Carrie Underwood is my favorite American Idol winner. When I think about the reality that without that television show, this young woman might never have had this incredible voice heard, it makes me glad that AI exists, even though I don't watch it anymore. This is one of the finest female voices in Country that there has ever been and we are only at the beginning of her phenomenon. Her first CD SOME HEARTS is one of the finest debut CD's ever from an artist of any genre. Although I have enjoyed her 3 followups, none have come close to the magic of that first CD. But her latest, BLOWN AWAY, comes pretty close. Ms Underwood has matured and with her maturity comes a deepening of themes in her songs. Some of these songs are dark in tone. BLOWN AWAY deals with an abusive household and my favorite track on the album is TWO BLACK CADILLACS, which is about two women who discover they were wronged by the same man and kill him. This album comes closest to authentic country western than any of her past. Tracks such as CUPID'S GOT A SHOTGUN and ONE WAY TICKET could have been written in the heyday of country twang. There's a very moving song called THANK GOD FOR HOMETOWNS that beautifully tells the tale of a person returning to the warmth of their birthplace when they need it most. Ms Underwood has written several of the songs and she shows great maturity as a songwriter as well. All in all, it's a decent album. Her voice can make anything work. I just keep waiting for lightning to strike once more with a PERFECT album like her debut. In the meantime, BLOWN AWAY is a flawed but incredibly successful effort.
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