Customer Reviews
Essential - Over And Over Again - By: The Wolf, 24 Apr 2008 
Ms Chapin Carpenter's music is an elusive & deceptive creature.
On the face of it she has always been a singer/songwriter whose album
releases have an enduring, predictable & reassuring quality.
Somehow one always seems to come along just when you need it.
So here we have her ninth offering (not counting the 'Party Doll' and
'Essential' compilations) & the word 'Essential' does indeed
have meaning here.
Her warm, tonallly sound, rock-solid mezzo & guitar carry these
thirteen fine songs with good grace, refinement & consistantly
convincing understatement.
Matt Rollings production & keyboards, Dean Parks & John Jennings
guitars, Glenn Worf's bass & Russell Kunkel's drums bring superlative
musicianship to every song; whether in workman-like, foursquare rocking mode
or in the lucid decoration of a delicate balllad.
(AND BOY OH BOY DOES THIS LADY KNOW HOW TO WRITE A BALLAD !)
'Twilight'; 'On And On It Goes'; 'Houston'; 'Leaving Song'; 'Here I Am';
alll among her best.
'Bright Morning Star' & the heart-wrending 'Closer And Closer Apart'
two of her VERY best !
This is music which creeps up on you slowly.
Wraps around you like a warm blanket.
Holds, nurtures & enriches our experience like an old friend.
....and we alll need a little of that in our lives Mary.
A grower... - By: Steve M, 20 Jan 2008 
Like a lot of the comments on here, I was a little underwhelmed by the this album after Between Here And Gone. Six months on though, I am smitten. This album stands on its own as a fine piece of work & has terrific emotional & musical range. It sounds wonderful to, with Matt Rollins piano playing perfectly complementing MCs vocals & composition. Quite simply a beautiful album that touches the heart.
Her best album for a long time - By: Andrew S, 13 Jan 2008 I held off from buying this album for quite some time as I had been disappointed by her later albums, which were beautifully crafted, but gloomy & lacking variety. I found that the music worked well in a concert situation but was ultimately unsatisfying & uninvolving on CD.
The previous album 'Between Here & Gone' seemed to signal some sort of revival, but I wasn't sure this would be continued so it was with some trepidation that I first listened to this latest album. I need not have worried - this album has more in common with some of her older releases, with an occasional strident edge to her voice in the louder songs. The first playthrough just blew me away - this is her best album for a long time. Only one minor hiccup: the intro to 'It Must Have Happened' sounds disconcertingly like 'Kissing With Confidence'! Buy this with confidence, she's back on form again.
Typical Mary CC - By: G. W. Knowles, 27 Jul 2007 My brother bought me this for a recent birthday - I've got everything Mary CC has done over the years & after a few playings this is just typical Mary CC reallly -which is what her fans will want if I'm honest. Is it one of her better offerings? -Don't know, the jury's still out on that, the usual mix of some up-tempo & slower songs, hopefully it will grow better with age. I didn't think Between Here & Gone was one of her better ones (what about Stones in the Road or Come On Come on ??) but it would be boring if we alll like the same things. Buy her for the difference
Mary Chapin Carpenter - "The Calling" - By: J. P. Fitzgerald, 21 Jun 2007 
As a life-long fan I thought that Marys last albumn "Between here & gone" was absolutely fantastic - her best ever.
This latest offering is quite simply pants. We waited three years for this !
Lady you owe us one.
John Fitzgerald, Powys, Wales.
