It's mellow, it rocks, and she doesn't like George.


Man, I love her voice. It's rich and expressive.

AllMusic likes the disc, too, giving it 4.5 stars (out of 5).

One thing is certain: Mary Chapin Carpenter has heard the sound of the new Nashville. She brings the electric guitars and she brings her Martin; she allows the mix to bring up those drums and basslines. She's no longer afraid of rock & roll as long as it blends with her brand of folkish country. After years of walking the outside, despite a hit record or two, seemingly afraid to really let it rip, she has arrived here, on The Calling. Oh yeah, yeah, that's a good thing; it may even be a great thing. Carpenter has always allowed her songwriting to take precedence over her recorded performances, and even though her album performances have sometimes been stellar, they've also been just a little too restrained. The title track that opens The Calling and "We're All Right" rock harder than anything she's ever cut. The beautiful thing is that with the bigger volume and the loosed electric six-strings, her big voice has more room and those killer hooks she writes don't disappear in the mix. They come off sounding like the anthems they should be. Carpenter has a hell of a way of looking at life from all sides, from behind the closed doors, from the empty lanes and the darkening countryside. She has always had a special way of looking at fate and destiny from the perch of those lives that hold on with only a shred of hope but refuse to give up or let go. That eagerness to survive in the face of all odds, or to affirm the essential goodness of a moment where one of her protagonists can simply breathe, has been her art. She does this better than most and is second to none in her picaresque narratives of the wish to be free, and of embracing freedom as an alternative to despair. And while the music has never matched the tautness of her lyrics, it does here. That doesn't mean the gentleness is all gone. On "Twilight" (a song James Taylor or Nanci Griffith should beg her to cover), the acoustic guitars, vibraphone, cajon (by Russ Kunkel, no less), and electrics blend gently but empathically. "On and On It Goes" is another ballad, loaded with emotion but delivered with the empathy of an old friend imparting a story. The huge drums on "It Must Have Happened" are, along with the title cut, sure bets for videos and singles. This cut just rocks in the way Sugarland rock, straight up, fat, with a message and enough heart to fill a Bruce Springsteen record. The refrain is utterly gorgeous. The jangling Rickenbackers on "Your Life Story" is another candidate for a single. The bottom line, as the album unfolds — whether it's "On with the Song," (written for the Dixie Chicks during their season in hell and an actual anthem), the sweet electric ballad "Why Shouldn't We," or the whispering closer "Bright Morning Star" — is that it never ceases not only to please, but to pull the listener deeper into Carpenter's wide-ranging poetic world. Time will tell, of course, but in The Calling, Carpenter may have her finest moment yet; it also feels like an artistic rebirth. These songs come from her marrow and the conviction she sings them with proves it. Carpenter and her co-producer Matt Rollings should be awfully proud of this one.

Here are lyrics to On With The Song (dedicated to the Dixie Chicks)

This isn't for the ones who blindly follow
Jingoistic bumper stickers telling you
To love it or leave it, and you'd better love Jesus
And get out of the way of the red, white and blue

This isn't for the ones who buy their six packs
At the 7-Eleven where the clerk makes change
Whose accent makes clear he sure ain't from here
They call him a camel jockey instead of his name

Chorus:
No this is for the ones who stand their ground
When the lines in the sand get deeper
When the whole world seems to be upside down
And the shots being taken get cheaper

This isn't for the ones who would gladly swallow
Everything their leader would have them know
Bowing and kissing, while the truth goes missing
Bring it on he crows, putting on his big show

This isn't for the man who can't count the bodies
Can't comfort the families, can't say when he's wrong
Claiming I'm the decider, like some sort of messiah
While another day passes and a hundred souls gone

Chorus

This is for the ones that I see above me
Three little stars in a great big sky
Light for the world and hope for the weary
They try

This isn't for the ones with their radio signal
Calling for bonfires and boycotts they rave
Exhorting their listeners to spit on the sinners
While counting the bucks of advertising they'll save

This isn't for you and you know who you are
So do what you want 'cuz I know that you can
But I've got to be true to myself and to you
So on with the song, I don't give a damn

Joe Bob says check it out.

I don't own any of her albums, but I am a fan. Have been ever since the first time I heard "I Feel Lucky" when I was in college in the early 90's.

And she's right up Sharon's alley. I have a feeling that we will be adding some of her catalog to our collection before long. Thanks for the tip, Gary.

ghey