Blown Away

 (382 customer reviews)

Carrie Underwood has taken almost two and a half years between Blown Away and her very fine Play On album of 2009 and the break has paid off in spades. While many successful singers get caught re-making the same style songs that brought them their initial fame, Carrie has chosen to broaden her creative horizon and sonic landscape with some of the most original and provocative songs of her career. Producer Mark Bright is not afraid to paint outside the borders of country expectations with this masterfully crafted album. I am sure some country purists will cry fowl for taking some of the music to a decidedly pop direction, but its a highly individual effort that Carrie herself was intimately involved with having written eight of the 14 songs on this exquisite album.

Lets begin with the first song and single on the album, Good Girl, a country rocking co-write by the former American Idol Champion. While this song might be the closest thing that one might expect as a...Read more

On her most recent album, Blown Away, Carrie Underwood shows us the world of country music. She travels from traditional country to contemporary country to progressive country. This album serves up songs for people across the spectrum and should be lauded for it's diversity.

On the traditional side, Underwood provides the ballad Wine After Whiskey drawing the analogy between a regular relationship and the kind of love that is so strong that anything else seems "watered down". She continues down the traditional path with Thank God For Hometowns which touches on the nerves of what it feels like to go back home while also acknowledging a past desperation to go beyond one's hometown. The song embraces the listener as the hometown embraces the person returning. Forever Changed is a tenderly handled ballad about the story of one woman's life from marriage to birth to dementia. This is a painful topic yet Underwood sings about it with deep care and compassion that reflects a...Read more

I have to be honest. When I first listened to this album all the way through, just one week ago, I was feeling a little underwhelmed. Carrie's first three records were so dead on. I was not sure that her fourth album Blown Away was up to par. But the more I listened to it on my car stereo, the more it started to grow on me. I started to pay more attention to the lyrics and began to recite the melodies. Then, I slowly found myself reciting many of the tracks long after I had reached my destination.

"Two Black Cadillacs" was one that, once I really listen, it really caught my attention. Originally thinking that the song was about cars, I quickly learned that its meaning was far from that. Certainly the darkest song on her album, this song has the potential to be a single, that is if the world is ready for such a dark song from america's sweetheart.

Another favorite is "Good in Goodbye". A staple Carrie ballade, this track describes the bittersweet nature of...Read more