and Shout." On the slow, mournful efforts that make up the overwhelming bulk of Come On Come On, her carefully considered polishing scrubs away any grit or spontaneity, leaving her unadorned vocals and clean, round phrases to carry the weight of conviction.

Carpenter has two vigorous moments on this album: the defiantly freewheeling "I Feel Lucky" and the freewheelingly defiant "I Take My Chances." They may be the same song, but it's worth hearing twice – especially since the surrounding material taxis solidly ahead without ever taking off. Carpenter doesn't change the music's mood whether her lyrics are reigniting love ("The Hard Way"), dousing it ("Walking Through Fire") or even waxing painterly and majestic, as on the metaphorical exercise "I Am a Town" ("I am Texaco and tobacco, I am dust you leave behind"). Her duet with Joe Diffie, "Not Too Much to Ask," is a nice idea, but it pales beside its obvious inspiration, Lucinda Williams's lovely, yearning "Passionate Kisses." Come On Come On is a deft, intelligent album, but in a world gifted with Wynonna Judd's stunning, multilayered solo debut, it speaks more to fans of craft than to thinking, feeling women. (RS 638)

ARION BERGER