Play On

Performer: Carrie Underwood
Artist: Sons Of Sylvia
Engineer: Chris Stevens; Todd Tidwell; Derek Bason
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Carrie Underwood (background vocals); Tom Bukovac (guitar, electric guitar, piano); Jon Graboff (guitar, steel guitar); Shellback (guitar); Ilya Toshinsky (acoustic guitar, banjo, bouzouki, mandolin); Jerry McPherson, Kenny Greenberg (electric guitar); Mike Johnson (steel guitar); Jonathan Yudkin (mandolin, violin, viola, cello); Aubrey Haynie (mandolin); Connie Ellisor, Karen Winkelmann, Dave Angell, Janet Darnall, Stefan Petrescu, Mary Kathryn Vanosdale, Bruce Wethey, Carl Gorodetzky, Pamela Sixfin, David Davidson , Alan Umstead, Catherine Umstead (violin); Bruce Christensen, Kristin Wilkinson, Jim Grosjean, Monisa Angell (viola); Julie Tanner, Anthony LaMarchina, Carole Rabinowitz-Neuen (cello); Samuel B. Levine (flute); Lee Levine (clarinet); Beth Beeson, Jennifer Kummer (French horn); Chris Stevens (keyboards, programming); Max Martin, Jimmy Nichols, Charles Judge (keyboards); Chris McHugh, Shannon Forrest (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); Hillary Lindsey, Lisa Cochran, Wes Hightower, Perry Coleman (background vocals). Audio Mixer: Derek Bason. Liner Note Author: Judy Forde-Blair. Daisy in her hair aside, Carrie Underwood looks flat-out glamorous on the cover of PLAY ON, which is a pretty fair indication of what awaits listeners on her third album. Carrie is still nominally a country artist and sometimes will sing supported by fiddles and steel guitar, but this is crossover pop pure and simple, whether it's the thundering rhythms on the Shania-styled strut "Cowboy Casanova" or the succession of maudlin melodies on the preponderance of power ballads. Carrie takes a much stronger presence as a writer here, co-authoring seven of the 13 songs, and she's attracted to hookless showstoppers designed to showcase her powerful voice. When she sticks to tunes written solely by the professionals, PLAY ON does have some slick pleasures, particularly on the breezy "Quitter" and "This Time," songs built on solid melodies and delivered without flash, relying on craft and Carrie's considerable small-town charm.

Carrie Underwood was the winner of the fourth AMERICAN IDOL reality-TV competition. Underwood sparked a mild controversy for being the first IDOL contestant to fully embrace country music--as opposed to the more preferred Top 40 pop styles of previous winners--and subsequently win the competition with that style. Her debut single, "Inside Your Heaven," hit number one on the Billboard pop and country charts, while her 2005 debut full-length, SOME HEARTS, topped the country charts, illustrating the sheer commercial power of the AMERICAN IDOL franchise.

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