Customer Reviews

The Calling

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Mary-Chapin Carpenter has always been a troubador in Nashville's clothing but there's no more chart room for her in Country Music now that they're looking for prefabricated pop stars with a twang. Their loss.

Freed from Nashville's constraints Mary-Chapin delivers possibly her best album ever. Eloquent, elegant and elegaic, she is a master of simplifying the most complicated truths and singing them in a melodious, sparse, straightforward manner.

Here she writes politically ("I'm the decider, like some kind of Messiah") on the brilliant "On With The Song" and a song about Hurricane Katrina refugees "Houston", as well as tenderly on "Closer And Closer Apart" about a disintegrating relationship and about just the opposite on "Here I Am." Other fantastic songs are the rocking "It Must Have Happened," "Twilight," "Why Shouldn't We," and the wonderful "Your Life Story" which asks the question "maybe love is all anybody should believe in?"

Something you can believe in is "The Calling" is an exquisite CD that is a must have for anyone who believes in clearheaded, intelligent songs lovingly delivered. Extra points for both the production and engineering which are pristine and flawless.

When you get The Calling - answer. Greatness awaits you.

Mary Chapin is one of my favorite artists, and her Between Here And Gone is a very good CD. But it really didn't show all her sides, as it was quite ballad-oriented. On The Calling, she rocks out harder than ever while retaining her talent for painting portraits of the human condition and producing beautiful, folky melodies. Check out the amazing slide guitar on "We're All Right." "Houston" is a deep and heart wrenching look at the plight of Katrina evacuees. The only slight faults are "It Must Have Happened" and "Your Life Story" having similar (but strong, especially on "Your Life Story") riffs, and there aren't any fun songs like "Shut Up And Kiss Me." Republicans might want to skip "On With The Song," but it is nice that she did a song in support of the Dixie Chicks. I fully expect this CD to be on my best of 2007 list!

Like Paul Simon, Mary Chapin Carpenter is not a particularly prolific songwriter. She crafts her songs with care, honing and perfecting them before she shares them with the listening public. But like Simon in his prime, when she does decide the songs are ready and releases an album of new material, the result is usually outstanding.

With The Calling, MCC leaves the major label world where she stood out for her literacy and honesty, and enters the land of the independents, recording for Zoe Records, an imprint of the folk-oriented Rounder family of labels. That being the case, one might expect an all-acoustic outing along the lines of her first record, 1987's Hometown Girl.

Surprise! While the opening title track begins with a Springsteen "Thunder Road" piano opening, it develops into an electric guitar driven modern country ballad. Except that the lyrics are much more intelligent than anything you're likely to hear on Eagle 97. When big-bam-boom drums kick off "We're All Right," you know Mary Chapin's been plugging in her Rickenbacker out in the rolling hills of central Virginia when the songwriting urge appears. This one is an ought-to-be hit single waiting for some open-eared radio programmer to risk expanding his playlist.

I'm guessing it won't be a country music one, though. "On with the Song," rockin' as hard as anything coming out of Nashville these days (atop a jangly Byrds/Tom Petty electric 12-string), stands her defiantly with the Dixie Chicks--"This isn't for the ones with their radio signal/Calling for bonfires and boycotts they rave"--and is her most blatantly political song to date: "This isn't for the man who can't count the bodies/Can't comfort the families, can't say when he's wrong/Claiming I'm the decider, like some sort of messiah/While another day passes and a hundred souls gone."

"It Must Have Happened" is an anthemic rocker built on a Stones-like lick that punches up personal, ultimately triumphal lyrics. She wrote "Why Shouldn't We" as an expression of hope on the eve of the 2004 elections. The album's centerpiece, "Houston," tells the tale of Hurricane Katrina refugees saying goodbye to New Orleans as they roll toward an uncertain future in Texas.

Carpenter's most touching songs are usually her intimate acoustic guitar pieces, either telling an imagined story of some semi-fictitious character or autobiographically revealing a snippet of her own life. There are several here: "Here I Am" is beautiful and touching; "Twilight" is the disc's prettiest song; "On and On It Goes" is sheer poetry. "Closer and Closer Apart," essentially a voice and piano duet, is heartbreaking in its evocation of a sad farewell.

It's interesting to note that Mary Chapin Carpenter never recorded in Nashville when she was topping the country charts in the early `90s. But now that she is in a musical class by herself, unfettered by anyone's hitmaking machinery and unbound by any constraints other than those imposed by her own muse, she has cut her second album in a row there. And she just gets better. She remains the class act of her generation. The Calling continues her remarkable string of masterful works.

copyright © 2007 Port Folio Weekly. Used by Permission.

Originally published in Port Folio Weekly, 3/27/07.

This happens every time MCC releases a cd. I listen to it and think that I do not like it. Then I put it in my car cd and listen to it again to and from work, and my opinion starts to change. By the time I get home from work the second trip, the songs are stuck to me like glue. I cannot get the beauty of Twilight out of my head, and I keep singing "Your Life Story" each day to myself at the candy machine. "Bright Morning Star" is such a hopeful song. " Houston" is my favorite in the bunch and to me there is not one miss. They are all gems with the exception of "Why Couldn't We" a sort of liberal anthem that just falls flat.
Carpenter continues to grow as an artist, a poet, a dreamer and a songsmith who is not content to have top 10 country hits, but uses her profound imagery to weave and tangle us all in a beautiful collection of songs from the heart. Some personal and others more political in nature, this is probably MCC's best cd to emerge. Unfortunately, due to health issues, MCC will not get to tour with this album, but we will have to wait until 2008 to see those songs delivered live.

With so many of the great singer/songwriters no longer recording on the larger labels that get good promotion and advertising, it is a constant seek and find labor or love to find the many treasures that are out here. I just got this new recording by Mary Chapin Carpenter, and I am grateful for the privilege of listening to her great art, insight and entertaining music once again. If you loved "Stones In The Road" like I did, I hope you DON'T MISS THIS ONE!"

I had the great pleasure of hearing MCC and John Jennings perform "Houston" a year ago at an evening of song and words featuring Ann LaMotte. It literally took my breath away, and I thought to myself "this is a true poet's response to this unimaginable human tragedy." Hearing the full arrangement on the new CD, I remember that evening's performance perfectly, but now I am struck at the deep empathy that MCC infuses this song with. To me this is the centerpiece of a magnificent project which shows that MCC continues to spin magic and beauty while riding the Bright Morning Star.

Mary Chapin Carpenter is a wonderful wordsmith, brilliant poet, captivating storyteller, empassioned social commentator, and wise philosopher. In The Calling she delivers all this with a gentle touch encased in beautiful melodies. I have to confess that this past week I was so taken with On and On It Goes and Houston that I kept hitting the repeat button. I can't wait to discover which one or two songs become this week's favorite, and next week's, and the week after... Because On and On It Goes on to my car CD player.

Bonnie Neubauer, author of Write-Brain Workbook, inventor of Story Spinner, www.BonnieNeubauer.com

There are so few performers that you can count on for one brilliant release after another. You may prefer her earlier work, and yes, her last album is a bit of a downer, (so was Nebraska...good thing I didn't stop listening to Bruce after that one), but this is another combination of great writing and catchy tunes. Houston is so sad...like John Doe 24 for those who haven't listened since Stones. There are some rockers too, and the yahoos are screaming "America hater," so there's even more reason to love her. I downloaded this off iTunes, so if someone could please list the musicians she collaborated with on this, I'd appreciate it. I know Jennings and Rollings are there, and I'm guessing Glen Worf, but please fill me in if you can.

I have all of MCC's CD's and have seen her live three times. I must say that it just gets better and better. The Calling is a wonderful addition to her previous work. Each song feels immediately familiar, yet each time I hear them they reveal further layers of treasure.

I listen to MCC to hear her thoughts, feelings, views and experiences set to music. If you are looking for an artist to 'shut up and sing', this isn't the CD for you.

The Calling is MCC expressing herself and I don't think she is going to stop anytime soon.

This CD will have a permanent place in my player and in my MP3 for years to come. MCC's voice is so soothing, her phrasing so perfect, and her lyrics so meaningful for these times. "Houston" is stuck in my head, and I am a little weepy at the moment. Its message that New Orleans will never be the same is quite a change from what we hear from other artists determined to be upbeat. And quite a stark contrast from Down at the Twist and Shout!

IMO Bright Morning Star is the weak spot on this album - not very tuneful, and not right for her voice. But I will definitely give it another try.

I never really got into Between Here and Gone. I will try it again. The Calling is simply MMC's best, and strong testament to the growth of a bright and literate singer/songwriter.