Essential Country

Album Of The Week Review

Carrie Underwood - Some Hearts / Carnival Ride

In 2005 American Idol co-creator and judge, Simon Cowell had predicted during the competition that not only would Carrie Underwood win the competition, but that she would outsell all of American Idol’s previous winners. He was right on both counts! Carrie’s debut album Some Hearts, is the biggest-selling American Idol album to date, selling more than 7 million records in the US alone. Released in 2005, it became the best-selling female country album of 2005, 2006 and 2007 and made history as Billboard’s Top Country Album for a second year. Carrie hit Number 1 with every single she has released to date, and has won three Grammys as well as a host of trophies from the AMA, ACM, CMA, People’s Choice and Billboard, among many others.

Her latest album, Carnival Ride, vaulted to Number 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums and all-genre Billboard 200 with mammoth first-week sales of 527,101 and earned the highest first-week sales for any female artist in any genre at the time of release in 2007. To date, Carnival Ride has sold more than 3 million copies and helped Carrie earn the title of Top-Selling Female Artist of 2007.

Some Hearts was a snapshot that captured a moment, dealing with coming of age and with establishing a foothold in a wider world. Its success speaks volumes about the attractiveness of its message and of the woman who delivered it. Carnival Ride, on the other hand, is a big-screen movie, wide-ranging in theme, cinematic in scope; it reflects Carrie’s increasing strength as a vocalist, her continuing emergence as a songwriter, and her growing maturity as an artist and as a person.

Now, for the first time, both albums have received a full UK release and are available without having to buy an import.