Carnival Ride

“Flat on the Floor” opens *Carnival Ride* with front-porch banjos, scratchy fiddles, and watery pedal steel as Underwood soulfully belts out an empowering tune loaded with melodies catchier than cactus needles. The sentimental “All-American Girl” abounds with a soaring chorus and lyrics unraveling small-town imagery. She toughens things up with “Last Name,” a new traditional country-rocker with distorted guitars, sultry melodies, and roadhouse-friendly lyrics.

Check out our album review of Artist's Carnival Ride on Rolling Stone.com.

Carnival Ride simply doesn’t offer anything for the unconverted in terms of Underwood’s growth either as a vocalist or as an artist.

“Before He Cheats” was lightning caught in a Jack Daniels bottle.