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New Releases For The Week Of October 21, 2007
Edited by Jonathan Cohen
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'Ride' Of Her Life
Carrie Underwood is still generating hits from her six-million-selling debut, "Some Hearts," but she's front and center with a new effort this week. Her sophomore album, "Carnival Ride" (19 Recordings/Arista Nashville) is led by the single "So Small," which made Underwood the first female to debut in the Hot Country Songs top 20 in 43 years.
"My favorite line on the whole album pretty much sums up everything that I've been through, and I think everybody could find something in this particular line: 'God put us here on this carnival ride/We close our eyes never knowing where it will take us next,'" Underwood says of "Wheel of the World," which was penned by Hillary Lindsey, Chris Lindsey and Aimee Mayo. "It's beautiful and so true. We don't know what we're doing or where we're headed. We just kind of trust and hope that whatever ride we're on in life takes us where we need to go."
The pressure to follow up such as successful debut could creatively paralyze an artist, but Underwood has worked her way through it. "'Is there really anywhere to go but down?' There was that fear in my head,'" says Underwood, who was much more involved in the songwriting process this time around. "Then we started picking songs and I realized it was more [about] making an album for myself that I love and I know I have a huge hand in making. Whatever happens, it's icing on the cake."
Besides "So Small," new tracks include "Last Name," "Just a Dream" (about a soldier dying and the emotions his fiancé experiences as she comes to terms with the tragedy) and a remake of Randy Travis' "I Told You So."
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Don't Call 'Em Duets
Robert Plant shocked many by agreeing to play a one-off show with Led Zeppelin in November in London. But he isn't particularly concerned that his fans might be taken by surprise by "Raising Sand," his new collaboration with bluegrass bigwig Alison Krauss, due this week from Rounder. "If people have enjoyed my career, then they'll know that not a single record that I've made since 1968 has had anything to do with the one before," he says.
Instead, what vexes Plant is the idea that "Raising Sand" will be the victim of the D-word. "The worst thing in the world is to say, 'Hey, these guys are making a duet album,'" he says. "A duet is normally something that's kind of sugarcoated and has a kind of saccharine quality to it. This is nothing like that. These are visitations, really, where Alison will bolster me or I'll augment her. [Making this album] was like opening the bottle and out pops the genie that nobody expected."
If that sounds like big talk, the album's big sound backs Plant up. Produced by T-Bone Burnett, the 13-track collection finds the two singers applying their considerable interpretative skills to a shrewdly selected set of American roots-music gems, including Gene Clark's "Polly," the Everly Brothers' "Gone, Gone, Gone" and "Trampled Rose" by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan.
As Plant suggests, he and Krauss don't simply harmonize; rather, their vocals engage in a loose back-and-forth that creates what Plant calls "a sort of musical landscape." Plant adds that he absolutely intends to make another record with Krauss: "Listen to how good it is. You wouldn't want to say goodbye to that quickly, would you?"
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Ween's World
Ween was always one of the more curious major-label signings of the early-'90s alternative rock explosion. After all, the cult favorite Pennsylvania duo preferred to dabble in every genre imaginable (they even made a full-fledged country album in 1996) than attempt to court the favor of radio.
But somehow, Ween remained on Elektra Records for more than a decade before joining Sanctuary for the release of 2003's "Quebec." The group is now partnered with Rounder for the release this week of "La Cucaracha." "At this stage, we want to make records and let somebody else try and sell them," guitarist Mickey Melchiondo says. "We didn't have any real specific needs, other than, get the record out in as many stores as you can, and we'll go out and tour hard behind it."
Highlights of "La Cucaracha" include the back-porch country jam "Learnin to Love," the gruff, Melchiondo-sung "My Own Bare Hands," the nearly 11-minute rocker "Woman and Man" and "Spirit Walker," a prog-rock homage with Ween's trademark disorienting vocal effects and noises. But the band is most proud of "Your Party," which boasts a guest turn from saxophonist David Sanborn.
"The demo kind of sounded like the Red Hot Chili Peppers or something," Melchiondo says. "But then we decided to go the opposite way -- instead of making it nasty, we thought, 'Let's make it smooth.' And when I think of smooth, I think of David Sanborn."
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She 'Dreams' In Color
Neil Young is borrowing the intended title for a 30-year-old shelved album for "Chrome Dreams II," due this week via Reprise. The set boasts two epic tracks (the 18-minute-plus "Ordinary People" and the 11-and-a-half-minute "No Hidden Path") as well as the song "Boxcar," which has been around in various forms for more than two decades.
Young recorded the album quickly with assistance from Crazy Horse drummer Ralph Molina and pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith. The project is the follow-up to 2006's "Living With War" and will be supported by a North American tour later this fall.
The original "Chrome Dreams" was scrapped in 1977 for unknown reasons, but a number of the songs pegged to appear on it become Young classics after being released on later albums, including "Pocahontas," "Sedan Delivery," "Powderfinger," "Look Out for My Love" and "Like a Hurricane."
"Chrome Dreams II" will also be available with a bonus DVD featuring "super-saturated" high-resolution audio and a moving video image.
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Additional titles hitting stores this week include:
The solo debut from System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian, "Elect the Dead" (Serjical Strike/Reprise).
Modern rock trio Seether's "Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces" (Wind-Up).
A double-disc concept album from Say Anything, "In Defense of the Genre" (J), featuring members of My Chemical Romance, Saves The Day and Dashboard Confesssional.
A new EP from Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, "Follow the Lights" (Lost Highway).
Christian music superstar Stephen Curtis Chapman's "This Moment" (Sparrow).
U.K. rock outfit Babyshambles' "Shotter's Nation" (Astralwerks).
A Buck Owens tribute from Dwight Yoakam, "Dwight Sings Buck" (New West).
Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan's "Hourglass" (Mute).
A new album from electronica purveyor Prefuse 73, "Preparations" (Warp).
Teen rap up-and-comer Hurricane Chris' "51/50 Ratchet" (J).
Country rocker Shooter Jennings' "The Wolf" (Universal).
Hard rockers Coheed & Cambria's "No World for Tomorrow" (Columbia).
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For its first album in five years, pioneering electronica duo Underworld solicited advice from the likes of Brian Eno, U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and longtime collaborator Darren Price to help sort through nearly 200 pieces of new music.
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