives to be a lot more than it really is.

I wanted to like this album a lot more than I do, but it’s more like a debut than a second album - more sizzle than steak. She’s big enough that she could have recorded some deeper, more meaningful songs. Lori McKenna's got a lot of kids, Ms. Underwood could have helped gal out a little.

Carrie Underwood is a tremendous talent and one of the brightest stars in the commercial country music universe. I'm certain she'll put out an album worthy of her gifts before she hangs it up, oh, 20 years down the line. As it stands, Carnival Ride is just that… loud and fun with lots of pretty lights (not sure what that meant), but you can only stand to ride once or twice every now and then without feeling a little queasy.