Carrie Underwood’s Carnival Ride – Award Winning Albums Are Made Of This?

To qualify the title of this review, I did not watch that particular season of American Idol when Carrie won the competition, nor her new album “Carnival Ride” has won any awards yet – which can just be an eventuality. I do like her debut pop country album “Some Hearts” and that has won her a number of awards from Billboard to Grammy. Question is: is she getting better in this album?

I think it is a yes. The songs are all well crafted and it is hard to find a song that I do not like. All the songs stand out on their own and if I have to pick one that I like most, that would be “I Know You Won’t” or the title song “Wheel Of The World” perhaps (“Carnival Ride” appears in the lyrics of the last song). The video featured below is from her single “So Small” and it does convey an emotional story of a young girl and her parents beautifully well. In this album, you may notice that Carrie’s voice has grown stronger (through training I read) and the sustain of the ending notes is amazing just to listen to. Though some may not like this change in her technique, I do see where it may come from knowing that her favorite country singer is Martina McBride. Hopefully in her next album, she will be able to balance the lightness and strength of her voice better. If you are open to pop country music (such as Faith Hill), you may want to give this album a try.