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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. It has been certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA. The album includes the #1 country singles "So Small", "All-American Girl", "Last Name", and "Just a Dream", the first three of which were co-written 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.

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. 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, and Top Canadian Albums charts.

As of 28th March 2009, Carnival Ride has been present on the U.S. Billboard 200 for 74 weeks, and it is currently at #13.

To date, it has sold over 2.7 million copies in the U.S. Carnival Ride has also been certified Double Platinum.

Carnival Ride won "Favorite Country Album" at the 2008 American Music Awards. The album was also nominated for "Album of the Year" category for 2008 CMA Awards of Country Music Association.

Reception

Critical reception of the album 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."

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." The Boston Herald gave the album a B, and claimed, "Underwood manages enough spunk to occasionally avoid the cookie-cutter."

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", became 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, reaching #19 on U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The fourth single, "Just a Dream", reached Number One on the country charts for the chart week of November 8, 2008 and stayed there for 2 weeks, becoming her seventh Number One single on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It also managed to reach #29 on U.S. Billboard Hot 100, became her 10th top 30 there. "I Told You So" was released in February 2009 as the album's fifth single.

Track listing

1. "Flat on the Floor" (Ashley Monroe, Brett James) – 3:18
2. "All-American Girl" (Ashley Gorley, Carrie Underwood, Kelley Lovelace) – 3:32
3. "So Small" (Luke Laird, Hillary Lindsey, Underwood) – 3:47
4. "Just a Dream" (Gordie Sampson, Steven McEwan, H. Lindsey) – 4:44
5. "Get Out of This Town" (Sampson, McEwan, H. Lindsey) – 2:59
6. "Crazy Dreams" (George Barry Dean, Troy Verges, Underwood) – 3:36
7. "I Know You Won't" (Wendell Mobley, Neil Thrasher, McEwan) – 4:19
8. "Last Name" (Cathy Dennis, Underwood) – 4:01
9. "You Won't Find This" (Dennis, Tom Shapiro) – 3:19
10. "I Told You So" (Randy Travis) – 4:17
11. "The More Boys I Meet" (Scott Kennedy, McEwan) – 3:33
12. "Twisted" (Laird, H. Lindsey, James) – 3:56
13. "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 four live acoustic performances, as well as a four-part interview.

14. "So Small"
15. "Interview I"
16. "Get Out of This Town"
17. "Interview II"
18. "Just a Dream"
19. "Interview III
20. "The More Boys I Meet"
21. "Interview IV",

Platinum Musicpass

A special digital copy was released on January 15, 2008, which included a new unreleased track and two music videos.

14. "Sometimes You Leave" (Chris Tompkins, Kara DioGuardi, Shridhar Solanki) – 4:16
15. "So Small" (video only)
16. "Before He Cheats" (video only)

Holiday Deluxe Edition

On October 21, 2008, a 2-disc set was released at Wal-Mart. The second CD contains five Christmas tracks, of which all were available for radio download on September 29, 2008. "Do You Hear What I Hear" was previously released on the 2007 album Hear Something Country Christmas.

14. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"
15. "The First Noel"
16. "What Child Is This?"
17. "Do You Hear What I Hear"
18. "O Holy Night"

Personnel

• Dave Angell – Violin
• Monisa Angell – Viola
• Chris Ashburn – Assistant
• Carrie Bailey – Violin
• Denise Baker – Violin
• Derek Bason – Engineer, Mixing
• Renée Bell – A&R
• Judy Forde Blair – Liner Notes, Creative Producer
• Zeneba Bowers – Violin
• Mark Bright – Producer
• Tom Bukovac – Guitar (Electric)
• John Catchings – Viola
• Matt Chamberlain – Drums
• Bruce Christensen – Viola
• Lisa Cochran – Vocals (bckgr)
• Eric Darken – Percussion
• Nathan Dickinson – Digital Editing, Assistant
• Beverly Drukker – Violin
• Andrew Eccles – Photography
• Connie Ellison – Violin
• Paul Franklin – Dobro, Guitar (Steel)
• Vince Gill – Vocals (bckgr)
• Carl Gorodetzky – Violin, Contractor
• Gerald Greer – Violin
• Mike "Frog" Griffith – Production Coordination
• Jim Grosjean – Viola
• Erin Hall – Violin
• Aubrey Haynie – Fiddle, Mandolin
• Wes Hightower – Vocals (bckgr)
• S. Wade Hunt – Art Direction
• Jack Jezioro – Bass
• Mike Johnson – Guitar (Steel)
• Charles Judge – Organ, Synthesizer, Strings, Organ (Hammond), Programming, Lap Steel Guitar, Loop
• Aaron Kasdorf – Assistant
• Anthony LaMarchina – Viola
• Hillary Lindsey – Vocals (bckgr)
• Astrid Herbold May – Design
• Chris McDonald – Arranger, Composer
• Chris McHugh – Drums
• Cate Myer – Violin
• Nashville String Machine – Strings
• Craig Nelson – Bass
• Keith Nicholas – Viola
• Jimmy Nichols – Synthesizer, Piano
• Carole Rabinowitz-Neuen – Viola
• Sari Reist – Viola
• J.R. Rodriguez – Engineer, Digital Editing
• Gordie Sampson – Guitar (Acoustic), Mandolin, Piano
• Mellissa Schleicher – Make-Up, Hair Stylist
• Pamela Sixfin – Violin
• Jimmie Lee Sloas – Bass
• Betty Small – Violin
• Julie Tanner – Viola
• Todd Tidwell – Assistant
• Ilya Toshinsky – Guitar (Acoustic), Banjo
• Trish Townsend – Stylist
• Alan Umstead – Violin
• Catherine Umstead – Violin
• Carrie Underwood – Vocals (bckgr)
• Gary VanOsdale – Viola
• Kris Wilkinson – Viola
• Hank Williams – Mastering
• Kirsten Wines – Production Assistant
• Karen Winkelmann – Violin
• Jonathan Yudkin – Bass, Fiddle, Mandolin, Violin, Arranger, Cello, Composer, Viola, Performer

Release history

Chart performance

Album

Singles

Notes

• A ^ "Just a Dream" charted under unsolicited airplay on the Pop 100 for one week in 2007 where it peaked at #96.
• B ^ Current single.

References

1. Bird, Rick (2007-06-21). "Mayer slings his guitar on 'Continuum' tour". The Cincinnati Post. E. W. Scripps Company. p. T3. Retrieved 2007-06-25. {{cite news}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
2. http://musicrow.southcomminc.com/calendars-2/single-releases/
3. ^ "Carrie Underwood Invites Fans Along for a Carnival Ride" (Press release). Arista Nashville. 2007-08-29. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
4. "Carrie Underwood plans fall CD release". MSNBC. 2007-07-17. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
5. "Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride Certified Double Platinum, as 2007 Marks Another Milestone Year!" (Press release). Arista Nashville. 2007-12-14. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
6. Hasty, Katie (2007-10-31). "Underwood Leads Three Country Debuts Onto Chart". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
7. "allmusic (Carnival Ride)". allmusic. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
8. "USA Today (Carnival Ride)". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
9. "Boston Herald (Carnival Ride)". Boston Herald. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
10. "Billboard Chart Positions". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-02-07..
11. Williams, John. "Carrie Underwood rides to No. 1". Canoe.ca. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
12. ^ "Carrie Underwood — Music Charts". acharts.us. Retrieved 2008-02-07.
13. "Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride Certified Double Platinum, as 2007 Marks Another Milestone Year!" (Press release). Arista Nashville. 2007-12-14. Retrieved 2007-12-16. {{cite press release}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
14. "Billboard Chart Positions — Singles". allmusic. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
15. "Hot Christian Adult Contemporary search results for Carrie Underwood". Billboard. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
16. "RIAA — Carrie Underwood singles". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
17. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Carrie%20Underwood&format=SINGLE&go=Search&perPage=50
18. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Carrie%20Underwood&format=SINGLE&go=Search&perPage=50

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