Search - Deana Carter :: I'm Just a Girl

I love Deana's Music

12/26/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This cd shows that Deana still has it! I'm just a girl is fresh, fun and has something for everyone. From the You and Tequila ballad of a lonely frustrated heart to the sentimental I'm Just a Girl anybody will love this cd!"

Fine pop from former country chart-topper

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 12/13/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Carter has never seemed comfortable with the lightning bolt of country music stardom that accompanied her debut release, "Did I Shave My Legs For This?" Though her contributions to that album showed off her genetically inherited country music lineage, her follow-up LPs have played more to her childhood pop and rock influences. Her second album, 1998's "Everything's Gonna Be Alright," was broader and earthier, with plenty of Southern Rock influences that didn't impress country radio, and led to her departure from Capitol.



A 2001 one-off for Rounder found the singer dueting with her father (guitarist Fred Carter, Jr.) on a lovely, stripped-down set of Christmas songs, and in 2003 she resurfaced on Arista for this slick CD that pushes even further towards highly-produced pop. Listeners who insist on viewing Carter as a Country artist - even of the contemporary Nashville stripe - are likely to be disappointed. The innocence that made "Strawberry Wine" a hit is still to be heard in Carter's Southern voice, but the songs (all written or co-written by Carter) and production are contemporary pop, verging on bubblegum.



Her third release isn't nearly as consistent as her first two. The album's first single, "No Limit," and the lead-off title-track are ear-candy of the first-order, with deftly doubled vocals, arena-sized electric guitars and memorable melodic hooks. Carter sings of American pleasures so stereotyped that, much like their recitation in a Beach Boys song, they fly past clichéd to touching. Dan Huff's production is polished, but with interesting touches such as the dischordant electric guitar and strummed introducing "Me and the Radio."



The social commentary of "Cover of a Magazine" provides an ironic counterpoint to the Sixteen Magazine-styled CD art, and Carter provides a sweet, girlish balance to Dwight Yoakam's emotional wail on their co-written "Waiting." The power-pop "Liar" features memorable sunshine-pop touches, and "Goodbye Train" has the earthy lyrical and vocal hallmarks of its co-writer, Matraca Berg. The frenetic modern-rock production of the closer, "Girls Night Out," can't disguise its pale rhythmic imitation of Jim Carroll's "People Who Died," with half-baked lyrics and a repetitive chorus that doesn't really bear repeating.



Despite the pop potential of this release, Carter's been pigeonholed as a Nashville artist, and little here was going to fly high on country radio. It's a shame, because there's some excellent adult pop here, with a freshness and energy not found often in either L.A. or New York. [©2006 hyperbolium dot com]"