1. Smoke Break (I loved the track, the live performances and the video. It fitted well into Carrie's era description of "twang rock", it was a "socially aware" song, it got her back into instrumental performance - in many ways, the song I'd been waiting for from her!) *
2. Like I'll Never Love You Again (In a way, I feel I'm vaguely following a path that has some echoes of Some Hearts - arguably her most striking era for singles. SB was the unusual opening - a song that seems to have meant a lot to Carrie, but, like JTTW was one that her immediate female predecessors probably wouldn't have attempted. Similarly, I feel LINLYA would fill a vaguely similar role in this album era to DFTRM - a more reflective song, with a traditional feel, and personal overtones - but appropriate to this more mature stage of her life. I wanted Carrie to perform a romantic song - and for me, this is a much stronger example than "Heartbeat".)
3. Choctaw County Affair. (if BHC has been Carrie's defining classic song, I feel CCA had the potential to be a number with similar career impact. BHC had Muscle Shoals influence, and was a definite departure for the Nashville Mainstream. CCA pays homage to Bobbie Gentry and the Southern Gothic tradition, but much of its influence come from the "Americana" wing. A gamble, perhaps, for Mainstream radio - but this influence is currently enjoying a revival in awards and critical acclaim, attracts a broader range of fans and would be likely to soar to the top of Hot Country Songs. A strong mid-era statement for Carrie.)
4. Chaser, or Clock Don't Stop. (I see "Wasted" as Carrie's homage to the "power vocal" divas she was replacing - and that was arguably her most attractive Country song for many of the American Idol fans. I don't want a direct stylistic comparison for this era, since I feel Carrie has veered towards over-use of the vocal style and risks being stereotyped by it, at least in the mind of casual listeners who largely only know her singles. But I would have wanted a song with appeal to the more General Music-oriented element of her fan base. "Clock Don't Stop" would be the bolder choice, as it is experimental - and Carrie seems to love it in live performance. To me, the style is more reminiscent of Cyndi Lauper than of the younger Pop artists - and she is an artist I admire. It has references that recall Country themes - the spilt wine, the burn of the band of gold - but I admit it would risk confirming the suspicion of some Country fans that Carrie is too "Pop". "Chaser" would be the safer choice, as it is more overtly a hybrid song, with a definite Country lilt in the music, to balance its crossover appeal. I'm afraid It sank almost unnoticed in the UK - my caveat would be if it was tried again, every effort should be made not to cut the music to fit a radio slot, as that, in my opinion, significantly weakened it here.)
5. The Girl You Think I Am (In my view, this is the strongest and most interesting of the three songs based directly on her own life - and I'd want her to show this side of the album. The vulnerability, and the conflict between expectations and self-belief, are new ground for Carrie - and a brave choice that many people could relate)
6. Dirty Laundry (finishing the era with a bang - this is a new take on a classic Carrie "wronged woman" theme - but handled with more restraint, and hence more believable realism. A strong Country feel here - but accessible to a wide cross section of listeners - it would conclude the era with what I see as a mixture of reassurance and innovation.)
* And, as several have mentioned videos - I'll add that that "Smoke Break" came with my favourite Carrie video ever. It helped the song, and the album launch substantially. It touched so many visual themes that meant a lot to me - Carrie driving her classic pick-up truck; the Joshua Tree suggesting a hark-back to Gram Parsons and Emmylou and the "Grievous Angel" era of Country-Rock fusion; the iconic walk through the desert carrying her guitar; the cameo appearances of the symbolic Country Music figures, the waitress, the wrangler, the welder, the truck driver - all portrayed by women; the episode with the male figure representing the change in the Country lifestyle - handled both sympathetically, but also with Carrie's brief "huh" at his preoccupied misstep on the road; the scenes in the bar, suggesting the un-glitzy side of much Country performance - preparing to go on stage in the bathroom, and performing with a house band of both male & female musicians. I'll long remember and applaud those video scenes that gave a take on the Mainstream that drew on references that managed to be both timeless, and fresh - and I think made points that were important for Carrie!
