Before & After

Carrie Newcomer (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 23, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rounder / Umgd
• ASIN: B0031DMUE2
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #46,287 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Singer of Anthems, Lullabies and Clarion Calls for New Community, February 24, 2010

By 

David Crumm "Editor of ReadTheSpirit magazine" (Canton, Michigan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Before & After (Audio CD)

Carrie Underwood now is in her prime as a creator of new songs that give voice to the spiritual yearnings millions of us grapple with on a daily basis. Some of her songs are playfully funny--like a silly-as-a-summer's-day poem about kooky county fair themes in middle America. That song is like a slice right out of "Prairie Home Companion." But some of her songs also are mature meditations on the strange places Baby Boomers sometimes find themselves these days--like "Coy Dogs," pulled in more than one direction in life. Her songs also piercingly help us name the spiritual experiences to which we can't quite find words--like "I Do Not Know It's Name." And some of these songs are full-scale anthems for new community. I still get chills when I hear "If Not Now (Tell Me When)" and I'm a 30-year veteran of hard-bitten skeptical journalism. I don't "chill" easily.

Beyond the music itself--which is so inviting that it sells itself as a soundtrack to our lives these days--this music is substantial enough that there's much more you can do with it.

Example: There are more than a million small groups meeting across the U.S. related to congregations. Most groups meet to pray, study the Bible or discuss a book they've chosen. Imagine, instead, having everyone listen to a couple of songs from this collection--for a week at a time--then gathering to ask: "How did you live with these songs this week?" As a long-time group leader myself, I can tell you: You won't have any shortage of discussion with these songs.

Enjoy!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars While very good, not her best., July 17, 2010

By 

Reader - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Before & After (Audio CD)

With The Geography of Light my favorite CD release of 2008, I was really looking forward to Before and After. I'm certainly not disappointed, but neither am I blown away.

There are excellent songs on this CD. Carrie Newcomer's voice is strong and clear, and her lyrics are relevant to life in the real world with all its joys and sorrows, wonders and miracles. The instrumentation is exceptional, and I enjoy that the arrangements use strings and piano in new (for her) ways. If there are weak songs in the collection, they are probably (in my opinion), "Hush" and "I Wish I May, I Wish I Might." Still, these aren't exactly bad, just a bit bland and canned.) Some of the songs I did not take to immediately - "Ghost Train" and "If Not Now" - grew on me in subsequent listenings. I can't say I dislike any song on the CD.

So why not give it five stars? I'm not sure. I think it is because so many of the songs are similar in tone and tempo. Any single song is wonderfully crafted, but when listened to all together (which I tend to do), they become (dare I say it?) boring somewhere in the middle of the collection until "Do No Harm" once again demands you listen closely. I think if there had been more tempo change-up in the middle five or six selections, I'd give it five stars.

My suggestion to someone buying their first Carrie Newcomer recording is to consider Regulars and Refugees or The Geography of Light.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a talent!, March 12, 2010

By 

William Mims "folkiebill" (Vienna, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Before & After (Audio CD)

Carrie continues to outdo herself. This album is a miraculous gift. It made me laugh, cry, and celebrate life. How blessed I feel to know her music, and to know what a spiritual gift she has. Her music continues to teach me, and this album is another strong lesson in the value of spirituality, relationships, and gratitude in life.