Some Hearts (CD - 2005)

Carrie Underwood: Dann Huff (electric guitar); Mike Johnson (steel guitar); Julian Hallmark (violin); Daniel Smith (cello); Jimmie Lee Sloas (bass instrument); Chris McHugh, Matt Funes, Alyssa Park, Eric Darken, Hillary Lindsey, Joel Derouin, Adam Steffey, Lonnie Wilson, Matt Rollings, Paul Franklin, Sid Page, Suzie Katayama, Wes Hightower, Roberto Cani, Larry Corbett, Biff Watson, J.T. Corenflos, Steve Nathan, Jonathan Yudkin, Tom Bukovac, Jim VanCleve, Steve Richards , Perry Coleman, Michael Markman, Josephina Vergara, Michele Richards, Susan Chatman, Bryan Sutton, Morgane Hayes, Charles Judge, Mario Diaz de Leon, Endre Granat, Tereza Stanislav, Denyse Buffum, Andrew Duckles, Shanti Randall.

Personnel: Carrie Underwood (background vocals); Biff Watson, Bryan Sutton (acoustic guitar); Dan Huff, J.T. Corenflos, Tom Bukovac (electric guitar); Gary Morse, Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Jonathan Yudkin (dobro, banjo, mandolin, violin, fiddle, viola, cello, strings); Adam Steffey (mandolin); Matt Funes, Alyssa Park, Julian Hallmark, Joel Derouin, Sid Page, Roberto Cani, Michael Markman, Josephina Vergara, Michele Richards, Susan Chatman, Mario Diaz de Leon, Endre Granat, Tereza Stanislav, Denyse Buffum, Andrew Duckles, Shanti Randall (violin); Jim VanCleve (fiddle); Suzie Katayama, Larry Corbett, Steve Richards (cello); Matt Rollings (piano); Charles Judge (keyboards, programming); Steve Nathan (keyboards); Chris McHugh, Lonnie Wilson, Shannon Forrest (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); Hillary Lindsey, Lisa Cochran, Neil Thrasher, Wes Hightower, Perry Coleman, Morgane Hayes (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Derek Bason; Justin Niebank; Serban Ghenea.

Recording information: Blackbird Studios, Nashville, TN; Capitol Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA; Electrokitty Recording, Seattle, WA; Sound Stage Studios, Nashville, TN; Starstruck, Nashville, TN; The Gentlemen's Club; The Plant Recording Studios, Sausalito, CA; The Record Plant, Los Angeles, CA; The Sound Kitchen, Nashville, TN; The Village, Los Angeles, CA.

Photographer: Andrew Southam.

Arranger: Harry "Slick" Sommerdahl.

Country purists may take offense at finding American Idol winner Carrie Underwood's debut album in the country section. An unabashedly manufactured commercial product, SOME HEARTS is the sound of mainstream country in the 2000s heavily steeped in glossy pop. There's nothing downhome or roots-conscious about Underwood's voice or looks: she's the pretty blonde next door with a fine singing voice, but the powers that be have made her a country artist, and that's what the public gets.

None of this is to say that SOME HEARTS is not a good pop album. The combination of Underwood's considerable gift and the slick, spot-on production of Dan Huff and Mark Bright makes for a fine package. Even on somewhat by-the-numbers tunes (like her smash hit "Inside Your Heaven"), Underwood sings with conviction, and she does well with both the ballads and the uptempo tracks. Idol viewers and fans of artists like Faith Hill and Shania Twain will want to check this out.

Given the tightly controlled nature of American Idol, it's a wonder that the televised talent contest has never produced a winner who specialized in country music, since there's no segment of modern popular music that is controlled tighter than contemporary country. Maybe this thought was in the minds of Simon Fuller and the rest of AmIdol's 19 management when they went into their fourth season in 2005, since as soon as fresh-faced Oklahoma blonde Carrie Underwood showed up in the audition rounds, the judges -- alright, specifically Simon Cowell -- pigeonholed her as a country singer, even if there was nothing specifically country about her sweet, friendly voice. From that point on, she was not only the frontrunner, but anointed as the show's first country winner, which apparently proved more enticing to the voters and the producers than the prospect of the show's first rock & roll winner in the guise of the Southern-fried hippie throwback Bo Bice. Which makes sense: cute, guileless young girls have a broader appeal than hairy 30-somethings. They're easier to sell and mold too, and Underwood proved particularly ideal in this regard since she was a blank slate, possessing a very good voice and an unthreatening prettiness that would be equally marketable and likeable in either country or pop. So, the powers that be decided that Underwood would be a contemporary country singer in the vein of Faith Hill -- she'd sing anthemic country pop, ideal for either country or adult contemporary radio, with none of the delightful tackiness of Shania Twain -- and her debut album, Some Hearts, not only hits this mark exactly, it's better than either album Hill has released since Breathe in 1999.

Which isn't to say that Carrie Underwood is as compelling or as distinctive as a personality or vocalist as Faith Hill: Underwood is still developing her own style and, for as good a singer as she is, she doesn't have much of a persona beyond that of the girl next door made good. But that's enough to make Some Hearts work, since she's surrounded by professionals, headed by producers Mark Bright and Dann Huff, who know how to exploit that persona effectively. While some of the songs drift a little bit toward the generic, especially in regard to the adult contemporary ballads, most of the material is slick, sturdy, and memorable, delivered with conviction by Underwood. She sounds equally convincing on such sentimental fare as "Jesus, Take the Wheel" as on the soaring pop "Some Hearts," and even if she doesn't exactly sound tough on the strutting "Before He Cheats," she does growl with a fair amount of passion. In fact, the worst thing here is her chart-topping post-American Idol hit "Inside Your Heaven," which is as formulaic as the mainstream country-pop that comprises the rest of Some Hearts, but with one crucial difference: the formula doesn't work, the song is too sappy and transparent, the arrangement too cold. On the rest of Some Hearts, everything clicks -- the production is warm, the tunes inoffensive but ingratiating, it straddles the country and pop worlds with ease, and most importantly, it's every bit as likeable as Carrie was on American Idol. Which means that even if she's not nearly as sassy or charismatic as Kelly Clarkson -- she's not as spunky as Nashville Star finalist Miranda Lambert, for that matter -- Carrie Underwood has delivered the best post-AmIdol record since Clarkson's debut. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize