Album Review – Carrie Underwood’s “Storyteller”
If nothing else, those hoping for an early arrival of a new Miranda Lambert or Pistol Annies record just got their wish. Miranda’s gone pop, and Carrie’s gone Miranda. And if you like songs about badass chicks getting revenge on their misbehaving men, bored housewives breaking bad behind the back of their raising and religion, and hussies in stiletto heels hoodwinking men out of their money through the power of feminine manipulation while a cigarette dangles precariously from the side of their mouth, then saddle up and take Carrie Underwood’s new Storyteller for a ride.
Yes I know, this all sounds like a far cry from the All-American girl of Underwood’s early career, and out of character for a newly-wedded woman with a newborn barely out of swaddles. But Storyteller is bye bye to the aw-shucks Underwood from Oklahoma singing about Jesus, and hello to breaking shit and shooting your way out of a scrape. “Two Black Cadillacs” was just the beginning; Carrie Underwood has unleashed the full wrath of the feminine id, and casts herself as the narrator of this fantasy romp into seduction and evening scores.
Not that I blame Carrie Underwood for following in the footsteps of Lam Lam. Hell, Miranda has rung up the last seven ACM Top Female Vocalist of the Year awards, and the last five CMA Female Vocalist of the Year trophies. That would be twelve such awards in a row—by far the most dominant run in this history of country music, while Carrie Underwood has to be wondering what the hell she’s doing wrong. As unprecedented as Lambert’s run has been, so has Underwood’s systematical snubbing. So load up an album with one “badass” song after another, and see if that gets the voter’s attention.
Carrie Underwood is not the problem in country music, and neither is Storyteller. Like the title alludes to, it is full of fiction and fantasy, primarily for adult females. It’s the escapism of a Grisham novel. It’s the seduction of a soap opera. It’s also not really country, at all, despite Underwood’s reassurances before this release that she would keep it tied to her roots.
The best song on Storyteller is “Something in the Water,” and it’s not even on the album. I would take any of the new songs Underwood included on her recent Greatest Hit’s: Decade #1 over what Storyteller has to offer. You see the title of the song “Church Bells,” and hope maybe for another Gospel-inspired tune. But instead it’s about a young hot girl who marries a rich man for his money, and then {spoiler alert} murders him [edit: because he’s abusive. Yes, I listened to the song. The point is it’s not Gospel and once again espouses a revenge theme].
“Dirty Laundry” is yet another cheating revenge song. “Choctaw County Affair” and “Mexico” are these sauntering tales of seedy doings sure to add spice to the lives of listeners who are otherwise bored with their surroundings and situations. But at least there are stories to these songs, and not particularly terrible ones at times. But the opening number “Renegade Runaway” is all bluster and bravado about what a badass some girl is with no real reason or context. It’s absolute fantasy daydreaming fluff that we’d all bemoan if it was being sung by a country male.
And speaking of fantastic, that would be the best way to describe the production of Storyteller. Moments seem indicative of Taylor Swift’s Red, where soaring synth strings and bubbling club beats make for an immersive, wide spectrum audio experience. But aside from some banjo here and there, Storyteller is much more rock or urban contemporary than country, exemplified by the stair-stepping, sharp-edged cadence to Carrie’s pre-chorus vocal track on one of the few love songs on the album, “Heartbeat,” which starts with the line, “I love it when we’re at a party . . . in a downtown crowd,” indicating the supplanting of rural for urban.
Despite taking her revenge on cheaters early and often, Carrie herself delves into a dalliance of indiscretion in “Relapse,” and just like in Zac Brown’s recent controversial single “Beautiful Drug,” it refries the incredibly-tired “love as drug” lyrical trope.
There’s lots to not like on Storyteller, or at least to write off. But these songs are still “stories,” and though many of the characters, plot lines, and resolutions are stereotypical, there is some inherent depth here when you’re creating characters in three minute intervals, and putting them through an arc that in some circumstances results in something compelling. It’s just the predictability and consistency of it all that is so disappointing. One song after another is about some badass chick doing something badass.
But the moment the album shines is when Carrie Underwood cuts all the badass crap and creates moments that are very personal. Why put the song “What I Never Knew I Always Wanted” last when it is one of the best songs on the record? The touching ode of a new mother is enhanced by being something true and very personal to Underwood’s heart, unlike the rest of the Storyteller material. The intimacy of the story enhances not just Carrie’s performance, but how the song resonates in the heart of the listener through the empathetic connection of humankind.
“The Girl You Think I Am”—though again set in one of the central themes of Storyteller about a woman hiding her vices and not living up to her public image—still carries a very touching sentiment about the eternal bond between a father and daughter. Two of the last three tracks salvage what otherwise was an album where Carrie Underwood had forgotten about herself, and how instilling her own emotions into music is the best way to connect more profoundly to an audience.
Storyteller is a lot to process. It comes out blazing, and Carrie Underwood’s voice—though always soaring and inspiring—shoots off like a howitzer. With the production, it all starts to get a bit overwhelming just from the sheer activity of it all, while the album saves any intimate moments until the very end. And as a country fan, you really have to search for something to grasp on to here.
Many female country pop fans and Carrie Underwood fans will love this album, and will probably say that males aren’t right to judge it, or will say those who don’t like it are downright stupid for not “getting it,” like what happened when Carrie Underwood released “Smoke Break” and some decided to take the smoking and drinking in the song literal. One thing is for sure: this is gender music. But as a critic who recognizes that and admittedly wants to root for women in country, and has rooted for Carrie Underwood before, she just doesn’t give you a whole lot to work with here. There’s much worse in country music, that’s for sure. But aside from a couple of songs, that’s about the only compliment I can pay to Storyteller.
1 1/4 of 2 Guns Down (4/10)
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October 26, 2015 @ 8:31 am
She’s not what is wrong , but she certainly isn’t what is right. To be honest, I’ve only heard ‘Storyteller'(the single) once and a few times as youtube ads and it definitely wasn’t country music. She is hands down the best female on mainstream radio, but nowhere close to the best voice in the modern country world.
October 26, 2015 @ 10:57 am
That song I kept hearing was ‘smoke break’ , rather than storyteller
October 26, 2015 @ 11:14 am
Brandon: “To be honest, I”™ve only heard ”˜Storyteller'(the single) once and a few times as youtube ads and it definitely wasn”™t country music. “
This is awkward because there is no such song on this Carrie Underwood album. If you are talking about “Smoke Break,” then I can agree that it’s twangy southern rock, not traditional country.
Trigger: You see the title of the song “Church Bells,” and hope maybe for another Gospel-inspired tune. But instead it”™s about a young hot girl who marries a rich man for his money, and then {spoiler alert} murders him to take his money and make out like a bandit.
Nope. The young hot girl marries a rich man for his money, he proves to be abusive (“it was all bruises, covered in makeup, dark sunglasses…”) and that’s why she murders him. If his life insurance policy is considered a bonus, the song doesn’t say.
A probably pointless note to the Carrie Underwood stans planning on populating the comments section here: as misguided and history-effacing as the Carrie v. Miranda comparisons in this review are, Trigger did NOT make them to belittle Carrie vis a vis Miranda. He’s no huge fan of Miranda’s either. As I pointed out in his review of Platinum, he completely missed the central concern of that album: how it represents a complex woman dealing with all the insecurities and attention that come with becoming a mainstream star.
I bring that up because I think this review misses the point behind the so-called “badass” songs on Storyteller, too. The point of them is not to front and unite womankind in some sort of “we are women, hear us roar!” escapist sisterhood. “Renegade Runaway” sets up the idea that there is more to the female characters on the album than meets the eye, that they may be stereotypically feminine but unpredictable, and that plays out in the “fantastical” half of the album. To listen to Platinum and Storyteller absent the context of how women are routinely stereotyped as lesser simpletons with little agency is to ignore the reality of the environment in which women, including Miranda and Carrie, operate.
So, for example, it’s very much on purpose that the woman of “Dirty Laundry” reveals that she’s onto her partner’s deception in the context of a stereotypical domestic task. Trigger, I understand that you’re against the idea of treating females as “special class citizens,” and over-focusing on what they’re up against, because you believe in music that stands on its own, independent of cultural constraints of the time. I certainly agree that a stream of “bad-assier than thou” responses for women is not the way to go (and that that was a problem with “Somethin’ Bad”).
But I think that ignoring the particular cultural context of the time has resulted in you missing the intent, craft and value of the lyrics on both Storyteller or Platinum. Both album feature a core of songs that purposefully tweak convention in interesting and clever ways, Platinum within the context of Miranda’s life and Storyteller through a fantasy-based approach (on half the album, anyway). There’s much more to both than simply being an escape outlet for bored women, and frankly, I think you’re being unintentionally patronizing by dismissing those who take something from their songs as such.
October 26, 2015 @ 1:33 pm
Windmills,
As far a “Church Bells,” the point I was trying to make is that if you look at the title, you may think it is another religiously-inspired song like so many of Carrie Underwood’s greatest songs over her career. However when you listen, it’s just another revenge song where a cute girl commits murder. It’s Miranda Lambert’s “Gunpowder and Lead,” Carrie’s “Two Black Cadillac’s,” and Reba’s “Fancy” all over again. Granted, I was lazy in my explanation there, and I should have at least mentioned the context of the woman being abused, and so I have edited that sentence (something I rarely ever do except for typos) to give the full context. My apologies to everyone for not being as clear as I should have been on that point.
When I listened to Miranda Lambert’s “Platinum,” I heard an album with no cohesive theme or message. It was a bunch of potential singles slapped together in album form, and though some of the songs were quite good, as an album it didn’t really say anything. In the case of “Storyteller,” it is the exact opposite. I do think there’s a cohesive theme and approach here, and as I said in my review, I think the storytelling aspect of the album is a virtue.
But what held this album back in my opinion was the over-use of these “badass” song models, over and over to great excess to where the songs become lesser than the sum of their parts by taking away from each other from a redundancy in approach and mood. What was the knock on female mainstream country coming into this album? That revenge songs were becoming like the female version of Bro-Country. And here Carrie Underwood releases an entire album of these songs (with a few exceptions), playing right into those concerns. Singled out, a lot of these songs have very detailed character and story that is critical merit. Similarly, there’s many Bro-Country songs that taken by themselves, are not nearly as bad as when they’re put one after another, and the similarities are exposed.
Obviously, Carrie Underwood’s music is still much more enriching for the audience than Bro-Country songs, but I think she saw something that was resonating with mainstream listeners, and decided to do a whole album in that vein instead of taking a more balanced, and more realistic and personal approach.
October 26, 2015 @ 10:46 pm
Trigger: As far a “Church Bells,” the point I was trying to make is that if you look at the title, you may think it is another religiously-inspired song like so many of Carrie Underwood”™s greatest songs over her career. However when you listen, it”™s just another revenge song where a cute girl commits murder. It”™s Miranda Lambert”™s “Gunpowder and Lead,” Carrie”™s “Two Black Cadillac”™s,” and Reba”™s “Fancy” all over again.
“Fancy” is not a revenge song. I assume you wanted “The Night The Lights Went Down In Georgia.”
I can’t behind your argument that a possible bait & switch in the title “Church Bells” is problematic. For one thing, “Something in the Water” didn’t take the most commonly understood meaning of the phrase, either. For another, the church bells represent three different moments in the narrative, all of which play out in church, and the fact that abuse and then murder play out in the context of church and ritualized worship serves as notice of the hypocrisy that exists within. That makes the song more interesting, not less interesting, because it adds a layer of social commentary that all those formulaic bro country songs don’t even attempt.
Granted, “Two Black Cadillacs” is similar in that you have the juxtaposition of a religious ritual and sin, with a focus on thinking about how a cheater is being eulogized and whether that eulogy has any meaning. But it’s still noteworthy and distinctive beyond your basic revenge song that instead of blaming the “other woman” as is typical in pop culture discussions of cheating, the two women teamed up with each other.
Trigger: But what held this album back in my opinion was the over-use of these “badass” song models, over and over to great excess to where the songs become lesser than the sum of their parts by taking away from each other from a redundancy in approach and mood. What was the knock on female mainstream country coming into this album? That revenge songs were becoming like the female version of Bro-Country. And here Carrie Underwood releases an entire album of these songs (with a few exceptions), playing right into those concerns. Singled out, a lot of these songs have very detailed character and story that is critical merit. Similarly, there”™s many Bro-Country songs that taken by themselves, are not nearly as bad as when they”™re put one after another, and the similarities are exposed.”
This is false equivalence. As I noted above, the bro country songs, beyond recycling the same lyrics and melodies, failed to distinguish themselves from each other in any way, and really had no point except to drill home this very formulaic notion of the backwoods good time. I agree that a song like “Somethin’ Bad” fails on these grounds. I even agree that “Mexico” (Track 12 on Storyteller) while solidly written, is an example of diminished returns on the album.
But about half of Storyteller highlights female characters who tweak different stereotypes and conventions, and to lump them all together as “badass”/”revenge” songs with nothing more to say than bro country ever did is some pretty facile thinking and listening. It’s not just that the Storyteller songs are better written, as you acknowledge. They also mostly distinguish themselves from each other in imagery and melody, and most importantly of all, they aspire to and often make pointed social commentary in ways that bro country never cared to. I already discussed “Church Bells” and “Dirty Laundry” in that regard. “Choctaw County Affair” has its own fun with stereotypes and how justice might play out in an insular community.
Bottom line: You can object to the vehicle (crime/revenge) that many of these songs use for the commentary as being overdone, but that’s not a valid reason to ignore the commentary itself – that’s a major part of what elevates this material beyond the bro country that we all find so tired.
A couple other stray points:
* As noted above, I still whole-heartedly disagree with your assertion that Platinum lacked a cohesive theme. The theme was Miranda Lambert: superstar. The theme may have lacked universality, but I think it’s very clearly woven throughout the core of the album (“Girls,” “Platinum,” “Priscilla,” “Bathroom Sink,” “Holding On To You,” “Little Red Wagon,” etc.).
* I think it’s mildly disingenuous to spend the first part of a review with wild rhetorical assertions about Carrie Underwood changing her music to be like Miranda Lambert, citing the CMA/ACM awards shutout issue that you know to be a sensitive one to Carrie Underwood fans (and ignoring the fact that Carrie Underwood has continued to fare very well at the Grammys), and then to act taken aback when some Carrie Underwood fans predictably take the bait. I don’t condone fan excesses, but really, the framing of the review was needlessly provocative and sloppy.
October 26, 2015 @ 8:51 am
I say you mention they are supplanting rural for urban. Why exactly are they doing that? On top of the drum machines and electronic crap, they have to take the country setting out of Metro-Bro too? I’m not talking bout Carrie. I’m asking why country now does all that urban stuff. There’s nothing country about it, so why do it?
October 26, 2015 @ 9:21 am
There’$ a few rea$on$ for that Kale….
October 26, 2015 @ 9:59 am
Yeah, but “country” people (as in Bro-Country fans) should realize that taking all elements of country out of country makes it not country and not listen to it because they’re “country” and it’s not, and pop people who don’t like country have less country (and better) things to listen to, so they shouldn’t be listening to that either, so Metro-Bro should have less fans and make less money because the people who liked Bro-Country shouldn’t like it, true country fans definitely won’t, and pop fans shouldn’t like it either. Nobody should prefer this music, so why does it sell?
October 26, 2015 @ 11:06 am
Hey man, country music needs to evolve! Sure, they may get rid of the pedal steel, fiddle, banjo, lyrical themes and (at times) even real instruments, but it’s being performed by people who grew up in the South! What’s more country than that?
October 26, 2015 @ 12:13 pm
The south as in like Austin or Atlanta or some other big town or medium town. I think small towns started to greatly dissolve shortly after Melloncamp’s song “Small Town”. I grew in a small town (one stoplight and 1 nudie bar on the edge of town and but that was only for about six years before it stopped being small at all. And my mother just confessed that when her generation moved in it was even smaller and they purposely bumped out the local (i.e. gentrification) and killed the farmers and farming lifestyle that was present in favor of suburbia and family friendly mini-mall clone businesses and housing. Oh the also summarily and quickly killed the nudie bar of course.
October 26, 2015 @ 8:58 am
What are Carrie Underwood’s roots, being ridiculously gorgeous and wailing into the microphone when a little subtlety would suit the song better?
October 27, 2015 @ 7:23 pm
Let’s be fair…the word “ridiculous” doesn’t even begin to cover how gorgeous Carrie Underwood is.
Man, that album cover.
October 28, 2015 @ 12:16 am
Somebody didn’t listen to the album.
October 26, 2015 @ 9:12 am
It was a tough album to get through, which was disappointing. I really disliked Underwood’s Play On. I felt despite all the No. 1 hits the album was just bad. I thought Blown Away was a big comeback and Something in the Water and to a lesser extent Little Toy Guns were solid.
I had high hopes, but Smoke Break is dull and Storyteller just doesn’t have any kick. Halfway through it, I kind of stopped paying attention.
Very disappointed.
October 26, 2015 @ 9:16 am
She is the Chris Evert to Miranda’s Martina Navratilova, and that is just the way it is.
Maybe she would be more esteemed if the stories she told were a little more like Harper Lee’s and a little less like Danielle Steel’s.
October 26, 2015 @ 9:18 am
I think that you are a Miranda stan and you are a little mad that her last 2 singles flopped big time in radio and sales (so much for a 16 times FVOTY winner) , and why on earth you think that Carrie want to be Miranda? Poor sales, she can’t sell out arenas, now she is a cheater it seems, she can not sing on key and now she peak outside of the top 10 on country radio! Miranda can keep winning CMA’s and ACM’s while Carrie keep winning Grammys and getting #1 after #1! And tell her she needs to clean her Dirty Laundry please! Thank you!
October 26, 2015 @ 9:28 am
Hilarious.
Perhaps you should read some of my Miranda reviews then.
“Platinum really doesn”™t have any root or theme. You may hope for one, or think that the one word title might allude to delving into some exploration of the human condition … Instead Miranda”™s “Platinum” title track is simply about the hue of a hairstyle, and the color she hopes this album achieves from the RIAA””superfluous, materialistic, shallow things that don”™t really hold any deeper meaning.”
“‘Little Red Wagon’ is all attitude and immature histrionics, though I”™m sure some females will get a kick out of it. Similar to the Carrie Underwood collaboration ‘Somethin”™ Bad’, it feels like a feudal attempt to joust with bro-country by bringing the level of discourse down to their banal latitudes.
https://savingcountrymusic.com/album-review-miranda-lamberts-platinum
But keep telling yourself bias is the only excuse people can come up with for not liking Carrie Underwood.
October 26, 2015 @ 9:45 am
You can dislike Carrie all you want but compare Carrie with Miranda!? I mean what are you hearing?? What Miranda song sounds like Renegade Runaway, Chaser, Clock Don’t Stop, Relapse or Church Bells?
October 26, 2015 @ 9:51 am
I think you just answered your own question Simon.
Hey, if you like this album, that’s all that matters. I’m just sharing my opinion. This album has some good moments. I’m not criticizing anyone for liking it.
October 26, 2015 @ 10:23 am
Its ok! I just will leave this review here for you to read: http://www.ukcountrymusic.net/carrie-underwood-storyteller-album-review/
Storyteller is all about what this reviewer said, and I think you missed the point! Bye.
October 26, 2015 @ 11:35 am
Hey, great review. They gave their opinion, and so did I. Neither is right, and neither is wrong. They’re just opinions. And you as a consumer can choose how much weight to put behind each, and come to your conclusions.
October 26, 2015 @ 10:47 am
….I think you just got caught on what has always been true…..”…the only excuse people can come up with for just “not liking Carrie Underwood”….. So than why do you bother dragging her through the mud all the time. Why not just leave her alone…….. Lets be fair at least for a moment, you so often come from a place of support when referring to other women in country, and yes including MIranda. You paint Carrie with a negative brush. you just do. You even have to point out in your review that “you have said nice things about her before”. Why would you even have to point that out unless you spend the majority of time picking at her.
October 26, 2015 @ 10:54 am
You Carrie fangurls are phucking whackjobs.
October 26, 2015 @ 11:02 am
how useful. Clear what is attracted to this site……
October 26, 2015 @ 11:19 am
And Carrie Underwood fans need to understand that at times certain fans exercise irrational exuberance for her that in turn doesn’t represent the type of kind hearted persona Carrie tries to present to the public as a positive force in society very well. If you like this album, that’s all that matters. Don’t let the opinions of some asshole critic sway you from enjoying good music. But when you start to say that someone’s opinions are wrong, you’re doing a disservice not just to yourself, but to the public perception of Carrie Underwood fans. Everybody hates me, so you gain nothing by vilifying me or this site.
October 26, 2015 @ 11:34 am
Excellent response
October 26, 2015 @ 11:36 am
Well thank God your review doesn’t count for Metacritic…. and I see why not…
October 26, 2015 @ 4:55 pm
But, Simon, Carrie screams too much.
October 27, 2015 @ 7:24 pm
It’s more that the last compelling song she chose to record was “Wasted.”
October 26, 2015 @ 9:27 am
I thought this was a solid Album full of mainstream songs made for radio. The biggest thing it’s missing is a Josh Kear song. Really shocked to see that he got no cuts on this Album considering 2 of her Career defining songs were written by him. I feel like Dirty Laundry, and Church Bells were just songs that tried to one-up or copy the success that Carrie has already had with Before He Cheats and Blown Away.
October 26, 2015 @ 9:42 am
Anybody can read a story. But a storyteller sells it, draws you in, makes you believe, that no matter how fantastic, that’s the way it was. This is not that.
October 26, 2015 @ 10:42 am
….oh so you’ve listened to the album? and Carrie Underwood does not know how to deliver a story? …..you kind of know that is one of her biggest strengths, or so the Music Industry is aware……
October 26, 2015 @ 11:06 am
Yes, that’s pretty much what I’m saying. And her ‘biggest strength’ is not that she can deliver a story. I’ve never heard anyone say that. Her biggest strength is that she can sing. But regardless, I’m not saying that Carrie has never delivered a story convincingly. Jesus Take the Wheel and Something in the Water both do a pretty good job of convincingly telling a story. I don’t hear that on this record, mostly because she’s singing about things she doesn’t know anything about, and she doesn’t have much ability to sympathetically place herself in the position of a character who’s experiences are outside the realm of her own.
October 26, 2015 @ 11:43 am
that’s fair. But I think Trigger answered the issue about that in the review. I do think this whole album is a concept in becoming a fantasy-character. Her coming through the desert with a guitar on her back wearing daisydukes. Lets be honest, its fantasy. And that is what this album is supposed to be in my opinion. And in that way its actually pretty cool and thoughtful. btw, I am not even that big a fan of it, its not my style of music, I just get defensive if I think she is being lept on without consideration…. shes not a fool and she’s not a victim of circumstance. She is making these decisions, we should at least look at them.
October 26, 2015 @ 10:06 am
I respect that you aren’t a big fan of the album, or of Carrie Underwood, but I think giving this album a 4/10 is a little harsh. Have you actually taken time to fully analyze every track? Maybe your opinion will change eventually.
October 26, 2015 @ 11:09 am
Jesus. I don’t get why you fanboys/girls get so offended when someone doesn’t like the thing you like, especially when it’s pretty terrible.
October 26, 2015 @ 11:24 am
Who said I wasn’t a big fan of Carrie Underwood? It’s my job to put any fandom aside and judge the music on its own merit. I don’t write reviews for artists, I write reviews for albums and songs. Maybe my opinion will change. But I want you and everyone else to know that I take the review process extremely seriously, to the point where I’d post a 15-paragraph review. I listened to this album over and over, purposely tried to find things to be critical about, and purposely tried to find things to praise. Then I offered my honest opinion, fully knowing there would be blow back from Carrie Undewrwood fans, because this is the common occurrence, but knowing it would be more disrespectful to them and to Carrie Underwood to be anything less than honest about my opinions.
When Carrie Underwood releases her next new song or album, I’ll review it with no agenda, no opinion, and certainly no malice, and hope I like it. Because in the end, I want to like music. I’m a music fan. That’s why I criticize it.
October 26, 2015 @ 11:37 am
I appreciate you saying this. And I will take it to heart. Truth is, I do respond to negativity towards Underwood cause it seems such an easy target. Its always fun to drag down the pretty girl and root for the underdog (poor choice of wording).
But if you strip down the brands and images than you end up with a girl with a really sensational voice thown into a very unpredictable circumstance winning a reality show and then being expected to act like a superstar overnight. Its so easy to just downplay what she is actually doing and let a backstory be the only thing that dictates your attitudes.
So you didn’t like it as much as you might have hoped. I can appreciate and understand that. I wish there were clearer reasons than “because she is not MIranda Lambert”. But, at least I know now that you take the time to try.
As for those who refer to children as “phucking whackos” well, I am pretty sure that goes on their permanent record in the book of life……..
October 26, 2015 @ 1:08 pm
“But if you strip down the brands and images than you end up with a girl with a really sensational voice.”
I agree. And I think I made many detailed points beyond comparing Carrie to Miranda. Really, that was just a fluffy point to start things off. It’s really not the basis of any of the criticism of this music, aside from the fact that there’s a sameness coming from the two big female country stars of today that in my opinion is getting tired.
October 26, 2015 @ 10:10 am
Renegade Runaway is Cowboy Cassanova with a female lead- a loud, repetitive song that thinks alliteration makes it interesting. But at least it fits the theme. The Girl You Think I Am feels totally out of place on this album of fanciful stories.I don’t understand why a 30 year old woman (31?) with a husband and baby is referring to herself as a girl. It’s like she felt she needed a more emotional/family song and threw it in. What I Never Knew I Always Wanted is predictable and boring. It’s straight on the nose (never saw myself dressing in white, never saw myself singing lullabies) and doesn’t try for a nuanced message at all. I honestly thought the story-songs succeeded much better in their intent than the couple of personal songs.
October 26, 2015 @ 10:50 am
Oh well..trigger.. I just lost all the respect that I have/had for you.. That’s all I can say.. Okay..bye now!!
October 26, 2015 @ 11:15 am
Why, because I gave you my honest opinion? Would you have more respect for me if I had lied to you because that would be the popular thing to do among Carrie Underwood fans? I’ve written positive reviews for Carrie Underwood, and I’ve written negative ones. The point of reviews, positive or negative, is to aid the creative process by giving constructive feedback. Nobody’s opinions are wrong. Not yours, not mine.
Buh bye.
October 27, 2015 @ 5:35 am
If anything I gained more respect for trigger. He says it how it is and he’s right, this album is pretty awful. Very repetitive and not very country at all. What’s the point in beating around the bush? If you don’t like reading a straight to the point, honest review then sorry about your luck.
Keep it up Trig, you’re doing a hell of a job.
October 26, 2015 @ 10:55 am
….so let me just say this without going into a rant about how many times you backslap Underwood for making this album…. Since when has a great singer using her voice to glorious abilty been seen as such an understatement to “not being Miranda Lambert”. I just don’t understand why you are wanting to take this album and turn it into everything that is not LamLam….Lam Lam?….really?
Underwood is an exceptional singer and that alone is reason enough to at least expose yourself to it. Gosh, do we not listen to Trisha Yearwood, Patty Loveless and Leanne Womack for great singing? Must we tear Underwood down for things beyond her control like production and pace of an album? Is there nothing to be said for standing in front of a mic anymore and delivering better than anyone around her? I mean at least don’t treat her like her greatest contribution to popular country music, her voice, is a lowly exception to Miranda Lamberts “sass”…. I’m a little embarrassed for you…. People used to want to hear good singing, and I guess I am confused as to why you spend the majority of this review talking around her true ability and pointing out that she is not Miranda Lambert. I am pretty sure she never said she was. Nore is Leanne Womack, Trisha Yearwood or Patty Loveless……hacks all of them??
October 26, 2015 @ 11:27 am
First, Carrie isn’t “an exceptional singer”. Yes, she can sing powerfully, but her voice is incredibly throaty and generally carries far too much vibrato. She also has a pretty poor sense of dynamics, as she belts/screams most of the time. It’s nice that she isn’t a bad singer of the Mariah Carey mold (far too reliant on exaggerated melismatic runs), but she honestly needs to work on her craft.
And to assume that she had no control whatsoever on the production/track order of her record is absolutely absurd. I’m not going to say that she has 100% complete control over her music like The Beatles did in the late-60s, but if she had any sort of problem with the tracks/album then she and the production crew would have changed things to suit her.
October 26, 2015 @ 11:53 am
Herman, I will respectfully disagree on both counts. She “is” an exceptional singer. Either you are not caring to listen very closely or you are unaware of the level of craft it takes to do some of the technical stuff she does. The “big notes” are a nice addition to her ability, but her ability goes way beyond a big note at the end. I believe you are listening with a filter.
As for production: again, I think you overestimate what the “singer” contributes when it comes to constructing the “product that is delivered to the label”. Of course an artist as big as Underwood I “part of the process” but she is going to take a backseat to those who think they know better the order of the tracks, that is Not her job to do. Someone like T.Swift takes very personal interest in such things, most other artists are not given quite the same consideration if the label thinks they know better.
Example: I think Smoke Break was a terrible choice to introduce this product. And I don’t think that was Underwoods personal choice. Those are just not choices they make from their couches at home. That is the marketers jobs. And they often do a piss-poor job of it.
October 26, 2015 @ 1:03 pm
That’s a fair point on the production. But when I criticized the production, it is you that are taking it as a criticism of Carrie Underwood. I never said that. I’m criticizing the process, which includes Carrie Underwood, as well as the producers, songwriters, label, etc.
October 26, 2015 @ 11:32 am
Patrick,
I think Carrie Underwood is the greatest singer in mainstream country at the moment, unless you want to consider Raul Malo mainstream. But I can;t use that to somehow excuse the content of her songs or the production of this record. I have to take everything into account and then use it to come to a conclusion. If I was doing a review of Carrie Underwood’s voice, then yes, Two Guns Way Up! But have to put that voice in context and then offer my opinion.
October 26, 2015 @ 2:28 pm
She does have a very good voice but that’s about all. Poor song choices all around for me. That’s just a part of it though. A few of the very best in country music didn’t have the greatest voices. It’s the whole package.
October 27, 2015 @ 7:44 am
Willie Nelson has “no voice”, in the classic sense of a technical singer, but boy can he sing, when he’s got the right material for him. That’s like saying Dylan has no voice(which he hasn’t) and therefore dismissing the man’s highly original and listenable style. I could listen to “Queen Jane Approximately” on repeat for an hour. Being able to trill your voice and run scales and belt isn’t everything (I get tired of hearing Judy Garland sometimes in her later era for just that reason). Sometmes subtlety and knowing how fit your voice to the mood of the song is much more effective-just ask Dylan, Willie, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and even Janis Joplin who was known for her belting but man when she croons “didn’t I make you feel, like you, wanna own me”. Phrasing, understanding your material, understanding chiaroscuro in song and voice counts for a lot too, and understanding how odd little twists like singing behind the beat can be very effective in setting mood. Sometimes the song needs you to draw the listener in towards you, not you throw it out to them.
October 27, 2015 @ 10:51 am
…and here lies my frustration. Its as if you are suggesting that because she does have this big belter voice and she uses it that she should somehow be discredited for having something exceptional to use as part of her art. I am not sure that’s fair. Its that argument of T.Swift can’t sing, and look at how amazing she is…… That is Taylor Swift. That is Willie Nelson…. It has nothing to do with Underwood having a good voice and using it. It seems a bit unfair to discredit her for it. Dolly Parton is an amazing storyteller with a limited vocal ability and I could listen to her all day. But you cant compare her to Underwood and say Dolly is better cause she has less. It makes no sense. I will admit that “just because” Underwood has a better than average voice should not automatically make her an “ARtist”. But she has been given the opportunity to grow and try, and I think she is proving that she is an ARtist who has a good voice to express herself with…
October 27, 2015 @ 3:17 pm
I agree. Out of the singers I listen to who have belter type of voice. She tones it down the most live. One of the reasons I am fan of Carrie is because of hearing her on radio. Her voice and emotion gave me chills. She can bring me to tears. I don’t cry easy. I like her as performer a lot. She can belt and other stuff, but love her toned down performances as well
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAZlRaoalrE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMYEBNmQed0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HItV8qeH9Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBjA_vPB-1s
October 27, 2015 @ 6:52 pm
It’s not about “discrediting” Carrie for having a great voice.
He explained why a lot of us prefer other singers, even though pretty much everyone has objectively less raw vocal talent than Carrie.
October 27, 2015 @ 8:29 pm
There’s isn’t any song that she’s done that gets more exciting hearing it over again. Every time I give her a chance with a new one. The measure of a great song lamented by cowboy jack clement- a good song gets better with age. If you listen to it 100x straight you’re more excited than the first. She doesn’t have that type of song. I can’t listen to them more than a few times. Maybe it’s just me but I’ve never seen her as a star because of it. She’s had more than enough chances she’s how many albums in. I do like smoke break more than I have most of the others- I semi complimented it in places. That just isn’t good enough though. Dolly puts much more emotion and believability into her music. Carrie just doesn’t have that in my opinion.
October 28, 2015 @ 8:05 am
No, I don’t “discredit” her for having a big, powerful voice, good range, or anything of those things. I don’t discredit her at all, regarding her vocal talent. I’m not even talking about her in particular, I’m talking about this trend we have of girls who have amazing range or power or “largeness” or ability to run the scales from one octave to another, but seem to think that they have to showcase that ability in everything they do, when sometimes the song requires something different, or sometimes they just need to give it a rest. I’m saying that maybe they need to utilise a great tool right at their fingertips, which is taste and understanding, and knowing they have nothing to prove anymore as regards their vocal chops. Now they need to know how, when, or even if those chops fit the song, the words, or if some intimacy which doesn’t showcase their vocal chops is required-that’s taste and understanding, and it’s a lot more effective not to mention more interesting than repeatedly trotting out the trusty old powerhouse effects. Pop already went through this stage with Mariah Carey and Whitney and all of their imitators. I don’t know if this trend has ended in pop because I stopped listening after the millionth scale run.
October 26, 2015 @ 11:05 am
I prefer old Carrie Underwood to this new Carrie Underwood.
October 27, 2015 @ 7:51 am
I’d rather hear Clapton sing “Lay Down Sally”, that limey sounded more “country” on that song than any dozen of a lot of current “country” artists.
October 26, 2015 @ 11:16 am
Carrie’s gone Miranda? Are you joking?
Why do people ALWAYS speak of Miranda while reviewing a Carrie album?
Storyteller ma not be very country, but it’s one of the best mainstream records, way better than Platinum.
Lyrics are great, stories are intriguing, her voice is top-notch as always.
October 26, 2015 @ 11:22 am
Wouw! Some pretty uptight people commenting on here! Maybe a bit to emotional! This is a review, one guys honest opinion. Ofcourse you can disagree, but trigger doesn’t strike me as a guy who has a personal problem with mrs underwood! Get over it guys!
October 26, 2015 @ 11:32 am
Haha these comments just prove why Carries fans have been said to be some of the worst fans.
Pathetic.
I was very dissapointed with this album had high hopes…she should go just full pop and stop claiming country and or stop trying to fit in and sing some like something in the water/Jesus take the wheel and completely rule that realm of country.
October 27, 2015 @ 8:06 am
You’ve hit the nail on the head, for me, as to my displeasure with a lot of current “country” artists. Why “country”? If it wasn’t for the “bros” checklisting and fake twang (when they bother), there just wouldn’t be anything country there (and they’ve forgotten the song-in country music, it was always, always, about the song, underneath everything. Even in the oft-derided Nashville Sound era, the writers came through in a big way). It’s the dishonesty that irks me-I like all kinds of music, but I hate this “bait and switch” going on, though I don’t think they even have to bother with the bait anymore. I’ve heard singers from other genres do perfectly fine renditions of country songs, and do them well, authentically, because they loved country music and understood the heart of country out of that love. These days, we’re getting just the opposite-singers who stand on the country platform, but don’t seem to have a love for the genre, don’t understand the heart, and don’t seem to care. Before some Underwood fan takes offense, I’m not talking about one specific artist in “country” music, because my lament could apply to any number of them, I have loved artists who were famous for their work in other genres who did a country song or two, because those artists (the ones I appreciate) seemed to have a real love and understanding for country, and were doing the work out of that love, not using country as a springboard for what they’d rather be doing. And if one more person says “country music MUST evolve”, I do believe that I’ll throw something and scare my poor dogs. No, it MUSN’T evolve, though it CAN evolve, as long as that evolution is organic and not pushed (shoved down our throats) through the forces of marketing, but because someone had a real vision of a new direction for country, all the while truly loving and respecting country music.
November 3, 2015 @ 9:00 am
I would agree on that. I love Carrie Underwood and I want Carrie Underwood to do emotionally deep pop music. That would be cool if it’s gonna happen.
October 26, 2015 @ 11:42 am
Just look at twitter. So many people other comparing this album to Miranda. The amount of times I’ve seen a tweet saying they thought smoke break was a Miranda song. Even her video is a direct mixture of automatic/LRW. Its really getting annoying.
..I wouldn’t say Miranda’s gone full pop releasing Platinum is not helping her case here…but Carrie has always been contemporary pop…this album is not surprising in the least. She craves the attention Miranda gets (I agree Blown Away should have won her stuff in 2012) but she shouldn’t try and be someone she isnt to try and get peoples attention; if thats her game. Something in the Water was the biggest song of 2014…I wish she stuck with that approach and not gone all crazy ex girlfriend on us. Its not a good look on her and its like she is trying to hard. Put a gospel song on the record sing one good ole sounding country song does not make the album country ( ehmm Miranda Im looking at you too – all thats left, hard staying sober, old shit) ..this is a pop record. Plus I feel like she uses her voice almost too much. Yes you have a great voice and can hit those high notes…but most of the time I feel like she is yelling at me.
Off Topic, The Pistol Annies slowly coming out of the break. They have been writing and they do have a project (song) coming out on a tribute record…so instead of getting this I think I will wait a little bit for some new miranda and PAs 🙂
November 3, 2015 @ 9:03 am
I agree on that, Carrie Underwood’s country music should’ve been pop records. Heck, even MTV Hits manage to air the music videos for Something In The Water and Little Toy Guns. Both Carrie Underwood music videos worked great on MTV Hits. So hopefully MTV Hits will be able to air Smoke Break’s music video one day. Country music really lost interest to country females like Carrie Underwood because all country played these days is country males like Luke Bryan and bro-country like Miranda Lambert. Carrie Underwood is not bro-country and her country songs are pop. That’s why Last.fm tagged Carrie Underwood songs with pop and it turned out fine. 🙂
October 26, 2015 @ 11:55 am
Speaking of album reviews…Knuckleball Prime?
October 26, 2015 @ 1:00 pm
It’s coming.
October 26, 2015 @ 12:00 pm
Geez it’s hilarious when people get their feelings hurt these days. Especially if Trigger is not crazy about something they like. It’s comedy gold!
October 26, 2015 @ 12:35 pm
“Because in the end, I want to like music.” This is good. I’m stealing it. I want to meet the person who listens to music with the hopes of hating it. And some of these comments are similar to the youtube fangirls saying, “If you don’t like it don’t comment on it.” As if criticism can only be given if it is positive. Actually I blame the disdain for criticism and critics not on fanboys or trolls but the age of over-coddle and over-praise given to children. I was born right at the start of this mess in 76 and have seen it explode to absurd levels.
And finally in the last year or feel like I have come to some satisfactory answer within myself as to why people get so defensive, in this case about music. I believe many people are afraid that they are in fact wrong and that the music they like is in fact terrible on some real quantifiable scale. And nobody likes to be wrong. I wen through this in my Paula Abudul phase and finally accepted she had catchy songs but was in the end rather terrible.
Or people feel that an attack on something they like is a direct attack them because their worth and identity is so linked to things and stuff and what those things represent in larger society to the masses in general. That insecurity makes them defensive. Carrie Underwood represents all that is good and wholesome in mainstream country and so what could there be to hate about the best mainstream country has on offer. Good wholesome people are not stupid and good wholesome people like good wholesome music. So when their music is criticized I find some people take it as an attack on them personally.
I also think there is the internal and inescapable fear in some people that they maybe are just sheep following trends instead of critically thinking for themselves and that too is scary. Because if Carrie fanatics had the slightest curiosity to look beyond the mainstream world and support and listen to someone like Tami Neilson and then remained hardcore Carrie fanatics touting her as the best thing in country… I’d be a little dumbfounded and saddened.
October 26, 2015 @ 4:03 pm
Good points about the conflation of musical criticism, even the type of nuanced and well thought-out review posted by Trigger here, with personal attacks. This is not a new problem, though. I am sure that hard-core fans have been taking negative reviews personally since the beginning of recorded music.
One important note: your last paragraph borders on personal invective and will do absolutely nothing to help Tami Neilson. If anything, it will give Carrie fans here a negative impression of Tami’s entire fan base, and perhaps deter Carrie fans from ever giving a listen to Tami’s music. Here’s how I would rephrase:
“For the Carrie fans here, you might want to check out Tami Neilson:
[insert video link here]”
Just some marketing advice…
October 26, 2015 @ 8:15 pm
And rebellious, unwholesome, people can be the exact same way about criticism on their music. Just as the angst, teenager driven Nirvana type drivel, listener can indulge in the same behavior. No one likes to hear criticism of their favorite singer.
I completely agree with your theory of people tying up their identify with music. I see the same masochist behavior in sports. I love Army football and I become frustrated when they lose but it is not my life. I can walk away when it becomes unhealthy.
October 27, 2015 @ 8:23 am
As the resident old fogey, I couldn’t agree more. I can love artists but not take it as an assault on my personal identity when someone (even everyone) else doesn’t-perhaps we all have to go through that stage at some point in our lives (one hopes that we outgrow it, though!) God knows I’d never want my life/myself to be identified with that of some of the singers I love! Where I live and amongst my age-peers, absolutely NO one shares my love of classic prog (except three nieces, their father-my brother-and I got their ears used to and appreciative of that sound before the poor girls were old enough to know better, lol). Same with classic country-they like a lot of the “bro” stuff, but at the same time will happily listen to my Hank Sr et al music on long road trips (and they’re so sweet, they don’t even subject me to rap when it’s their turn to pick, lol). Somehow they missed the stage where they felt obliged to “identify” with the artists as people and defend them on that basis. I really love that about them 🙂
October 26, 2015 @ 10:11 pm
Why some people on this site complain about Carrie fans and then act as if they are different baffles me. The last paragraph is not any different than the ones who insulted people for not liking Carrie music. It saddens me you and others think its okay to insulting people you know nothing about because they like singer you don’t enjoy. That mentality is just as unhealthy. I posted on Carrie fan site about Tami cd Dynamite. There was people who loved her. Another Carrie fan posted about Tami today as well. I also listen to Tami Neilson, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Jazmine Sullivan, Della Mae, Trampled By Turtles, Lindi Ortega, Agnes Obel, Valerie June, Uncle Lucas, Pokey Lafarge, FKA Twigs, Marc Braussard, Sarah Jarosz, Turnpike Troubadours and many others in different genres.
October 26, 2015 @ 12:44 pm
When I first heard “Smoke Break”, my first reaction was that Carrie was doing a Miranda impression and not a very good one at that. The rest of the albums is more of the same, only less country.
October 26, 2015 @ 12:48 pm
You obviously didn’t examine “Church Bells” while listening to it. It’s about an abusive husband. What a joke this review is.
October 26, 2015 @ 12:55 pm
It’s also about a woman using her looks to gain advantage, and then committing murder. The point is, it wasn’t inspired by Gospel, despite what the title may allude to. That was the point I was making. Refute the entire 15-paragraph review because of one disputed sentence if you want, but that won’t make me being the one who’s shortsighted.
October 27, 2015 @ 11:26 am
I listened to “Church Bells” a few more time to see if I could understand how you’re convinced it’s a women using her looks to gain advantage, but I still don’t get it. It’s a stretch of an inference at best and a really cynical, somewhat demeaning view of the character at worst.
I respect you, Trigger, but Windmills hits my issues with this review on the head.
October 27, 2015 @ 11:37 am
*woman
October 27, 2015 @ 1:29 pm
Hey Tara,
I should have made my point more clearly on “Church Bells,” and I apologize. I’ve edited the review, and admitted that I should have at least I should have mentioned the abuse angle covered in the song. But this is not a review for “Church Bells,” it’s a review for the album “Storyteller,” and the same concern that this is one “badass” song after another stands, regardless of how anyone wants to interpret “Church Bells.” It is a revenge song where the main character commits murder.
But these lines….
Broke as hell, but blessed with beauty
The kind that a rich man can’t turn down
She caught the eye of an oil man dancing
One summer night in a dime store dress
She had the looks, he had the mansion
And you can figure out the rest
…seem to imply that a female character is using her looks to “marry up” so to speak. So I stand behind that opinion.
October 28, 2015 @ 12:39 pm
Hey Trigger ”“ I think the issue for me is that your perspective of “Church Bells” is indicative of how you”™ve approached the album”™s “badass crap.” It”™s a limited view of what Underwood is attempting to do (albeit clumsily in some places), which is to tell stories with a layer of social commentary, or at least with a different female perspective. For this reason, as Windmills points out, her “revenge songs” really can”™t be compared with bro-country. And the fact that you perceive her songs that way, especially without considering cultural context, makes it all the more obvious that these types of songs have a critical place on mainstream albums.
At any rate, we”™ll just have to agree to disagree on this one.
October 28, 2015 @ 12:50 pm
I think Windmills made a good point, but I don’t think that telling a story about poisoning your husband and getting away with it is “social commentary.” Okay, so her husband was abusive, but why? I hate to psychoanalyze a fictitious story, but maybe he was abusive because she was the type who would surreptitiously murder him instead of calling authorities, documenting the abuse, divorcing him, etc. etc. That’s what makes the leading lady of the story a “badass” as opposed to a martyr or social crusader. At least in my opinion.
October 26, 2015 @ 12:49 pm
I was listening to the Crook & Chase countdown Saturday morning and they were talking to Underwood. They played the song “What I Never Knew I Always Wanted”. She said that she doesn’t want the song to be released as a single and that she won’t sing it in concert because she says that it’s too personal. I’m sitting there thinking WTF!!! That song is not only good, but real. Does she not realize that we need more songs like that? I’ve always felt very strongly that if an artist can’t write and sing what’s real, a song that means something, then they should pack it in, go home, and find another line of work because what’s the point.
October 26, 2015 @ 4:26 pm
From what I gathered, it’s not the fact that it’s personal that is the issue. It’s the fact that she can’t sing it without crying. It’s the same reasoning she gave why she can’t ever perform “Forever Changed” off of the last album. I agree that that’s what we need released and played, but “Like I’ll Never Love You Again” could have the same impact, and I would argue is possibly a better song with a more country vocal. I wouldn’t be as quick to write off her ability to write and sing what’s real just because she doesn’t want to try and perform a song she knows she’ll cry to every night. But I get what you’re saying.
October 26, 2015 @ 5:11 pm
That’s a shame. I was hopeful after hearing that song. I don’t get how it fits on the album or why it wouldn’t be released as a single. If she can’t share this type of song, she’s missing something.
October 26, 2015 @ 12:51 pm
A whole album of “Somethin Bad”s? Ugh, no thanks. I was hopeful too, cause I’ve really liked Carrie’s last 3 singles, including “Smoke Break.” But I’m tired of this schtick from Miranda, and I really hope it doesn’t keep infecting other female artists like the bro-virus did with males.
October 26, 2015 @ 12:53 pm
Me personally, I’m sick and tired of this vindictive female, girl power trend that has been going on for over 10 years now in country music. Miranda and Carrie started it and It’s not classy, or interesting and just appeals to an immature audience.
October 26, 2015 @ 1:28 pm
I think maybe it started with “Goodbye Earl.” Some of this type of song have been decent (I like Gunpowder and Lead), some have been bad, but it’s waaay too overdone. It’s like the default subject matter for females now, like trucks and beer are for men. It’s lost any meaning it might have had at this point.
October 27, 2015 @ 8:28 am
Yeah, I hated that song, because turn it around, all of a sudden that’s not humorous. Or make the abusive man an abusive mother-nothing funny about doing away with the abusive mother, rather than getting the kids away and getting her some help.
October 27, 2015 @ 7:18 pm
…and what if the abusive mother then tracked them down and put those kids in the hospital after the legal means were tried?
Earl
“Walked right through that restraining order
And put her in intensive care”
October 28, 2015 @ 7:08 am
That’s not my point. My point is that if the song had been about that, killing the abusive mother and being “humorous” about it, it would NOT have been a hit song, and everyone would’ve been up in arms about killing the woman (whether she needed killing is another matter-to this day that heifer Susan Smith takes no responsibility for murdering her two kids. Let someone make a “humorous” song about doing away with Susan Smith through the death penalty, for instance, or her ex, the boys’ father, doing away with her, and watch everyone get up in arms about it. I wouldn’t be one of them). But it was all “hahaha hohoho” about killing a man. Sounded like he needed killing. But no one would be so blase if the tables were turned, in a song, and an abused man did away with his abusive ex. No one would be dancing like it was a hoe-down to that song.
It’s the double standard which pizzes me off, like those women on “The View” think g it was a laugh riot, what Lorena Bobbitt did to her husband. Oh yeah, mutilating a man is just a laugh a minute.
October 28, 2015 @ 1:44 pm
I mean, a song about children saving themselves after their abusive mother tracked them down, put the oldest in the hospital and kidnapped the others could be pretty great. That’s the analogue to Goodbye Earl.
Isbell has Yvette, about killing a classmate’s abusive father. Carrie has Blown Away, which went number one, about letting an abusive father die. Martina has Independence Day, about a murder-suicide.
Most of the songs about violence against women in country music are about murdering your cheating spouse.
October 26, 2015 @ 2:00 pm
It was around 1955 when Jean Shepard sang: “The men ain’t worth two whoops and a holler, they’re lower than a hound. I hope they croak, it ain’t no joke: they’re the lowest thing in town”.
So you might want to reconsider what you just said. Miranda and Carrie didn’t start nothing at all.
October 26, 2015 @ 2:22 pm
Angelo, Jean Shepard didn’t start the trend. She just did one song about it, one and done and that was it. Almost every other song by Miranda (and carrie has done her fair share too) of “getting revenge” songs. Melissa pointed out what I was trying to say is that is overdone and played out
October 26, 2015 @ 2:33 pm
Jean had other songs like that, such as “The Root of All Evil (Is A Man)”. And what about Loretta’s revenge songs such as Fist City.
Female country music is full of songs like this since the 50’s.
October 27, 2015 @ 8:37 am
And Loretta herself has said in plain (Appalachian accented) English that she didn’t consider herself a “women’s libber” (that was the phrase of the day, rather than “feminist”), she considered herself a humanist. She was taking a viewpoint that hadn’t been taken before, in country music.
October 26, 2015 @ 8:19 pm
Wow, if those lyrics were flipped around today and a male country singer sang them, he would be destroyed by social media. I’m pretty far from being a bleeding heart, crazed social justice warrior, special snowflake, but those lyrics are pure hate.
October 27, 2015 @ 8:32 am
Jean Shepard was talking about double standards more than “revenge”. I recently read about an interview she did as late as the Seventies where she said (paraphrasing) “Yes, it’s still a man’s world in a lot of ways, but in a lot of ways, I like that it’s still a man’s world”. You’ll find the interview in a book called “Finding Her Voice” about women in country music. Good book from a historic standpoint, though I didn’t agree with the leftist/lib take of the author.
October 26, 2015 @ 1:21 pm
Although very critical, great review. I personally love this album, but that’s my opinion. I’m glad you were very honest though. I have a question for you Trigger… How would you rank all 5 of Carrie’s studio albums? Thanks
October 26, 2015 @ 1:37 pm
I appreciate the interest Alex, but I would have to go back and review them individually. Giving snap opinions in a comments section can get you in trouble, especially when there’s already been a little controversy. But I just want to say I’ve given Carrie numerous positive reviews in the past for singles, and I look forward to reviewing future albums with the hope they impress me more than this one.
October 26, 2015 @ 2:19 pm
I listened to this album this morning (before coming here to read your review, because I kinda guessed it would be up by today) and thought the EXACT same things that you did. I am very anti-drum machines and any sort of EDM in Country music and was a bit disappointed to hear that throughout this album. Also very disappointed to hear elements of bro-country rapping in a few tunes. Not a good look for her. I was also under the impression that this album was going to be a bit more organic and personal in terms of compositions and songwriting, respectfully. This was not her best effort overall. This is also coming from a lifelong Carrie fan who voted for her since day 1 on AI. I think she tried to match the mainstream sound-wise in order to relate to what is currently hot on the radio these days.
Blown Away set her apart from many chick Country singers, but this album puts her back on the same level.
October 26, 2015 @ 2:32 pm
Speaking of fans getting their feelings hurt, I wonder how many of them are millenials (most or all?). To me this generation, who grew up with an “everyone-gets-a-trophy-so-no-one-will-lose-self-esteem” mentality, has a hard time accepting other people’s viewpoints. Just my opinion, of course.
October 26, 2015 @ 3:18 pm
Trigger- allow me if you will to try and prove there are Carrie fans out there who can have a reasonable conversation on a review.
Now I think a lot of the fans who have responded here don’t necessarily look at your site except when it comes to Carrie. I read almost everything you write, and can appreciate the positive things you’ve had to say about her, and much of it has been of her more recent music. Anyone freaking out about Trigger and his supposed hate for Carrie, I urge you to read the review of Something in the Water, and the separate article about it’s effect on country music and helping begin to right the ship of radio, if you will. I could be wrong, but from what I’ve gathered over the years is that you see a lot of potential in her and her talent, and are waiting for material that can match that talent, and in a very positive way for the genre. (My apologies if I got that incorrect). This isn’t an uncommon statement from reviewers either.
I respectfully disagree with many of your comments on Storyteller, but I definitely understand where people could see this as a fairly weak, potentially one-dimensional album. But to me, the stories here are far more developed than most anything she’s ever put out, and I am very happy about that. While the ‘badass’ stories may seem overblown and tireless, I think they are far more creatively done here than I’ve heard in the mainstream in a while, and it seems like Carrie (and the other songwriters) still weave in at least some type of social commentary as she has often done before, such as in Church Bells with the abuse.
I do agree with you that overall, there’s too much happening song after song production wise. It’s a bit too noisy for my taste, and I generally would like to see the music stripped back more to let her voice have the spotlight rather than compete with it. Like I’ll Never Love You Again, The Girl You Think I Am, and What I Never Knew I Always Wanted might be three of the best songs she’s ever recorded. Actually on this album as a whole, I think she connects more consistently to the music then before. Apart from a couple of songs, I feel like I believe her more now than in the past and she is singing with more conviction and emotion, although I know other people above don’t feel the same.
Overall, from top to bottom this might actually be my favorite album of hers. I think it is the most consistent, and there aren’t any pointless fillers like in each of the previous albums, at least to me. It also has some of my favorite songs of hers ever, and while the comparison to Miranda is possible to an extent, I think potentially the singles they release could have a pretty positive effect on country radio, and will still very much sound like Carrie (because I think ‘Smoke Break’ is by far musically the closest to Miranda).
It’s been interesting to watch how she grows musically, and the audience’s response to it. I remember when Something in the Water came out, while mostly positives were heard, there were people still tired of her inspirational/faith based, too polished sound, and complained that it was too predictable. Now she has more grit and less of those songs, and people want it back. I am excited to see what they choose as singles, and your reviews of them Trigger, because I think there are a few exceptional songs on this record that have the potentially to continue to impact country radio the way her last two did. But again, a good, thoughtful review that I hope for your sake can keep some sanity in the comments!!!
October 26, 2015 @ 4:12 pm
Agree! Thanks for this. It was starting to get ugly. I was called a fangurl… wrong age/wrong gender….. ha ha ha……!!!!
October 26, 2015 @ 5:31 pm
Well, you seem pretty immature for your /age/.
October 27, 2015 @ 10:58 am
…you don’t know my age…..what is wrong…?
October 26, 2015 @ 7:45 pm
Thanks for your thoughts and insight Rachel.
October 26, 2015 @ 5:31 pm
Storyteller is terrible. Keep telling yourselves that it’s good, nobody cares.
October 26, 2015 @ 8:22 pm
All of these females murdering men songs are getting tiresome as tunes with pickup trucks. At least, the truck songs don’t drown me in despair.
October 27, 2015 @ 12:30 am
The best thing to come from this album is the Smoke Break video.
October 27, 2015 @ 4:45 am
People getting riled up over this review must not read Trigger often.
He lives to be sarcastic and highly critical of mainstream music, though he admits when he likes something even someone he doesn’t like does. It’s fair and it’s his opinion. Who cares?
A site that calls itself saving country music and doesn’t review George Strait’s album is a bit strange to me. Trigger has gone on his own comment section rants about why he won’t (or hasn’t yet) reviewed the album, something about too little notice and not enough money to buy a 12 dollar album. Whatever.
Regarding Carrie, I think she has a phenomenal voice, as do even the harshest of critics. I’m not necessarily a big Carrie Underwood fan, but I recognize her vocal ability, which is superior to almost every other female country singer. Alison Krauss is really the only other female vocalist I can think of that is rarely, if ever, off tune, and that’s still an important quality of a singer, whether or not they sing loud. Her vibrato does seem to be overpowering a lot of the time.
There’s a line that has always bothered me.
In “before he cheats”, the line “I might’ve saved a little trouble for the next girl, cause the next time that he cheats you know it won’t be on me”, is contradictory. It implies that because it won’t be on me, the next girl is saved, which is false. I understand what she’s attempting to say, but she actually caused trouble for the next girl by removing herself. Or, she saved the next girl trouble by making him think twice about cheating. But she didn’t save the next girl trouble by ensuring the next time he cheats it won’t be on her (Carrie). Another way of saying that line is “because the next time that he cheats, it will be on her (the next girl)”.
If she really saved the next girl trouble, there won’t be a next time that he cheats.
Anyway, that’s random but all the revenge talk got me to thinking about that line.
Haven’t heard this album yet, but I’m going to hear it one song at a time in the radio, as I don’t care enough about Carrie to buy it, in case anyone thinks I’m just another Carrie fanboy.
Back to George, Trig, I honestly don’t understand why you still refuse to review the New album. The whole thing is available for listen on YouTube. Are you just making the point that this is your site and you won’t bow to the demands of your readers, that you’ll review what you damn well please? We all get that, but George’s type of music should have a hand in saving country music, shouldn’t it? It just seems strange how you’ve taken this stand against reviewing the album when you have reviewed almost everything else that has come out, mainstream or not.
October 27, 2015 @ 9:48 am
Her tunes all sound the same, she seems to cover the same themes over & over as well… Pretty boring,we heard ya the first time so quit yodeling about women done wrong revenge songs.
I checked out Renegade ( which sounds familiar) till she screamed like a hyena and shut it off.
She should go pop, seems she is clueless when it comes to country music.
October 27, 2015 @ 7:20 pm
“Go” pop?
That suggests she’s ever been country.
October 27, 2015 @ 8:05 pm
How true lol
October 27, 2015 @ 10:03 am
The problem with this album is not the lyrics or the melodies.
The majority of the songs are about stories and describing events and are not generic nonsense. The melodies are also not bad.
The whole problem is with the production and mixing of the album. Right off the bat, there is a wall of sound that hits you and it rarely lets up for the rest of the album. Half way through I started getting a headache!
There is just so much going on in each song, it is distracting and hard to focus on any one particular element. It is like being hit with a torrent of water and I found it detracts greatly from the enjoyment of each song.
Underwood’s voice is undoubtedly great – but she should learn not to shout her way through each and every song! A bit of control, subtlety and variation in delivery would go along away to enhance the listening experience.
As for the album being more ‘twangy’ than anything she has done before – she must be listening to whole different album than the one I bought! I can not find a single trace of ‘twang’ anywhere – and I really did try!! It is hard to distinguish the production on this album from music released by Katy Perry. Now I actually enjoy some of Perry’s songs – but I never recall her calling it country or ‘twangy’!
Overall very disappointing.
It would be great to see one of the major stars of country music today, just taking the plunge and producing an authentic country album – it would be very interesting to see what would happen!!
Musgraves Plays the Apollo; Prayers for Joey Feek; Don Henley on Austin City Limits | Country California
October 27, 2015 @ 10:59 am
[…] Saving Country Music rated Carrie”™s new album 4/10. […]
October 27, 2015 @ 12:09 pm
I find all the criticism of the review to be rather amusing here. I actually found this site a while back through a co-worker who was pointing out an Eric Church review to me. Although more a fan of traditional country than current, I’ve enjoyed Church for some time and was rather aggravated by Trig’s no-holds barred review of an album I had enjoyed. From there, I would have written Trigger and SCM off, but I spent a bit more time reading some other articles on the site. I found that while I disagreed with Trigger’s opinion on Church, that I had more common ground than not in other articles. Most importantly, I found the writing to be entertaining and the musical suggestions to be immensely valuable.
Long story short, it’s too easy for people to jump to a knee jerk conclusion when they feel that their preferences are under attack, but if they can look past that, it’s never a bad thing to engage oneself with some contrary opinions.
October 27, 2015 @ 1:24 pm
I want people to be able to come here and feel like THEY have a voice, and an outlet to share their opinions as well, especially if they disagree with me. That’s the reason the comment sections here are the most robust in all of country media. What fun would it be if we all agreed? Instead we can all voice our opinions, try to understand the perspectives of others, and sometimes find common ground where we didn’t know it existed.
October 27, 2015 @ 8:17 pm
I’ll buy this cd anyway.
October 27, 2015 @ 8:58 pm
Trigger,
I agree we all have opinions, I totally respect you for that. The problem I have with your review is you comparing CarrieUnderwood with other artists. You were reviewing her album so that should have been your focus .Next time you review albums focus on the artist instead of comparing with others.
Storyteller is the best album in my opinion.
October 28, 2015 @ 12:57 am
I don’t agree with a lot of your views, but I usually respect them because I think you make an effort to be fair and you’re just interested in “fixing” the current sad state of country music.
Unfortunately, I don’t believe this review was fair. I’d even go so far as to call it lazy, especially compared to your usual efforts. The problem with Storyteller isn’t that the songs are all the same — it’s that they’re all vastly different from one another. The only commonality the songs share is a strong female protagonist. A grand total of two songs on the album are explicitly about revenge (Dirty Laundry and Church Bells) and one of those songs could arguably be simple self-defense (though obviously not in the legal sense). How many of these girls are badass? That’s subjective, I suppose. I don’t think most people would categorize a woman who poisoned the man who beat her half to death as “badass,” nor the woman in Heartbeat, Smoke Break, Like I’ll Never Love You Again, Chaser, Relapse, Clock Don’t Stop, The Girl You Think I Am, or What I Never Knew I Always Wanted.
The album examines the different shades of strength in a woman. Renegade Runaway is the opening message not to expect these women to act the way women are expected to act. Women are expected to conceal indiscretions, but the woman in DL aired it all out and accepted she had nothing to be ashamed of. The woman in CB is seizing control back from her so-called Prince Charming. The woman in Heartbeat and LINLYA is displaying sexual confidence (which is not expressed in mainstream in any flattering way to women). In Chaser, the woman is letting go of someone. In TGYTIA, the girl is drawing strength from her father’s idealized image of her.
Smoke Break, Relapse, and WINKIAW are the flip side to this in that they display humanity and weakness. The woman in Smoke Break needs to indulge in a vice every once in a while to get by. The woman in Relapse is in total denial of her weakness. The woman in WINKIAW (Carrie) is very similar to the Renegade Runaway except that she’s accepted her humanity by giving her heart to Mike and Isaiah.
CCA, MX, and CDS are the songs that don’t fit, but the former two are amazing enough songs that break the mold of what’s on radio right now, and they’re “stories.” CCA is making social commentary in a humorous way.
I also don’t understand this dichotomy people have set up with regard to fantasy vs reality. With the possible exceptions of RR*, DL, and CCA, all of these songs happen in real life regularly, and most happen to the typical listener even. Is this about it not happening to Carrie?
Whether or not you think the album was executed well is totally up to you, and I’m ready to say it’s not her best album (though, again, for the exact opposite reason). I just find it rather inaccurate to call it all “revenge”/”badass” songs when only two songs (arguably one) fall into the former category and most of the songs fall on a broad spectrum in the latter category. I also raise an eyebrow at the unnecessary Miranda/Carrie bit (I know you’re not biased toward either woman but it seemed like flame bait).
* I’d argue RR isn’t supposed to be taken absolutely literally and this type of woman IS commonly found irl, but that’s not how the song is being marketed, so the escapist argument is equally valid.
October 28, 2015 @ 8:40 pm
Nicole,
Thanks for sharing your insight and perspective. With all you’ve said here, it’s still my opinion that it is just a handful of songs on this album that are NOT “badass” songs. And of course this opinion is subjective, but that’s my opinion, and I thought I laid out pretty specifically why. I think the difference in out perspectives can be explained in this portion of the review:
“Many female country pop fans and Carrie Underwood fans will love this album, and will probably say that males aren”™t right to judge it, or will say those who don”™t like it are downright stupid for not “getting it,” like what happened when Carrie Underwood released “Smoke Break” and some decided to take the smoking and drinking in the song literal. One thing is for sure: this is gender music.
I do believe this is gender, and that is what makes it so polarizing. If you look at a lot of the commenters here who say they don’t like this album, they are men. Does that mean they don’t understand the album, or are bias against it? No, it means they are men, and as they listen to these songs they say to themselves, “What’s the other side of the story?”
In my opinion, great music appeals to everyone equally, man or woman, old or young. I didn’t listen to Kacey Musgraves album and not get it because I wasn’t a woman. If you want to talk about the virtues of the feminine perspective in country music, then you can’t isolate it, you have to figure out how to make it appeal to more people. And frankly, I think with the poor sales performance of this album so far compared to Carrie’s previous records, I think there’s an appeal issue here because of the gender slant of the music.
“Something in the Water” was an amazing song because it didn’t matter who you were, you could get sucked into it. Even if you were a man, an atheist, whatever. That is what “Storyteller” is missing. She’s only telling her “stories” to half the audience.
And by the way, these are the same concerns I’ve voiced towards male-oriented music in the past. Music should be for everyone.
October 30, 2015 @ 8:37 am
Trigger: “And frankly, I think with the poor sales performance of this album so far compared to Carrie”™s previous records, I think there”™s an appeal issue here because of the gender slant of the music. “
With all due respect, you can’t possibly have thought this point through if you’re trying to make a straight-faced argument that the gender slant of Storyteller is affecting sales relative to an album that led off with “Good Girl” (a double platinum lead single that warned a woman off a no-good man), “Blown Away” (a triple platinum, Grammy-winning single in which a daughter who had suffered abuse at the hands of her drunk father let him die in a tornado), and “Two Black Cadillacs” (a platinum single in which a wife and mistress conspire to kill the man who was cheating on them both). On the album before that, Carrie led off with another double platinum single, “Cowboy Casanova,” also a warning song about no-good men. By contrast, “Smoke Break” is as inclusive a single as she has had on gender terms.
Moreover, based on the current numbers from HDD, the 1st week sales dropoff for Carrie’s current album compared to her previous album matches (and may actually be slightly lower) than the 1st week sales dropoff for Luke’s current album compared to his previous album. It’s silly to ignore the market and to ignore the fact that Carrie’s lead single was a shift in sound compared to her most recent singles *and* a shift towards a more adult orientation relative to the current country market.
Carrie has stated (when she launched her women’s activewear line), and it is not much of a secret, that she primarily sells albums to women. And that’s not just because the music market is primarily driven by women.
Trigger: “And by the way, these are the same concerns I”™ve voiced towards male-oriented music in the past. Music should be for everyone.”
We’ll have to agree to disagree with your devaluation of the specific cultural contexts experienced by women and by various minorities. But I also have to point out that your logic undermines the underpinnings and roots of country music, which grew as an expression of the specific cultural experience of rural America. If music should be for everyone, then it’s not logically consistent to be worried about the urbanization of country.
There are other problems with the argument you are making here, including the fact that, due to conditioning & familiarity issues within the country format, it is well-established that female listeners are more receptive to music from males than male listeners are to music from females, and that is regardless of whether we’re talking about music by Kacey Musgraves or Carrie Underwood or Miranda Lambert or Lee Ann Womack or Sunny Sweeney or whomever. We have not yet undone those societal stereotypes and pressures that hold men back from identifying with female voices, that treat men as less manly if they love female songs. Until we do, until we get to the point where we break down even the unconscious prejudices against the female point of view, I think it is important to continue to assert specifically female points of view in the marketplace.
October 30, 2015 @ 8:58 am
Trigger: I think Windmills made a good point, but I don”™t think that telling a story about poisoning your husband and getting away with it is “social commentary.” Okay, so her husband was abusive, but why? I hate to psychoanalyze a fictitious story, but maybe he was abusive because she was the type who would surreptitiously murder him instead of calling authorities, documenting the abuse, divorcing him, etc. etc. That”™s what makes the leading lady of the story a “badass” as opposed to a martyr or social crusader. At least in my opinion.
The idea that “Church Bells” involves an abused woman killing her abusive husband is why the song qualifies as social commentary is about as strawish as straw men get. As I pointed out earlier, there is considerably more to the song that qualifies it as such. Carrie herself has referred to the woman in “Church Bells” as “Fancy’s little sister,” which speaks to her acknowledgement of the social climber aspect of what the woman did in marrying the rich man (the social climber aspect also turns up in the second verse via Junior League parties and country club dinners). So it’s not like this woman is ever celebrated as a blameless paragon of virtue. We hear about the woman keeping up appearances and seeking help through prayer at church, but evidently finding none. And again, the backdrop of the church setting for the second and third verses speaks to the hypocrisy and failure that we know goes on within those walls.
I would argue that there is no better person in mainstream music than Carrie to deliver these layers precisely because she is so devout in her beliefs, but doesn’t let that interfere with the reality of the human institutions constructed to promote them.
The thing about both “Church Bells” and before it, “Two Black Cadillacs,” is that while there are no apologies made for the murders, neither song shies away from the fact that the women in the songs are doing something wrong and the idea that there is supposed to be some larger moral compass at work. Neither song treats the women as “badasses.” Neither song treats them as “victims” in the end, either. These aren’t songs designed to elicit our sympathy, per se. They are both songs designed to make us confront wrongs heaped upon wrongs.
November 2, 2015 @ 8:30 am
Hey Trigger… I went back and considered the lyrics of Carrie’s song “Smoke Break” and discovered something that is troubling to me. In the second verse of the song, Carrie is singing about a big-city, hard working man who is the first generation to attend college instead of drive a tractor (farming). In the second part of verse two (same verse), she refers to doing something good that matters. Is Carrie suggesting that farming doesn’t matter? If so, does she not understand that farming is where our food comes from. Is Carrie actually trashing farmers in this song? If so, this is not cool! There seems to be a common theme which runs through “todays” so called “country” music and that is a theme of trashing anything and everything which is (was) a part of what made of the totality of what we’ve always known as country music. If this is what is actually happening in this song, then it is despicable. I’m getting sick and tired of modern “country” artists trashing that which made country music great-real.
January 13, 2016 @ 12:34 pm
Wow, that’s a stretch. The line is “it’s hard to be a good son, good man, do something good that matters”. That in no way is the man saying that farming doesn’t matter. It could just as easily be interpreted as – he has gone to college, gotten a good job, climbed the ladder, and realized how hard it is to actually do something “good that matters” in the corporate world. It is no way, shape, or form, a disparagement of farming life. It is just saying that he was the first in his family to choose to do something different and he is struggling with that “different” life and making his life mean something.
November 7, 2015 @ 9:01 am
I thought Carrie will continue to expand her sound because Blown Away is a career high in terms of her artistic merits. That album also brought her two Grammies in 2013. Something in the Water and Little Toy Guns are also continuations of her stride with strong singles. I listened to Storyteller this day expecting a better version of Blown Away and I am not quite sure what to say after I finished it. The lyrics got meat this time and she never sounded better during the quieter times of this album but the production reminds me of her Carnival Ride days – too loud and too polished. Is this country? I thought the majority of the songs was pop rock with some country elements being sporadically infused.
I am also not too happy with the hook of these songs. Sure, she has fans to propel each of these songs to top five of Hot Country Songs but… I thought the melody is too dull this time for a Carrie Underwood album. I find Clocks and Like I’ll Never Love You Again to be really catchy but are nowhere as catchy with Blown Away’s dullest tracks. I wouldn’t bother commenting with Trigger’s comparison of Carrie and MirLam but I kind of agree with his rating.
November 17, 2015 @ 10:11 am
Forgettable pop music melodically weak , overproduced and trendy .
November 24, 2015 @ 7:01 am
I can agree that this album is a definite departure and change from her earlier albums and yet for some reason, its also got a lot of replay value for me. Its something different and experimented for Carrie Underwood. While I love her gospel and good girl next door, I also like when she sings about other topics that not necessarily have anything to do with real life..like the review, its all just fantasy based and I like it. The production value is also top notched. Definitely one of my favorite Underwood album. Of course, it doesn’t beat Carnival Ride but its definitely a close second!
January 24, 2016 @ 11:07 am
I love Carrie’s singing and most of her songs. Blown Away song did not appeal to me. Too much screaming. Storyteller was an enormous let down. I did not like 1 song at all. I have purchased most of her songs until now. I’m not a fan of Miranda Lambert. Not a huge fan of country music as a whole. I don’t care for whang or twang. Maybe, why I don’t care for Miranda. House that Build Me was great. I love Shania Twain. Have been a supporter of Carrie since her start. But, I cannot support this album at all. I’ve tried to give it a long try and absorb the lyrics and see the stories. But, it is unenjoyable. Very sorry to feel that way.
April 9, 2016 @ 8:53 am
They say the litmus test ( campfire test ) for a strong song is that it can be played and sung with just an acoustic guitar ….it can be stripped down to its essence and still hold up and deliver emotionally .
Carrie Underwood has an amazing voice . I don’t think anyone would question that fact . Whether you LIKE her voice or not is an entirely different subject , of course. I think Carrie is a great country singer . She can hit the notes , she can emote and she can evoke emotion from a listener . However I think she does herself a disservice cow-towing to the song choicesfor the sonic and stylistic trend-chasing of mainstream radio . Her songs , albeit substance-driven in most cases , are overblown production messes and force her to compete in vocal volume and ranges that she should not have to with THAT kind of a gift . I believe that if you were to strip down those vocal -burying productions , she could sing in a more comfortable key where her lower range could be heard and work for her while at the same time retaining that upper register power without those regular forays into the Carriesphere . Simple …right ?. However , I also believe that if you subjected many of those songs to the ‘ campfire test ‘ stripped down to just Carrie and a guitar , the lack of melody and clutter created by unnecessary over-written lyrics would be more apparent and annoying than they already are . Her latest single …’ Heartbeat ” is a beat-around-the-bush exercise in vocal pyrotechnics and the perfect example , in my opinion , of what I’m suggesting above. Too much, too high a register , too loud , too congested and too many words with very little dynamic – an exhausting expereince for a listener to commit to emotionally . It takes forever to reach the title and I’d suggest that half the listeners would have , at the very least , turned it down if not tuned it out by that point . THIS is a song that would not stand up to the campfire test …It is all about in-your-face- vocal syncopation , generic forced ‘ melody ‘ and wall-of-noise production to appease commercial radio and rock arena venues . Can’t we just hear a Carrie record that showcases her vocals in a way that she doesn’t need to fight the production for space ? Can’t we HEAR the message in the song and not in the drums and guitar-based over-the-top arrangements ?
September 11, 2016 @ 4:45 pm
As a fan of Carrie Underwood, I can’t really say I agree with this review, but I can see where you are coming from in plenty of points. While the revenge themes can get pretty tiring, Carrie can at least get creative with them, like with Dirty Laundry and Church Bells. Granted, I do feel that Mexico and Relapse are somewhat fillers and that songs like Heartbeat are a little too pop, but they are still have redeeming qualities. For me, Choctaw County Affair, The Girl You Think I Am, and What I Never Knew I Always Wanted are the highlights of this album.
Also, I don’t think this album can be compared to Bro-Country. A lot of bro-country songs contain dumb lyrics like “Baby, you a song” or “Hey, girl” along with the entire songs being very cringe worthy. Overall, my score for Storyteller would be 1 & 3/4 Guns Up (8.5/10).
May 17, 2017 @ 1:08 pm
Carrie Underwood’s song “Dirty Laundry” is one more death knell into the heart of country music. A song that belongs on a hip hop station and absolutely has no business whatsoever belonging in the country genre. But who cares, She’s attractive and blonde and that’s all that matters right?
July 27, 2017 @ 9:14 am
The song “Dirty Laundry” = Carrie Underwood repetitiously yelling “a whoa whoa whoa…a whoa whoa whoa the entire song… Gives you a migraine headache.