My top 4:
Good Girl, Two Black Cadillacs, Forever Changed, Leave Love Alone
My top 7:
Those, plus Blown Away, Cupid's Got A Shotgun, Wine After Whiskey
Why are they your favorites?
Good Girl comes top for me because it's the most complex and varied set of vocal changes that she's ever attempted. It's full of surprises and new challenges. I think it pushes the Mainstream as far as it will go - especially in its wonderful Alternative Texas Blues influenced final third. The other songs all have strong unique features which makes them standouts.
And what are your thoughts in general regarding BA (the album)
In general, I think about half the album really pushes for Carrie's "new level", while the other half concentrates on more reassuring songs, addressed to different elements in her very wide potential audience. That variety gives the album a considerable potential for broad appeal.
Why is Wine After Whiskey so brilliant? Do you want it to be a single or would you rather it remain an album gem like SWISLY?
I include this song in my top 7, but I do prefer SWISLY. As I've implied in the other threads, for me, the way to evaluate WAW is to see Carrie as having co-written a song with a mature theme (which places it in the push to a new level), and which gives her the opportunity to sing an emotional and beautifully judged vocal. If that was the intention, it works well. If, however, as some argue, the intention was to deliver a "traditional" song, I don't think that is fully achieved (but I've not heard evidence that that was, in fact, the intention). My feeling would be that it's not one of the most likely choices for a single
Is DYTAM still the best choice for single #3?
While it's not a personal favourite, I think it's a fairly likely possibility. As Claire says, it would vary both the pace, and the dark themes, in contrast to the first two releases (However, to answer Claire's question, I do think it might carry some risk of blunting the dramatic impact of the album, and might not be in top play rotation for as long)
Is TBC destined to be a single?
Carrie has said she'd like it to be - and I'd very much hope it would be. This "Southern Gothic" theme would do a lot to shake up the bland Mainstream obsession with dirt roads and good time songs, and would help to reinforce Carrie's reputation as an artist who strives to shape her genre, rather than let it shape her. Its dramatic, yet never overstated, vocal, with its eerie "Bye byes", is one of the highlights of this album, and on a par with some of the classic songs
Are we in for another surprise this era (ala ITYS and MS)?
I guess some would be surprised if she released NETY - but I'd support that potential choice. I think it could have a big impact on some of the younger audience, who are very important for consumer spending and industry hopes. Country Music has often been the music of the marginalized. In Alternative Country (especially Roots Rock), with its predominantly male audience, this tends to take the form of "You won't like me, much less understand me, so get out of here and leave us alone". But, for the young, estimated 80% female followers of "New Country", there is often a desire to be cool and live up to expectations - this song addresses the concerns of some of that demographic, stressing that there is strength and beauty in all of us. I think the message is deliberately chosen by Carrie, and it wouldn't be much of a surprise for me to hear it on radio.
A real surprise might be SYA. I find this the most uncharacteristic track on BA, and the one that most has the feel of a song that doesn't really belong to the rest of the era, but was waiting to be released and was thought too significant to waste. If it is a single, I think it would have most traction on something like Hot AC - but aiming for that market would be a surprise for me, in light of what Carrie's attempted with the album as a whole.
WIll BA be the most successful song (charts, awards, sales, etc.) or will another single be even bigger?
It will be major - but I don't think, in the long run, the most successful. I think BHC will still be seen as Carrie's defining classic
