This article is about the album by Carrie Underwood. For the structures used in amusement parks and carnivals, see Amusement ride. Carnival Ride is the second studio album from American country pop artist Carrie Underwood. It was released in the United States on October 23, 2007.[1][2] It has been certified 2× Multi-Platinum by the RIAA.[3] The album includes the #1 country singles "So Small", "All-American Girl" and "Last Name", which are all co-wrote by Underwood. The album debuted at #1 on the US Billboard 200 Chart selling 527,000 copies, giving Underwood her first #1 album.
History
Underwood has explained the meaning behind the album's title and theme, saying:
| “ |
You step onto this ride called life, and it’s a crazy thing you don’t know anything about, but you get on it anyway. You do what you can to lean different directions to try and get it to go where you want it to go, but you can’t stop it – it just keeps moving. That’s why Carnival Ride works as my album title, because it describes the wonderful craziness that I’ve been through over the past couple years.[1] |
” |
Carnival Ride became Underwood’s first number-one album on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling 527,000 copies in its first week of release.[4] In its second week the album sold less than 190,000 copies. The album also debuted at number 1 on the Top Digital Albums, Top Country Albums, Top Canadian Albums and the United World Chart.
As of August 23, 2008, Carnival Ride has been present on the U.S. Billboard 200 for 42 weeks, and it is at #54.
To date, it has sold about 2,275,792 copies in the U.S.[5]
Reception
Critical reception of the album so far has been mainly positive. The first official review of the album from Allmusic, gave it 4 out of 5 stars, on par with what they gave her debut. The site classified the album as "completely contemporary country", and said "the remarkable thing about Carnival Ride is that it's stronger song for song than Some Hearts." They also praised the album for having "the appearance of a genuine heart, something that no other big country-pop album has had since the glory days of Come on Over."[6]
USA Today also praised the album for its versatility saying "The songs call for vulnerability (You Won’t Find This), urgency (Flat on the Floor), sympathy (Crazy Dreams, her co-written salute to “the hairbrush singers and dashboard drummers” from whose ranks she sprang), humor (The More Boys I Meet, the tag line of which goes “The more I love my dog”) and extreme role-playing (Last Name’s saga of a bar pickup that turns into an impulsive Vegas marriage). She delivers on all counts."[7] The Boston Herald gave the album a B, and claimed, "Underwood manages enough spunk to occasionally avoid the cookie-cutter."[8]
Individual tracks
Two of this album's tracks have been previously recorded by other artists. "Flat on the Floor" was previously cut by singer Katrina Elam on her unreleased 2007 album Turn Me Up, and was a #52 hit on the country charts for her that year. "I Told You So" is a cover of a song previously cut by Randy Travis on his 1988 album Always & Forever. Travis' version of the song was a Number One hit on the country charts that year.
Singles
"So Small" served as the lead single for the album, debuted on the on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs at #20, making the highest chart entry by a solo country female artist in 43 years of Nielsen BDS history, and eventually stayed at #1 for 3 weeks. It also became her fifth top 20 hit when it peaked #17 on U.S. Billboard Hot 100. "All-American Girl", the second single from the album, continued the success by hitting #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs and stayed there for 2 weeks, and also managed to be a top 40 single on U.S. Billboard Hot 100, peaked #27. The next single, "Last Name", become Carrie's fastest single to hit #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs with 13 weeks, but only managed to stay there for 1 week. It is also Carrie's sixth top 20 hit when reaching #19 on U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The current single, "Just a Dream", is gradually climbing the chart, and is at #15 on U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs after 5 weeks.
Track listing
- "Flat on the Floor" (Ashley Monroe, Brett James) – 3:18
- "All-American Girl" (Ashley Gorley, Carrie Underwood, Kelley Lovelace) – 3:32
- "So Small" (Luke Laird, Hillary Lindsey, Underwood) – 3:47
- "Just a Dream" (Gordie Sampson, Steven McEwan, H. Lindsey) – 4:44
- "Get Out of This Town" (Sampson, McEwan, H. Lindsey) – 3:02
- "Crazy Dreams" (George Barry Dean, Troy Verges, Underwood) – 3:36
- "I Know You Won't" (Wendell Mobley, Neil Thrasher, McEwan) – 4:19
- "Last Name" (Laird, Lindsey, Underwood) – 4:01
- "You Won't Find This" (Cathy Dennis, Tom Shapiro) – 3:19
- "I Told You So" (Randy Travis) – 4:17
- "The More Boys I Meet" (Scott Kennedy, McEwan) – 3:33
- "Twisted" (Laird, H. Lindsey, James) – 3:56
- "Wheel of the World" (H. Lindsey, Chris Lindsey, Aimee Mayo) – 4:42
Target Special Edition
Limited Edition CD/DVD versions were available at Target. The DVD included live acoustic performances, as well as a five-part interview.
- "So Small"
- "Get Out of This Town"
- "Just a Dream"
- "The More Boys I Meet"
Platinum Musicpass
A special digital copy was released on January 15, 2008, which included a new unreleased track and two music videos.
- "Sometimes You Leave" (Chris Tompkins, Kara Dioguardi, Shridhar Solanki) – 4:16
- "So Small" (video only)
- "Before He Cheats" (video only)
Release History
Chart performance
Album
| Chart (2007) |
Peak chart
position[9][10][11] |
| U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums |
1 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 |
1 |
| Canadian Country Albums Chart |
1 |
| Top Canadian Albums |
1 |
| Australia Country Albums Chart |
9 |
| United World Chart |
1 |
| Certification in US: 2× Multi-Platinum[12] |
Singles
- Notes
- A ^ Current single.
- B ^ "Just a Dream" charted for one week on the Pop 100 under unsolicited airplay in 2007 where it peaked at #96.
References
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