1. Why Walk When You Can Fly
2. House of Cards
3. Stones in the Road - Mary Chapin Carpenter, Carpenter, Mary-Cha
4. A Keeper for Every Flame
5. Tender When I Want to Be
6. Shut Up and Kiss Me
7. The Last Word
8. The End of My Pirate Days
9. John Doe No. 24
10. Jubilee
11. Outside Looking In
12. Where Time Stands Still
13. This Is Love
Amazon.com essential recording
The 1994 sequel to her mainstream country breakthrough on Come on Come On further underscores Mary Chapin Carpenter's true identity, more Ivy League folk rocker than new country cowgirl. Her coolly delivered, deeply felt songs include meditations on family, community, and social injustice without rant or cant, never more so than on the gently incisive midlife reflections of the title song, which filters historic milestones and childhood lessons through its delicate verses. Elsewhere, she sketches a heart-breaking, restrained speculation on the inner life of a blind, deaf mystery man ("John Doe No. 24") with the economy and detail of good short story. The set's many love songs are no less intelligent, emotionally authentic, or moving. Chapin Carpenter's elegant yet earthy alto is beautifully framed in the settings, coproduced with longtime collaborator John Jennings, that balance jangling guitars, rippling piano, occasional fiddle and crisp rhythm sections closer to the best of L.A. country rock than what normally emanates from Nashville. --Sam Sutherland
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Stones in the Road
- Audio CD: 0 pages (2008-02-01)
- Publisher: Sbme Special Mkts.
- Label: Sbme Special Mkts.
- Studio: Sbme Special Mkts.
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 29 reviews
- Sales Rank in Music: #37289
Avg. Customer Review:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Impressive! 2008-07-25
Comment: I don't even like country music, but I love this album! It has a lot of well-crafted, sing-along-able melodies, profound and moving lyrics, and simple but delightful instrumentation. It sounds like a cross between folk music and country music, combining the best of both genres.
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Feels like watching a PBS special about your own life 2007-11-16
Comment: This is one of my favorites. I have heard people compare parts of it to Warren Zevon or even The Indigo Girls, and I see a little Jimmy Buffett in there as well.
The mood is a little sadder here than in Come On, Come On, but it's still much more thoughtful than depressing.
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Customer Rating:
Summary: why walk when you can fly... 2007-08-10
Comment: You'll feel like flying after listening to this wonderful cd by Mary Chapin Carpenter. SHUT AND KISS ME was the big hit on this but it is filled with gems, HOUSE OF CARDS can kick start anyone's day. WHY WALK WHEN YOU CAN FLY is the lead song and it clearly sets the table for the enjoyable feel that this cd is. Beautifully crafted songs, distinctive voice. STONES IN THE ROAD is one you'll listen to over and over.
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Sublime 2006-12-14
Comment: MCC is a true artist. Everything she has done has built up to this pinnacle. She is truly one of the absolute best singer-songwriters in the world today, an absolute treasure.
This is one of those albums that just takes you to another level, another place. There is no way to categorize this music; it is just good listening! Every song is cohesive. Every song is its own story, and the entire album ties together so wonderfully.
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Customer Rating:
Summary: One of Mary Chapin Carpenter's Best Albums 2006-12-03
Comment: I thought I had reviewed "Stones in the Road" a long, long time ago. Don't ask me how I managed to skip writing a splendid review of one of fellow Brunonian Mary Chapin Carpenter's best albums. Here she offers a somewhat more somber, bleaker tone, than expressed in her earlier albums, "Shooting Straight in the Dark", and especially, "Come On Come On". Still, this works as a rather convincing, quite coherent body of work, replete with her eloquent, thoughtful lyrics and rich melodies, all of which were written solely by herself. In this regard, "Stones in the Road" is most reminiscient of Elton John's "The One", which should be regarded more for offering an entire album of excellent songs often thematically related to each other, than merely as an album which yielded a couple of great hit singles like "The One" and "The Last Song". My favorite song from Carpenter's 1994 album remains the title track "Stones in the Road", which is without question, among her finest ballads. But I also like a lot her feisty "Shut Up and Kiss Me", which owes more to her interest in honky tonk country music, than the otherwise predominantly folk/rock orientation of this album. "Stones in the Road" is yet another reason why I regard Mary Chapin Carpenter as one of our great country/folk songwriters, whom I compare favorably to both Nancy McCallion of The Mollys, that great Tucson, Arizona-based Celtic/country/Mexican band, and of course, Lucinda Williams, whose song "Passionate Kisses" was covered by Carpenter in her album "Come on Come On", and became one of Carpenter's greatest hits.
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Stones in the Road
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