Play On

Carrie Underwood has churned out yet another fantastic, formulatic piece of art that is fit for a queen of any genre. Building upon the success of 2 multi-platinum albums, Underwood sticks to a formula that has worked wonders: songs that people relate to, without being too heavy or too light; songs that are catchy, without being annoying or cheesy; and songs that require an amazing set of pipes. Bright is back to produce, and with a branch-out songwriter wise, the outcome is a setlist that varies in tempo, theme, feel and lyric. Here's the howdown lowdown:

Cowboy Casanova - lead single; fiesty vocals, stirring drive, good concept, heavy on the 'rock' - may neglect most country purists.

Quitter - interesting...a Max Martin pen, delightful melody, great concept. The lyrics however...are poor. Makes you wonder what could have happened if Kelly Clarkson had of gotten hold of this one - lyric overhaul and this would be amazing.

Mama's Song - beautiful, tepid tempo, this is country. production is perfect.

Change - no, no, no. Bad choice Miss Underwood. Cliche, sappy. The melody isn't overly strong, and the lyrics are devastatingly weak. The issue with these kinds of songs is that they are about society, and unless written by a sophisticate, they too often turn out wrong. Compare it to another country attempt - Martina McBride 'For These Times' and it pales to death.

Undo It - Very, very catchy. Love the concept, fantastic production. Lyrically strong, but not perfect. Vocal delivery impeccable.

Someday When I Stop Loving You - hands down the best song on the record. Heartbreak extreme, haunting imagery ("One foot on the bus 'bout half past 9, I knew that you were leaving this time, I thought about laying down in its path...thinking that you might get off for that"), and an aching vocal. Just wonderful. Contends 'Jesus Take The Wheel' and 'Before He Cheats' for Underwood's best song.

Songs Like This - 'All the single ladies, all the single ladies'...oh, no...but it does sound like it at the get-go. Spunky melody, killer hook. Lyrics again though, for the Nashville supremes to produce such an amazing melody, you'd think they'd read a bit of Emily Dickinson of something.

Temporary Home - Inspired. Beautiful storytelling, a sheer country masterpiece. Rumoured to be the 2nd single, am sure it'll be a smash. Carrie's finest vocal on the album.

This Time - sweet and sincere. The melody is pleasing, but it sounds like a Taylor Swift song in its immaturity and just 'sweetness'.

Look At Me - Ahhh, bliss. THIS is emotion! Alan Jackson cover, and just shadows the previous track. Pure genius songwriting, love through and through. You need to record a hundred songs like this (no pun intended...) Miss Underwood. Vocals are undeniably suited to traditional country. Phenomenal.

Unapologize - Okay, so a detour from the country. Good song however, fair concept, possibly a bit drawn out, but none-the-less, good.

What Can I Say - big song, emotional, will go down a storm with fans of her first album. Sons of Sylvia are a pleasant company.

Play On - good song, positive lyrics that avoid the sappiness encountered on track 4, slightly oversang. But again, good!

To conclude, this album has a solid set of songs. An annoyance however, is that Carrie is so obviously best suited to traditional country. Whenever she delves into it, she moves on in the next song to either spunk or 'pop'. It's frustrating. Tracks 6,8 & 10 are followed by songs that display this perfectly. Hopefully album 4 will provide a more country effort, as that will provide a more classier affair, and thus her biggest success. Overall, I'd recommend 'Play On' in a heartbeat.

(For note, legend has it that a song Carrie co-penned with country maestro Bill Anderson didn't make the cut. However, upon listen to the demo, it's impossible to understand why. It's called 'Oklahoma Wind'. Check it out.)

Carrie Underwood's manager, Simon Fuller, has said of the American Idol winner's third album that "it's stronger in depth and there's more variety" - and he's exactly right. "Play On" is the album that I had hoped Carrie's previous album, 2007's Carnival Ride, would be; and - in my opinion - it's her best album to date.

Where, on her two previous releases, there has been a tendency for Carrie to always be hitting the top of her range, track after track, here we find some welcome balance, and a nice mix of styles and tempi - as exemplified by the album's first two singles - the storming "Cowboy Casanova", and the heartfelt "Mama's Song". There's a hint of more mainstream pop/rock on piano-led tracks such as "Change" and "Unapologize", a wonderful synthesis of country and pop on the infectious, Max Martin produced "Quitter", and some welcome, more traditional country sounds on "Someday When I Stop Loving You" and "Look At Me", which - with Vince Gill on backing vocals - is happily reminiscent of Faith Hill's 1998 hit "Let Me Let Go."

Almost everything on this album sounds like a potential chart-topper, and - after a few listens - there's still nothing I'm wanting to skip. I should probably mention Carrie's vocal performance, but - perhaps unsurprisingly - her singing is flawless. It's a given that Carrie fans will be buying this, but if you're thinking of investing in an album of hers for the first time, you could do no better than this. "Play On" is an album that's going to live up to its name for a long time to come.

Carrie Underwood's third album is a decent collection of country/pop tunes that she often had a hand in co-writing. There have been 4 top 10 singles from it in America in the last year and it's about as good a 'modern' country album you'll find in 2010.

So why only 3 stars?

Well, you see, Underwood is a 'modern' singer too. This means she feels the need to show her entire range off on every song. Whether it demands it or not! It may be a country rocker or a sweet, heartfelt ballad, but there she is honking, bellowing and shrieking like there's no tomorrow. To make matters worse, at full pelt (her very favourite) Underwood's voice is quite unpleasant! It has a harsh, nasal whine to it that makes one want to adjust the volume rather quickly. There's no respite from her 'vocal power' on this album. Underwood won 'American Idol' for having the loudest voice in the land and she doesn't want you to forget it.

I'm not saying 'Play On' is a bad album, just that Underwood isn't a very good singer! Like many of today's female vocalists, she doesn't know the meaning of subtlety or decent phrasing. It's all about how much noise she can create. She has no respect for her material, it's all about her voice.

Singers like Reba McEntire and Martina McBride don't have Underwood's youth or good looks but they knock her into a cocked hat as singers. I will say this, though, Underwood is better than Taylor Swift!