Blown Away

Carrie Underwood | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 1, 2012)
• Original Release Date: 2012
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony Nashville/Arista
• ASIN: B007HO392S
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (410 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #109 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #8 in Music > Country > Today's Country

Track Listings

1. Good Girl

2. Blown Away

3. Two Black Cadillacs

4. See You Again

5. Do You Think About Me

6. Forever Changed

7. Nobody Ever Told You

8. One Way Ticket

9. Thank God For Hometowns

10. Good In Goodbye

11. Leave Love Alone

12. Cupid's Got A Shotgun

13. Wine After

14. Who Are You

Editorial Reviews

Produced by Mark Bright, the forthcoming album, Blown Away, was featured in Entertainment Weekly's recent "10 albums we can't wait for." This will be the fourth studio album on 19 Recordings/Arista Nashville for the five-time Grammy® winner. The debut single "Good Girl" isco-written by Underwood. Since releasing Some Hearts in 2005, Underwood has sold more than 14 million albums with Some Hearts, 2007's Carnival Ride, and 2009's Play On. She s amassed 14 No. 1 singles, six of which she co-wrote, and became the first country artist in history and the only American Idol winner ever to achieve 10 No. 1 singles from their first two albums. Underwood is a five-time Grammy Award winner, a two-time Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year, a three-time Country Music Association and ACM Female Vocalist winner, and a proud member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

86 of 96 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Carrie Blows Away The Competition May 1, 2012

By Robert S. Harmon

Format:Audio CD

Carrie Underwood has taken almost two and a half years between Blown Away and her very fine Play On album of 2009 and the break has paid off in spades. While many successful singers get caught re-making the same style songs that brought them their initial fame, Carrie has chosen to broaden her creative horizon and sonic landscape with some of the most original and provocative songs of her career. Producer Mark Bright is not afraid to paint outside the borders of country expectations with this masterfully crafted album. I am sure some country purists will cry fowl for taking some of the music to a decidedly pop direction, but its a highly individual effort that Carrie herself was intimately involved with having written eight of the 14 songs on this exquisite album.

Lets begin with the first song and single on the album, Good Girl, a country rocking co-write by the former American Idol Champion. While this song might be the closest thing that one might expect as a follow-up to Before He Cheats or Cowboy Casanova, it really is a highly original number that changes both tempo and expectation as it takes you on its jaunty journey.
There is not another singer in the format that can rock n roll like Carrie and if you don't believe me, ask Steven Tyler who just got nominated for their duet together on CMT.

The next song on the album is the title track, Blown Away, which should be seen as a watershed moment in country music history for both its current greatest vocalist as well as the genre itself. This song is extremely bold in both its lyrical content, which deals with child abuse, and its amazingly creative sonic landscape which takes the listener on the childs ride through a storm in Oklahoma that might be able to sweep all her problems away.... The use of instruments like piano and cello's to mimic the sounds of the winds and rain is breathtaking and Carrie's vocals are majestic. Whether this song becomes the country-pop smash that it deserves is immaterial, this song is a masterpiece unlike anything thats come out of a nashville studio in many a year. Whoa, and we are only two songs into the album and we are already dumbfounded by its majestic sweep.

Then comes another highly ambitious story song co-written by Carrie Underwood, Hillary Lindsey and Before He Cheats writter Josh Kear. Two Black Cadillacs involves a murderous revenge theme plotted between wife and mistress and again is unlike anything on current country radio. Its orchestral sweep and melodic counterpunch make this absolute ear candy for the musically inclined. What a rush. What a treat! Are you listening at the Country Music Association?

See You Again, written for the Chronicles Of Narnia originally, brings us out of the dark and back into the light with a churning country-pop ditty that could cross over as well as a single. Carries vocal is impeccable and spot-on.

Don't You Think About Me...the way I think about you- is a gentle, but plaintive country song that would not be out of place on a Kelly Pickler album and Carrie does a fine job with this tender country weeper.

Forever Changed, cowritten by The House That Built Me songwriter Tom Dougles is one of Carries personal favorites on the album. This piano based ballad tells the life cycle story of mother and daughter with a tenderness and sensitivity of phrasing by Carrie that really brings the listener closer to its protagonist.

Nobody Ever Told You, another co-write by Carrie, is an uplifting and positive song aimed at a young culture thats become fixated on outside beauty and image. Taylor Swift could have included this melodic anthem on her last album and it would not have seemed out of place.

Carrie takes another real departure with One Way Ticket, a calypso flavored splendor that Kenny Chesney would have loved to have included on his next album. What a treat to hear Carrie rhyme "lick it" with "ticket". Really nice vocals from Carrie that captures a lighter side of her personality.

Thank God For Hometowns is a country gem that reminds all of us how quickly we want to leave our hometown when we are young and how quickly we try to find our way back as we grow a little wiser. Great song with tender and Compelling vocals by Carrie.

Good In Goodbye is a song written by Carrie, Hillary Lindsey and One Republics Ryan Tedder, who co-wrote Rumor Has It with Adele and Turning Tables on her great album, 21. You would expect a great song and you get one with this bittersweet song reminding us that sometimes its better that we don't always get what we wish for a la Garth Brooks Unanswered Prayers. Another great but nuanced vocal by Carrie that shows she has leaned that on some songs you hold back that powerful voice and show a fragile side instead.

Leave Love Alone is one of the most country radio friendly songs on the album with its churning rhythem and sing-along chorus. You can't get this song out of your head once it has entered it. Great, sassy vocals by Carrie that once again shows that nobody can sing an attitude song like Carrie.

Cupids Got A Shotgun is an absolutely clever and upbeat country barnburner co-written by Carrie Herself. Good friend Brad Paisley delivers some chicken-picken guitar that would make famed Elvis guitarist James Burton, who practically invented this style of playing, weep with envy or at least give a well earned shout-out to the talented Paisley. Clever wordplay and another great song for country radio. There are more single possibilities on here then you can shake a stick out. One critic from U.S.A. Today estimates that there is a 2 year supply of singles on this album. I wholeheartedly concur with this prediction.

Wine After Whiskey, which some critics said was meant for Carrie's Play On album, is perhaps one of her most sincere and straightforward country efforts to date. I was worried that this might be less than stellar since it was a left-over from Play On, but oh how wrong. It just probably did not fit the theme she wanted to convey on her previous album and is one of the best and most beautiful country songs she has ever had a hand in writing.

Who Are You is a power ballad Christian Anthem written by Robert "Mutt" Lange who was married to Shania Twain and Produced virtually all of Shania's hit records. This incredibly majestic song is sung with such magnificent and transcendent beauty that some critics have mistakenly listed it as a love song as well. This is probably due to the fact that many people are not use to hearing a Christian song sung so passionately and so powerfully. I did not think there is another singer in the business that could sing the chorus of this song in the register that Carrie does with such flawless effort. An amazing song that concludes one of the most ambitious country albums of the 21st Century. Read more ›

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Something for Everyone May 19, 2012

By quincyeyes

Format:Audio CD

On her most recent album, Blown Away, Carrie Underwood shows us the world of country music. She travels from traditional country to contemporary country to progressive country. This album serves up songs for people across the spectrum and should be lauded for it's diversity.

On the traditional side, Underwood provides the ballad Wine After Whiskey drawing the analogy between a regular relationship and the kind of love that is so strong that anything else seems "watered down". She continues down the traditional path with Thank God For Hometowns which touches on the nerves of what it feels like to go back home while also acknowledging a past desperation to go beyond one's hometown. The song embraces the listener as the hometown embraces the person returning. Forever Changed is a tenderly handled ballad about the story of one woman's life from marriage to birth to dementia. This is a painful topic yet Underwood sings about it with deep care and compassion that reflects a respect for the difficult and painful reality of dementia. Leave Love Alone is a rootsy country ditty that will leave you clapping your hands and stomping your feet.

On the contemporary country side, Underwood tackles fear of commitment with the fun Cupid's Got a Shotgun with the help of the excellent Brad Paisley on guitar. She confronts running into a past lover on Good in Goodbye and looking back on first love with Do You Think About Me. She follows the likes of Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown Band in dipping into Jimmy Buffet's school of music with One Way Ticket (Underwood provides the whistling herself). She hands out inspiration to young women with Nobody Ever Told You and inspiration for meeting one beyond this life in See You Again.... She holds onto a long held bond between country music and faith in her power ballad Who Are You in which she sings with conviction and compassion. With her lead single, Good Girl, Underwood follows in her own footsteps of talking about that not so good guy but brings it to the next level with electric guitar, handclaps and an a cappela ending.

Finally, Underwood plunges into the future sounds country can embrace with the title track, Blown Away, and Two Black Cadillacs. These songs follow the tradition in country music of story-telling but is not your mother's country music. Here Underwood paves the way for a new direction for country music - good songs and good stories go hand in hand in bringing new sounds to the present country landscape. These two songs cannot be denied. Their quality is unparalleled and they should become classics in the country genre and beyond.

Although this album caters to a spectrum of different tastes, Underwood does not sacrifice cohesiveness for diversity. The theme of this album is all kinds of love - unhealthy love (Good Girl), obsession with love (Leave Love Alone), transcendent love (See You Again, Who Are You), past love (Good in Goodbye, Wine After Whiskey, Do You Think About Me), poisonous love (Blown Away, Two Black Cadillacs), fear of love (Cupid's Got a Shotgun), self love (Nobody Ever Told You), love for your roots (Thank God for Hometowns) and love of life (Forever Changed, One Way Ticket).

Miss Underwood serves up her respect for country music and music in general with this excellent album. Read more ›

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Blown Away - Album Review May 12, 2012

By Jenny Thorpe

Format:Audio CD

I have to be honest. When I first listened to this album all the way through, just one week ago, I was feeling a little underwhelmed. Carrie's first three records were so dead on. I was not sure that her fourth album Blown Away was up to par. But the more I listened to it on my car stereo, the more it started to grow on me. I started to pay more attention to the lyrics and began to recite the melodies. Then, I slowly found myself reciting many of the tracks long after I had reached my destination.

"Two Black Cadillacs" was one that, once I really listen, it really caught my attention. Originally thinking that the song was about cars, I quickly learned that its meaning was far from that. Certainly the darkest song on her album, this song has the potential to be a single, that is if the world is ready for such a dark song from america's sweetheart.

Another favorite is "Good in Goodbye". A staple Carrie ballade, this track describes the bittersweet nature of seeing an old love again but realizing that sometimes leaving that person behind is for the better. This also has single potential.

The moral of this story is, once you have listened to the album all the way through, listen to it again. You will soon find yourself liking it, then loving it. Besides her current hit, "Good Girl", you will find yourself singing along to other uptempo hits like "Do You Think Of Me", "Nobody Ever Told You" and `Leave Love Alone". You will also find yourself relating to dramatic ballads like "Thank God for Hometowns" and Wine After Whiskey".

I guess Carrie was right when asked on Good Morning America last week what to expect on this album, when she jokingly replied, "14 tracks of awesome"!

-Jenny Thorpe
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