Rating:
Genre:
Country
Release Date: 11/03/2009
Daisy in her hair aside,
Carrie Underwood looks flat-out glamorous on the cover of
Play On, which is a pretty fair indication of what awaits listeners on her third album.
Carrie is still a country artist and sometimes will sing supported by fiddles and steel guitar, but this is crossover pop pure and simple, whether it's the thundering rhythms on the
Shania-styled strut
"Cowboy Casanova" or the preponderance of power ballads. Many of these ballads are infused with social consciousness --
Carrie decries hunger on
"Change" and homelessness on
"Temporary Home" -- reminiscent of
Idol Gives Back, and they're not the only
AmIdol connection here, as
Kara DioGuardi co-wrote the sassy
"Undo It" and
"Mama's Song" with
Underwood herself.
Carrie takes a much stronger presence as a writer here, co-authoring seven of the 13 songs.
Play On particularly shines on the breezy
"Quitter" and
"This Time," songs built on solid melodies and delivered without flash, relying on craft and
Carrie's considerable small-town charm.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
;)
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