Carlene Carter Albums (9)
What The Critics Say
The last time most folks heard about Carlene Carter, the news wasn't good -- in 2001, she and then-boyfriend Howie Epstein, who had produced her best-selling album I Fell in Love during downtime from his gig as bassist with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, spent the night in jail in New Mexico after they were pulled over in a stolen truck with nearly three grams of heroin. Since Carter hadn't released an album since 1995 and had a reputation for drinking and rowdy behavior, it was easy for many fans to imagine the worst, and while Carter began pulling herself back to health, she returned to the stage in 2003 in a musical set in Nashville about the Carter Family (in which she played her own mother, June Carter), that would prove to be a devastating year for her, as her mother, her step-father Johnny Cash, her sister Rosey Carter, and her former beau Epstein all died within the space of a few months. After all this, the mere fact that Carlene Carter is healthy, happily married, and making music again seems surprising enough, so it's doubly impressive that 2008's Stronger is one of her best and most personal albums to date. Carter's voice is deeper and a shade less flexible on Stronger than on her previous recordings, but she sounds soulful and impassioned and can still bring her songs to vivid, compelling life in the studio, and with the help of John McFee, who produced the sessions and plays most of the instruments, she's made a disc that's as lively as her music of the '80s and '90s without sidestepping the emotional gravity that informs her new material. With the exception of the opening cut "The Bitter End," Carter wrote all the songs on Stronger by herself, and while not every tune refers to the drama that's come into her life since her last album, "Judgment Day," "It Takes One to Know Me," and the title cut are clearly informed by the good and the bad that's come her way in the past dozen years, and even upbeat songs like "Why Be Blue" and "Break My Little Heart in Two" are tougher and edgier that you'd expect (and the remake of "I'm So Cool" from Musical Shapes adds some depth missing from the original). If Carlene Carter's dark days have aged her, it's done her music good -- Stronger shows she still has spunk and fire to spare, while also revealing a hard-won maturity and strength that richly, truly earns her the over-used appellation of "survivor." ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Carlene Carter's Little Acts of Treason doesn't break much new ground for the singer, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. While she continues in the same vein as Little Love Letters, the music is done well, even if the album isn't as infectious and catchy as her previous album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This is the album fans always dreamed she would make. While it shows off her love of, and ability to handle, various styles of music, she never loses her direction. ~ Jim Worbois, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Carlene Carter spent much of her recording career waging a good-natured war between her rock & roll instincts and her country breeding before she signed with Reprise Records in 1989. With I Fell in Love, her first album for Reprise, Carter's music suggested she was finally willing to play ball with Nashville...but only just. I Fell in Love was a more polished set than Carter had recorded up to that time, and sounded like her version of a mainstream country record. But beneath the smooth veneer, Carter's spunky attitude still shines through, and here she claims a thoroughly enjoyable middle ground between Music City traditionalism and roughhouse honky tonk rock. With Tom Petty bassist Howie Epstein in as producer, I Fell in Love boasts a savvy studio sound and a legion of top-shelf pickers (including Albert Lee and James Burton on guitars and Benmont Tench on keyboards), but Carter lights a fire under nearly every tune on this set, and even the low-key love songs generate some sparks. And with June Carter Cash and Levon Helm joining her on backing vocals, the country accents ring out with an honesty and purity that cuts through the radio-ready mix. I Fell in Love may have been an effort to play nice on Carter's part, but it doesn't sound like a compromise so much as proof she was enough of a talent to have her cake and eat it too. And in this case, the cake is pretty tasty stuff. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This not particularly interesting album suffers from lack of direction. It was the last album of her early period, before she re-created herself in 1990 as a country singer to be reckoned with. For die-hard fans only. ~ Jim Worbois, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Carter's American label passed on this one, and it's too bad. While it's not one of her best albums, when she's on, she's dead on. It's interesting from a historical point because it somewhat chronicles her musical associations with former-husband Nick Lowe and Paul Carrack (ex-Ace, Squeeze, Mike + the Mechanics). ~ Jim Worbois, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This is Carter's masterpiece to date. Great songs and production that could easily fit into today's climate of country radio. ~ Cub Koda, All Music Guide
'Two Sides to Every Woman'
Release Date 1/1/1979
Tracks 9
Label Warner Bros.
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
This is Carter's second album and not as interesting as the first. Some of the songs are a bit weak and The Rumour have been replaced with studio musicians. It's okay, but not for everyone. ~ Jim Worbois, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
By recording her debut album in England, Carlene Carter served notice that despite coming from a legendary American country music family, she intended to make her own way in the biz and establish her own musical identity. So while there's a strong country-rock vibe throughout Carlene Carter, it's filtered through the British pub rock sensibilities of the Rumour, whose members produce, arrange, and play on all of the tracks on this album (with occasional cameo appearances from pub rock icons Graham Parker, Terry Williams, and Nick Lowe). The results of this transatlantic crossbreeding are generally winning, if a little uneven; on a few tracks, it seems as if both Carter and the Rumour are keeping some of their energy in check as they try to feel each other out. For the most part, though, the performances on Carlene Carter are bright and enthusiastic, and the songwriting contributions of Alex Call, Graham Parker, and Carter herself are all quite good, even if their subject matter is generally nothing more complex than love gone wrong. To top it all off, Carter had the good sense to call in at least one family member to help out -- and brother-in-law Rodney Crowell did not disappoint, contributing "Never Together but Close Sometimes," a bouncy rocker that's the album's clear highlight. ~ K.A. Scott, All Music Guide
