CARRIE UNDERWOOD

Some Hearts—Arista 82876-71197-2

Tracks: Wasted; Don’t Forget To Remember Me; Some Hearts; Jesus, Take The Wheel; The Night Before (Life Goes On); Lessons Learned; Before He Cheats; Starts With Goodbye; I Just Can’t Live A Lie; We’re Yng And Beautiful; That’s Where It Is; Whenever You Remember; I Ain’t In Checotah Anymore. Bonus track: inside Your Heaven.

Carnival Ride—Arista 88697-11221-2

Tracks: Flat On The Floor; All-American Girl; So Small; Just A Dream; Get Out Of This Town; Crazy Dreams; I Know You Won’t; Last Name; You Won’t Find This; I Told You So; The More Boys I Meet; Twisted; Wheel Of The World.

I am so pleased that Arista Records have decided to release Carrie Underwood’s first two albums in Britain at a budget price. It will most certainly test the selling power and acceptability of this talented young lady on this side of the pond and hopefully take the modern country music scene to a new level of acceptance away from the dyed in the wool ancient cynics who bleat about the past and how it was better.

I accept that progression does not mean better but surly stagnation is not the answer to improvement? Each and every era in most kinds of music, including country music, has seen change and each and every change has seen new and younger performers emerge to challenge what has gone before. In every case only the strongest have survived mainly because of their willingness to adapt. This is what makes legends along with the character of the person and the power of the publicity machine.

Without digressing too far, in many ways Carrie Underwood, and many of today’s modern performers within country music, have broken the mould by using the power of modern technology and the medium of mass communication to gain popularity rather than the old maxim of simply paying their dues in the traditional country music way. The thing is that it’s working like it or not! I feel it’s about time that country and other specialist music learned from pop and rock in marketing techniques like Garth, Shania, and Toby. And others have done with success.

The release of Some Hearts and Carnival Ride on budget priced albums by an American country music star who is still fresh in the minds of the British market through her success on the TV show American Idol is a clever strategy even though it does not match the Brit pop band McFly with their giving away a brand new album with a Sunday newspaper.

As many of you will know, Carrie Underwood was born in Muskogee and raised in Checotah, Oklahoma, and first found fame by winning American Idol in May 2005, three years ago!

She is managed by the show creator, a Brit, Simon Fuller of Spice Girls and David Beckham fame. She signed to Arista Records and in November 2005 released Some Hearts which to date has sold more than seven million copies. It is the fastest selling debut album in the history of country music and the biggest selling solo female album in country music. The album yielded three chart topping hits ,n America. “Jesus Take The Wheel”, “Wasted” and her biggest hit to date “Before He Cheats”.

Her second album Carnival Ride released in October 2007 has to date sold more than three million copies and produced three more chart toppers “So Small”,  “All-American Girl” and “Last Name”. In less than three years of stardom Carrie Underwood has received more than 60 major industry awards and been inducted as a member into the Grand Ole Opry on May 10^th 2008. Not bad going for a small town Oklahoma farmer’s daughter with a degree in mass communication, whose mother took her for a television audition in St Louis less than four years ago and the rest is now modern country music history.

Just after she signed her recording contract I saw Carrie make her American country music festival debut at Country Fever in Oklahoma. She drew the biggest gate of the whole festival and the partisan home crowd went wild at her performance. The 100 Brits on our trip failed to see or understand what all the fuss was about. The general consensus between us was more rock than country, but in retrospect this was her first major stage festival show and since then her performance and band have been honed more towards her insistence of being country rather than rock. Off the record I have read reports of massive traffic jams leaving America country music festivals since then, some more than two hour long.

In honesty I have enjoyed listening to both of these albums as much as seeing her win American Idol and I can only recommend them to the collection of both the old and potentially new British fans. Carrie Underwood is a remarkably young woman who as gone a long way in country music in a few short years and long may this continue.

By BRIAN AHERN