Carrie Underwood | 4th Album Era | Part I

[neally]

Jul 18, 2011 1:31:10 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

I think when people say they want Carrie to record her 'Revolution' they don't mean they want a Miranda Lambert album with Carrie's name on it, they want an album that's going to get the critics attention and sound like it was created with quality over radio-friendliness in mind.

I like her music style just fine, but she won't be hurting anything by branching out. For one thing, I really want her to release an up-tempo single with a different subject matter than her past hits.

THIS !

[what]

For starters, Revolution is not the sole critically acclaimed album to ever be released by a female country musician. There are dozens of other albums out there that would not only better fit Carrie as a person but also better complement Carrie's musical identity. So, I really have no idea as to why some people feel the need to throw that album around in regards to Carrie's future endeavors.

i see your point typo. and not to single out anyone in particular, but ive seen in many forums/message boards, not just pulse, how revolution is being thrown around as the traditional country album, and how carrie should do something similar. did these people really hear the album? because honestly, i dont hear any traditional in revloution. i hear new country with outside influences done very excellentyl. just because it was praised doesnt mean its traditional. i guess its a misconception being thrown around that traditional = critically accliamed album. but ive heard some traditional country albums that suck hard.

anyway, if carrie is indeed going to go the traditional route in future albums, i can imagine her album will sound more towards trisha yearwood/leanne womack type, more than the sassy reba/miranda/gretchen. i never tire listening to trishas heaven, heartache.....i can imagine carrie pulling off a similar sounding album quite excellently.

[Deleted]

Jul 18, 2011 11:48:23 GMT -5 what said:

i never tire listening to trishas heaven, heartache.....i can imagine carrie pulling off a similar sounding album quite excellently.

I think I would like that very much. Good idea!

[misterscribbs]

I would LOVE a Trisha Yearwood-esque album from Carrie. I think if done right, it could be a masterpiece.

[boomer187]

This!! I love Trisha!!

[onebuffalo]

Jul 18, 2011 13:06:31 GMT -5 misterscribbs said:

I would LOVE a Trisha Yearwood-esque album from Carrie. I think if done right, it could be a masterpiece.

Carrie Underwood could nail She's In Love With The Boy.
P.S.: I was just thinking. They should do a duet together. It would be the Underwood/Yearwood duet!

[neally]

Jul 18, 2011 14:09:09 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Jul 18, 2011 13:06:31 GMT -5 misterscribbs said:

I would LOVE a Trisha Yearwood-esque album from Carrie. I think if done right, it could be a masterpiece.

Carrie Underwood could nail She's In Love With The Boy.
P.S.: I was just thinking. They should do a duet together. It would be the Underwood/Yearwood duet!

That would be so UNBELIEVABLE with the two best voices in country from the past few decades, IMO, on one song. Country radio would not be able to handle this !

Speaking of Trisha, my favourite albums of hers are her self-titled debut and 'Thinkin' About You'. I feel that only Carrie today could carve such required, subtle vocal inflections and expression so brilliantly like Trisha did back in the day. I hope that I get to hear a more traditional country album like one of those from Carrie before she retires, even moreso than a modern country/country-rock album like 'Revolution'.

Understanding that Carrie is very commercial, I feel that she has a large enough of a fanbase that she does not need to attempt to rehash the same sound as her previous uptempo singles, 'Cheats', 'Last Name', 'Casanova', 'Undo It'. I hope that Carrie moves beyond this sound and theme and can explore some more personal themes to her since she is a married woman and her boy-bashing anthems are less relevant to her life today. Don't get me wrong, I and probably many of her fans do want more Carrie anthems, but perhaps a break from this would be nice at this point, IMO. Although I hated 'Mama's Song' as a single and think the song is very weak, I give her big props for taking a risk of releasing this and 'Temporary Home' last era. It is this type of out-of-the-box mentality that I hope increases with each era.

[Typo]

Carrie & Mike this past weekend:

Jul 18, 2011 11:48:23 GMT -5 what said:

i see your point typo. and not to single out anyone in particular, but ive seen in many forums/message boards, not just pulse, how revolution is being thrown around as the traditional country album, and how carrie should do something similar. did these people really hear the album? because honestly, i dont hear any traditional in revloution. i hear new country with outside influences done very excellentyl. just because it was praised doesnt mean its traditional. i guess its a misconception being thrown around that traditional = critically accliamed album. but ive heard some traditional country albums that suck hard.

anyway, if carrie is indeed going to go the traditional route in future albums, i can imagine her album will sound more towards trisha yearwood/leanne womack type, more than the sassy reba/miranda/gretchen. i never tire listening to trishas heaven, heartache.....i can imagine carrie pulling off a similar sounding album quite excellently.

Yep. That's the true tea.

[Cody Wants Out...]

I can't help but be a little disappointed that her album may be coming out this fall instead of waiting till the first or second quarter of 2012.

As far as what type of album she should come out with this time around, I'll mostly accept anything that's different from what she's already done. Although I don't own any Trisha, Gretchen, Lee Ann or Reba albums, I'd be down with a mashup of those styles. I'd love to hear more upbeat songs in general since I can barely take an album that's half beat-driven songs and half ballads. Also, I wish we could hear songs of differing topics, even though she may have already done that with her past material.

My opinions on this past era (Play On) are kinda mixed, especially with the single choices.

• Cowboy Casanova was the perfect lead-in, although the high Hot 100 peak at #11 kinda scares me since it doesn't feel like her third biggest Hot 100 hit ever (excluding Inside Your Heaven). Not a bad video, either, but my expectations were a little higher.
  
• Temporary Home was kinda safe, imo, but I can see how it was even a slight risk for country radio. I knew it would go #1, in the end. It also had a very solid and well thought-out video; in fact, I still see it even now and again on TV, especially GAC.
  
• Undo It, also a seemingly safe bet, worked very well. The only thing I would pick on is the Hot 100 peak as I thought it could go even higher than #23. It probably should've scraped the top 20 there, but it's longevity in the top 30 made up for it. Now that I think of it, UI feels like a bigger hit than CC to me.
  
• Mama's Song......where should I begin? Not a very smart move on her part. As a matter of fact, I have a small fear that she may have pigeon-holed herself into only releasing songs of certain sounds and topics. I'm not freaking out yet, though. MS performed much, much better than I expected it to. Sounded pretty good on the radio, too; didn't think it would. Honestly, I think this should've fizzled out before going top 5 so she could think about what types of songs to release/record instead of having a GH compilation full of inspiring, family-loving, and man-bashing tunes (yes, I'm aware of Wasted, Just a Dream, and I Told You So). Although the vid seemed to be slightly personal, it was well thought-out, similarly to the vid of TH, and done wonders for her momentum at the time.
  

Although she's not in a topical rut as deep as Keith Urban, Martina McBride, and Darius Rucker are, she needs to switch it up some to avoid falling into such a place. I agree with most of everyone on here, too. Hope she puts some serious thought into this record! I want her to be successful!! (just like the rest of us)

[Typo]

A couple tweets today relating to the 4th album:

@chancieneal Not just anywhere do ya see Carrie Underwood in the Lounge of the place you write at every day... :) Can't wait for the new record.

@macwriter Songwriters like me... CARRIE UNDERWOOD, ON ARISTA IS LOOKING FOR MONSTER HIT SONGS, RECORDING IN AUGUST - wanna co-write?

[Deleted]

"Recording in August" sounds like a safe bet that the album will be out in the winter.

[dbhmr]

Jul 18, 2011 21:37:39 GMT -5 @14887fan said:

"Recording in August" sounds like a safe bet that the album will be out in the winter.

Does she really get albums done that fast? Recording in August, album in November? Her team is going to have to send Kelly's a memo.

[misterscribbs]

I don't feel like the recording process takes that long...I dunno. As much as I want an album ASAP, I do want her to take her time and make a great, solid album.

[countrygirl918]

Carrie finished recording "Play On" in mid-August and it was released November 3. With her being known as "one-take Carrie," I don't think the recording process takes that long for her. ;)

[carrieidol1]

With SH the entire album making process was 3 months. Granted there was no real songwriting stage yet as Carrie wasn't really involved with that. So I guess from that, you could assume that an album can be done in 3 months. Obviously this album is taking much longer, but the recording process itself shouldn't be any longer or shorter than it has been for the past three albums which seems to be under 3 months.

[Typo]

Carrie began recording Play On at the very beginning of June '09 with "Cowboy Casanova" getting a release come that September. We're talking a difference of two whole months this time around. So, yeah, I'm definitely not confident that we'll be getting an album this November.

However, I do get the feeling that they're going about the song selection process a little differently with this album. It seems like Carrie is determined to fulfill her vision, resulting in there already being quite a few songs that she feels must absolutely make the album. My point being that maybe they'll just fly right through the recording stage.

IDK, IDK. I'd think we would at least have a lead single come the CMAs, though. I just can't see them passing up on that promo.

[countrygirl918]

I think we'll have a lead single by mid-September, early October at the latest. Idk, it's just a feeling I have. I know Carrie has said multiple times that she wants to take her time with this one, but she does seem to have a very clear idea (although she's not sharing it with us yet) on what she wants this album to be, and has a plan on how to get it there.

Do we know if Carrie has officially been in the studio yet? She blogged about 3 weeks ago that she would be in the studio in the upcoming weeks, so I figured she would have already recorded a few things by now.

[Typo]

I don't think she's recorded anything, as of now. Her publishing company, Carrie-Okie Music, has yet to register anything over at BMI, she's not listed as performer on any new titles over at ASCAP, and there haven't been any sightings, tweets, or anything really suggesting that she's been recording in a studio. Plus she had that private event at that casino to attend last week & a wedding in Canada over the weekend. And, it sounds like she was busy with writing today. I'm thinking she'll begin recording next week, at the earliest.

That's just my thinking, though. Carrie should blog.

[Deleted]

Yeah, now that I think about it, I feel like the lead single probably won't drop until November, MAYBE late October. The album will probably come out in January. I can't really see her releasing an album in December, although I wouldn't mind it.

[desertfloods]

Lead single this year, with album release early next year sounds good for me. I don't see what the big fuss is among some fans that her album HAS to be released in time for Nov/Dec sales. There have been albums that did well outside of that release period. Plus with Carrie's stable core fanbase, I'm sure she'll survive with a good first week sales number.

I think a HUGE smash first single and good word of mouth of a highly-praised album creates more longevity and better hype for the album sales, than to rush something out just for year end. But hey, if Carrie could come out with an amazing album before 2012, I sure won't complain either lol.

[TFMachado]

Lady A dropped their Need You Now album early 2010 and it did really well in sales... christmas sales isn't everything... Carrie's new album will do well regardless of when it comes out...

[Living Legend]

She should release the album the week before Christmas. Can you imagine her massive opening week sales??!!!

[onebuffalo]

Jul 19, 2011 11:35:13 GMT -5 Living Legend said:

She should release the album the week before Christmas. Can you imagine her massive opening week sales??!!!

I would prefer Carrie Underwood's next CD to be released the first Tuesday in December. That way, you would have about a three week window to Christmas. Just to release the CD the week before Christmas would give the Underwood CD less time to pick up substantial sales. Then, if Arista plays their game right, the CD should sell pretty well after the new year.

[God]

OK so I'm officially following this era.

*has a seat*

[Stephen]

Jul 19, 2011 11:58:23 GMT -5 God said:

OK so I'm officially following this era.

*has a seat*

Better late than never, diosito.

[Deleted]

Jul 19, 2011 11:58:23 GMT -5 God said:

OK so I'm officially following this era.

*has a seat*

Welcome.

Anyways, I can see her releasing the album in December and having a single out in mid-Sept. It'd be perfect timing for the CMAs.

[what]

With SH the entire album making process was 3 months. Granted there was no real songwriting stage yet as Carrie wasn't really involved with that. So I guess from that, you could assume that an album can be done in 3 months. Obviously this album is taking much longer, but the recording process itself shouldn't be any longer or shorter than it has been for the past three albums which seems to be under 3 months.

sh is not a good comparison bec more than the songwriting part, its an ai debut album. ai debut albums are always rushed. thats why with 9 winners or so only a handful has been good/acceptable out of the gate.

[carrieidol1]

Jul 19, 2011 15:27:49 GMT -5 what said:

With SH the entire album making process was 3 months. Granted there was no real songwriting stage yet as Carrie wasn't really involved with that. So I guess from that, you could assume that an album can be done in 3 months. Obviously this album is taking much longer, but the recording process itself shouldn't be any longer or shorter than it has been for the past three albums which seems to be under 3 months.

sh is not a good comparison bec more than the songwriting part, its an ai debut album. ai debut albums are always rushed. thats why with 9 winners or so only a handful has been good/acceptable out of the gate.

Not comparing, just stating that the process can take less than three months. American Idol debut album or not, the process of recording can be done in a short amount of time. Yes the AI debut albums are rushed, but the successful ones go on to show that a great album can be made in a short amount of time. Taking a long time doesn't necessarily make an album good...

[Typo]

:awaiting the return of the Queen:

Jul 19, 2011 11:58:23 GMT -5 God said:

OK so I'm officially following this era.

*has a seat*

[what]

Jul 19, 2011 17:55:17 GMT -5 carrieidol1 said:

Not comparing, just stating that the process can take less than three months. American Idol debut album or not, the process of recording can be done in a short amount of time. Yes the AI debut albums are rushed, but the successful ones go on to show that a great album can be made in a short amount of time. Taking a long time doesn't necessarily make an album good...

i agree that a recording can be done in a very short amount of time. kristy lee cook and her 5-day album, anyone?

for me, sh as a rushed but successful album is more an abberation than the rule. everything fell into place with that album. cant say the same for the other ai debut albums, except for one or two. rushed and less than stellar are trademarks of ai debut albums. sh was lucky it was good.

and i agree that taking a long time doesnt mean the album will be good. but for me, in general, not just producing/recording album, anything rushed will more likely result into a less than stellar product. rushed term papers, rushed projects, rushed constructions, rushed movies, etc. more often in rushed projects, mistakes fall through the cracks that people fail to ntoice or even if they notice, dont bother to correct anymore bec of time constraints. in general, but not the absolute rule, projects that are done in a more calm manner and timing tend to turn out better...