Come On Come On

Like a lot of new country this feels indistinguishable from whatever light rock/pop. Musically solid if not particularly inventive. Some of the lyrics go interesting places though.

Hooray! An album I have routinely revisited for 32 years... I still can’t listen to “He Thinks He’ll Keep Her” enough, and “Passionate Kisses” is playing in my mind hours after listening to it. But I haven’t thought about those quieter songs in a while and it was so good to reconnect with them! Accompanied by a solo piano, “Only a Dream” is devastating and beautiful. “I Take My Chances” and “Walking Through Fire” gives a nice dose of inspiration. Definitely a welcome addition to the list… terrific!

Aside from a couple of songs that sound particularly dated, I really appreciated this. Very nice!

Oh, yes! I loved revisiting this one from my past.

For the second time in a week, I got to sing along with my wife to a project album. It was another of her favorites from the 90s that she had in her CD collection. (Often I can't play project albums around her.) I really love this one, and think it was a shame it was missing from the 1001 list. Mary-Chapin Carpenter writes a wonderful variety of poignant, funny, catchy, and beautiful songs and uses her voice so well to convey each style. This made our pre-Thanksgiving kitchen drudgery much more enjoyable today.

Generally enjoyable. I remember hearing some of these signs on the radio in the 90s.

Excellent voice. Purer and less country-twang than wonderful Emmylou, so pretty good in my ears. More rock n roll than straight country, but ballads are right up there with Emmylou’s and other classic singers.

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: The hard way, He thinks he’ll keep her

Its awright 3

This is some nice country radio rock. Never heard of it before - thought I recognised a song, but it was a Dire Straits cover. A few softer moments that get kinda meh, but the upbeat stuff with that nice early 90s production is fun. It'll do, you know? I couldn't imagine it getting any really high or low ratings, but it's imo the very definition of a 3/5. It sits perfectly in that groove. Sometimes I give out 3s because I don't want to shit on an album unnecessarily with a 2, or because it was bad but influential, but in this case it just simply deserves a "good job" sticker. 3/5.

Solid songs, solid performance, solid production. There's nothing really bad about this album, it's just sort of... bland, I guess. I think Mary said it best in her song "He Thinks He'll Keep Her" - Everything is so benign, Safest place you'll ever find. Lucinda Williams is a good comparison, since they're both in sort of the same category and Mary covered Lucinda's Passionate Kisses on this album. They're both talented singers and songwriters, but Lucinda just has that spark of something special, while Mary just sounds a bit generic. 3 stars.

This album occasionally drags in pace, although there are some really lovely songs to be found here. Some of the upbeat country rock tunes sound a bit dated now, although Carpenter's cover of "Passionate Kisses" is easily the best song of the bunch. Thanks for sharing. I don't think I've ever spent time with much of Carpenter's music. Fave Songs: Passionate Kisses, Not Too Much to Ask, I Take My Chances, He Thinks He'll Keep Her, Come On Come On

This was a big album for my mom when I was like 2-5 years old. I don't think I've heard it in 30 years. Shockingly I could still sing along to some of the songs! I'm not sure if it's one of the "great albums" but it holds a special place for me and it was a treat to see it here.

Not bad. Typical country music

This sounds like an "adult contemporary" version of country. Pleasant, easy, all sharp edges removed. And ultimately if the song itself doesn't have a hook, pretty forgettable. The Hard Way and He Thinks are the most interesting and the rest is a glass of room temperature water.

Country. Ni fu ni fa.

A nice and simple pop folk country album. The 90s country styles really bisected with either honky took cowboy songs or the artistic rural simple life country theme and this one goes with the ladder. It’s a nice album that doesn’t push things too far and has a nice simple place in the music world. 6.3/10

I was worried this was gonna be 100% generic singer songwriter boredom but the middle chunk was pretty good country music which made it bearable.

A very "peaceful" country song, a bit saccharine, which I actually didn't really enjoy. It serves well as background music for listening to "something." The woman has a good voice, but I feel that she chose the wrong genre. I think that another type of interpretation would suit her better.

A bit tepid for a country album

So-so 90s LP with all the radio-friendly trappings of the era. Think this one could’ve made a stronger statement if it chose a lane between the pop and country elements it only dabbled in throughout – Carpenter’s vocals are strong, but the lack of strong melodies means this album feels a bit lacking in a strong artistic statement at the end of the day.

I guess the melodies are nice enough, but even for a poppy country record this is particularly safe and insipid. Rating: 2 Playlist track: The Bug Date listened: 28/11/24

Think we had enough country pop on the initial list.

Not my style