Carrie Underwood's Country 'Carnival'

The critics have been waiting to see if it was all a fluke. The tunesmiths have been feverishly twanging away, searching for just the right dynamics. The studio lights have been burning into the wee hours. And finally, it's time. Carrie Underwood is back with a second batch of belters and ballads about country life on her new album, Carnival Ride.

Now, just in case you're not up on former TV reality show winners, let me fill you in. Carrie Underwood is a pretty 24-year-old who stepped away from her Oklahoma farm and into the public spotlight (and the viewers' music-lovin' hearts) by outlasting 100,000 competitors and becoming the American Idol champ of 2005.

Pretty exciting stuff. But with the creation of her first album, Some Hearts, things really crossed over into dream-come-true territory. Dedicated fans snatched up nearly 6 million copies of the CD—which not only made Carrie the most successful Idol contestant to date, but turned that debut album into the second-best-selling release of any kind (separated from the top notch by a mere 70,000 units) in the last two years.

On top of that, the talented golden-haired gal has been on nearly every magazine cover and talk show set imaginable—in between collecting two Grammys, two CMA awards, five Academy of Country Music awards, two People's Choice awards and an American Music award.

Dissatisfied Doubters
That's not to say there haven't been a few cloudy days for the sunny, small-town girl. Controversy reared its head in the form of complaints that she was too pop-sounding. Others groused that she never paid the years of "dues" it takes to join the authentic pro ranks. Those sentiments were punctuated, if only mockingly, by Wynonna Judd's public lumping of Carrie into a group of "vanilla" artists, and Faith Hill's shocked expression when the young songstress took CMA's Female Vocalist of the Year. (Hill's incredulous "What?!" became a buzz topic on message boards and blogs, and video footage of her dismay has been viewed on YouTube over 6 million times.)

In an Entertainment Weekly interview, though, Carrie shrugged off the critics and voiced her thoughts on the subject: "On Top-40 stations, nobody cares that you'll have Fergie next to 50 Cent. They're different. Why can't you have me next to somebody that's more traditional country? You can call me 'not country' until your face is blue, but I sing country music."

And she's hoping Carnival Ride will prove her point.

Carrie's Country
From the opening track's banjo- and fiddle-laden romp to the final cut's orchestral grandness, Underwood self-assuredly hits her mark with full-throated vocals that swoop, trill and soar. She spurs listeners to face the long odds of life and chase their "Crazy Dreams," and points out that a mountain of troubles can sometimes be nothing more than a "grain of sand" when you hold onto faith and get things in perspective ("So Small").

Other positive messages include a single girl sticking to her high standards while pushing away aggressive, self-centered boys, and demanding someone who's warm, loyal and "like the ones that mean everything to me" on "The More Boys I Meet." "Just a Dream" empathizes with those who've lost loved ones through an ultimate sacrifice on the battlefield. And the sweet "All-American Girl" displays a little snapshot of small-town life and love.

The beautiful "Wheel of the World" contains the line: "God put us here on this carnival ride/We close our eyes never knowing where it will take us." It's a sentiment the singer says sums up her thoughts about the whirlwind of success that has swept through her life.

Carnival Capers
Trudging around to the other side of the barn, Carrie's desire to dredge her country soul has also led her to songs that aren't so uplifting. "Last Name," for example, tells the tale of a drunken fling with a complete stranger that ends up as a quick Las Vegas marriage ("Oh my Mama would be so ashamed"). The remaining tunes dwell on lost loves and romantic miscues. "Twisted" finds a girl making choices that she knows are stupid ("I'm gonna love you even if it's wrong"). "I Know You Won't" laments a loved one's lies. And a naive teen on "Get Out of This Town" thinks that if she and her boyfriend run away together they'll find happiness ("If we leave tonight and drive fast enough/All our troubles will be just like us/Long gone baby").

Those few shaky tracks didn't stop fans from buying over half-a-million copies of Carnival Ride its first week out. And that means Carrie has scored the best out-of-the-box sales of any female artist in 2007. So it seems the word fluke is no longer in the running when it comes to describing the irrepressible Miss Underwood. County fair-style ups and downs and twists and turns, however, still are, and should be considered before pulling down the harness and settling into this country amusement.