Come on Come On

Mary Chapin Carpenter

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 30, 1992)
• Original Release Date: June 30, 1992
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000002879
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #81,591 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
Skeptics might say that Carpenter's smash version of Lucinda Williams's "Passionate Kisses" pales beside the tougher original, or that Mary Chapin is but a folkie in poor-fitting country clothes. They're not exactly wrong, but her million-selling third album finds its charm in a spare Americana sound and smart, imaginative material. Carpenter bridges country and folk audiences, much as Emmylou Harris has done, and as few others have managed. And she's a better singer than generally recognized. Originals such as "I Am a Town" and the title cut are genuinely evocative, and "Walking Through Fire" and "I Take My Chances" have an emotional edge that is as raw as it has been rare on country radio in the '90s. --Roy Francis Kasten

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Carpenter's a square peg in the round hole of Nashville, May 18, 2005

By	Greg Brady "columbusboy" (Capital City) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Mary Chapin-Carpenter built her career largely on public radio airplay for her folky acoustic guitar-based songcraft. This album exploded her into the country mainstream, thanks to the huge hits "Passionate Kisses", "I Feel Lucky" and lesser hits "I Take my Chances" and "He Thinks He'll Keep Her". But while country radio may have loved her for awhile, it quickly forgot about her and the reason why is between the hit tracks: Carpenter has more in common with classic country singers than with the current batch of forgettable pop-country heard on the radio these days.

Carpenter is all about songs: Writing the sentiments of an educated, mature woman who's not afraid to make political statements that buck Nashville's (i.e. she's a feminist and a bit to the left) conservatism. All but two of the songs here were written or co-written by her.

HIGHLIGHTS:
The hits deserved to be. Carpenter finds the catchy heart of Lucinda Williams' "Passionate Kisses" and makes it the mainstream smash it was always meant to be. "I Feel Lucky" and "I Take my Chances" both find Carpenter playing it sassy and devil-may-care. "He Thinks He'll Keep Her" reveals Carpenter's feminist streak, in the tale of a woman who leaves her uncaring husband after 15 years ("For 15 years she had a job and not one raise in pay/Now she's in the typing pool at minimum wage..") "The Bug" is the lost album track that should have been a hit. The blue-collar philosophy of life ("Sometimes you're the windshield/Sometimes you're the bug..") is terribly catchy and a nice retool of a Dire Straits album track. The album cuts are what make Carpenter stand a bit above the pack: "I Am a Town" is pure southern Americana ("I'm the last gas for an hour, if you're going 25, I am Texaco and tobacco, I am dust you leave behind"), the tender duet with Joe Diffie on "Not Too Much to Ask",and "Only a Dream"'s taste of the deep bonds of sisters and the hurt that comes when the older one leaves home ("I turned on the light and all that I saw/Was a bed and a desk and a couple of tacks/No sign of someone who expects to be back/It must've been one h*ll of a suitcase you packed")

LOWS:
"Walking Through Fire" and "Rhythm of the Blues" are rather mediocre in the end. They just don't stick with you that well.

BOTTOM LINE:
If you're a Shania or Faith Hill fan, you'll probably HATE this. If you enjoy singer-songwriters (even if you THINK you hate country), give this a listen. You'll probably be pleasantly surprised. If you're a diehard folkie, you'll probably find this "overproduced" (which seems to be code for "any song with more than just a voice and an acoustic guitar").

3 1/2 stars

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent work from Chapin, July 24, 2000

By	M. Anderson (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

At the time, this was her most versatile disc to date. It really moves away from the country feel of her previous two releases, and, at its heart, is folk-pop. Her unabashed feminist side shows on I Feel Lucky and He Thinks He'll Keep Her, up-tempo rockers. Her mid-tempo songs, like Walking Through Fire, I Take My Chances, and Passionate Kisses, have the same unapologetic bluntness - she's her own woman, and proud of it. Her voice also shines on delicate ballads like Come On, Come On, I Am A Town, and Only A Dream. She has a superb talent for painting vivid pictures: I see the empty room in Only A Dream, and I see her walking on the tracks in I Take My Chances. The only song out of place here is Not Too Much To Ask, a banal country ballad, but other than that one clunker, this disc is a delight.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars COMPLETLY AWESOME, April 11, 1999

By A Customer

im 11 and i like this album better than the crud my friends listen to. BUY THIS ALBUM ONLY IF U HAVE LOTS OF TIME. I PROMISE U WILL NEED TIME BECAUSE U WILL LISTEN TO THIS CD A ZILLION TIMES BEFORE SOME ONE VIOLENLY RIPS YOUR EAR OFF THE SPEAKER. MARY......U ROCK THE HOUSE!!