Waking Up Laughing

Martina McBride | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 3, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rca Records/Sbme
• ASIN: B000NOKAPI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,444 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I suspect that some reviewers didn't actually listen to this CD, April 16, 2007

By 

Mike (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Waking Up Laughing (Audio CD)

So many negative reviews. "Oh, the songs aren't as good as her old songs. Oh, she's too loud. Oh, it's over-produced. Oh, Oh, Oh." Give me a BREAK. It's 41 minutes of a voice belonging to a woman so gifted that I've just got to sit here and laugh at the cheap shots showing up in these reviews. The first track..."If I Had Your Name"...a perfect opener, catchy, perfect windows-rolled-down, volume-turned-up road music. "Cry Cry (Till The Sun Shines)"...sort of a Martina-Meets-Mellencamp heartland rocker. "Tryin' To Find A Reason"...a nice, tranquil track. "For These Times"...another track that balances subtlety with power. She's got a powerful voice, folks, and she uses it. Why wouldn't she? "Anyway"...sweet, sad, heartfelt, one of her originals (written with Brad and Brett Warren), and a word or two for her critics: "You can pour your soul out singin' a song you believe in, that tomorrow they'll forget you ever sang...sing it anyway." Touche. "How I Feel"...OK, maybe this one got a little over-produced. Her recent live performance of it on the April 4th "Imus In The Morning" show (yes, the same day he said the words that ended his career) was more streamlined and organic, but it's still a killer track with vocals and and overall vibe very reminiscent of Rosanne Cash. "I'll Still Be Me"...more fragile emotion and nuance for the people who say that this album is lacking in nuance. Here, Martina brings her voice down to a whisper as she sings about being "a normal girl from Small Town, Nowhere." The next track, "Beautiful Again," gets a little bluegrass-twangy and sounds like it's aiming for heavy radio play. "Everybody Does" is another stylistic nod to Roseanne Cash (it's particularly reminiscent of her electric guitar-driven work with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers on "Rhythm & Romance"). "House Of A Thousand Dreams" lowers the volume again and is another Mellencamp-style "working man with broken dreams" song. The closing track, "Love Land," could have come from the pen of Don Henley. Flip the gender in the lyrics and it's a page right out of his book. So there you have it...I don't know what the fuss is all about. Maybe some people feel disappointed by this album, but I'm not one of them.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One for the heartstrings, April 14, 2007

By 

Amanda Richards (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Waking Up Laughing (Audio CD)

It was a long time coming, but Martina McBride finally puts her previously unutilized song-writing skills to good use for three tracks on album number nine, which she also produced. Two of these tracks are straight-up single material - the already released "Anyway", followed closely on the album by "How I Feel". The third is "Beautiful Again", a real tear jerker of a song, dealing with broken homes, abuse, and single parenthood, but which shows that it's possible to focus on the positive and move on.

Tracks to listen for include the opening song "If I Had Your Name" (listen for the guitars and violins); "Tryin' To Find a Reason", a breaking-up ballad featuring Keith Urban; "I'll Still Be Me", a poignant song about endless love, and "Love Land" the emotional closing track.

The high point of the album is undoubtedly the song "Anyway", with its motivational lyrics, and chorus that brings to mind the Joan Osbourne hit song "What if God Was One of Us". As she sings on the track - "You can pour your soul out singin' / A song you believe in / That tomorrow they'll forget you ever sang / Sing it anyway / Yeah sing it anyway". If she keeps singing them like this, I don't think she'll have to worry about being forgotten in a hurry.

The other single "How I Feel" is also an excellent track, and has the potential to become a new Christmas song, thanks to the one line that mentions snow on Christmas Eve. (It worked for Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You", didn't it?)

Although many of the songs are inherently sad, most of them show some light at the end of the tunnel, so that by the time you reach the end of the song, you get that tingly warm sensation you feel when something tugs at your heartstrings, and that's a good thing.



Amanda Richards, April 14, 2007

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, April 20, 2007

By 

Ariella Vaccarino creator of Voice Lessons T... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Waking Up Laughing (Audio CD)

McBride's voice is again so beautiful and she tells all the stories in her song so well. Each one has its own place on the cd. Great.