My favorite country album is probably the Chicks’ Taking the Long Way or Carpenter’s Come On Come On. The hooks on them were more accessible to me than the melodies from Home or Stones in the Road.

If I had to write a serious list of her best albums, I don’t know that I’d put it at #1. But it’s the one I like listening to the most.

Is there another album that has since displaced Stones In the Road as your favorite? Just curious. If so, I’m wondering if it’s an album that I have heard or own.

Probably Home, though MDNA seems determined to knock it out of the top spot.

Still love Stones, but I’ve moved away from introspective, folksy music as a whole, so it’s not in the rotation much.

I think it’s great when someone acts as a champion for music that is being discussed negatively. Your above comments are very interesting and clearly well-thought-out, and perhaps I may eventually see what you see in the material. Thanks for taking the time to comment!

As a long-time fan of MCC, I feel like my appreciation of her has evolved along with her sonic evolution. For example, “Transcendental Reunion” to me is a creative way of describing the end of this life leading on to another stage, and the melodic repetition that one might feel is a detriment is actually true to the title. Transcendental meditation is based around a repeated mantra, and in this instance it’s a repeated melody. As for “Soul Companion,” I love that it sounds like a song that easily could have fit on to Never Die Young. The comment of “where?” sums up the theme of that song: where doesn’t matter as long as your companion is along for the ride.

While I agree that melodically there isn’t a lot of diversity, this material comes out of the death of her father, a life-threatening illness and the end of a marriage. For me, Ashes is meant to be listened to in a quiet place where you can listen to the lyrics without the hustle and bustle of life to distract. The production rightfully is on the lyrics, with just enough spark to shade each tune without pulling the focus away from the subject matter. The more I listen to Ashes, the more I love it.

Me too. I listened on Spotify and don’t care to hear any of the songs again, for many of the reasons Mr. Foster stated above. These songs are boring, plodding, and just unremarkable.

I would disagree however, about Carpenter hitting her creative peak at the same time as her commercial peak. I always ranked 2007′s The Calling right up with her 1990-94 releases. I think she really hit her artistic stride with that one, pairing her folk sensibilities with her penchant for sweeping melodies and smart lyrics better than ever before. Still, you’re dead on that it’s been all downhill in the two releases since then.

Is there another album that has since displaced Stones In the Road as your favorite? Just curious. If so, I’m wondering if it’s an album that I have heard or own.

In all good honesty, even though she’s had numerous country hits, I don’t think M.C.C. really thought of herself as a straight country act to begin with, so it’s not too likely that this album would so easily fit into that format.

That is correct. Thus, I wasn’t exactly taking it as a conventional country album. But since she is generally considered a country act, and had her greatest success in the country format, I still feel her work fits within the general spectrum of music we aim to cover at Country Universe. (Several of her more recent singles have been reviewed here as well)