Love & Negotiation

Dress Rehearsal Carolyn Dawn Johnson's sophomore effort proves just what the young Canadian learned the first time out. Where her debut, Room with a View, spawned the pop-ish hit records "Complicated" and "I Don't Want You to Go," it was an uneven effort that too obviously revealed her tentative...	Walk On Walk On is the new CD from Kellie Coffey, the Academy of Country Music's Top New Female Vocalist of 2003. Produced by Wayne Kirkpatrick (Little Big Town), this CD brings one of country music's best singer/songwriters back to the forefront. She wrote 11 of the 12 tracks on this al...	Room With a View Alberta-born Carolyn Dawn Johnson's beguiling debut album is the culmination of a several-year whirlwind apprenticeship in Nashville as a songwriter (she penned "Single White Female," a chart-topper for Chely Wright) and studio harmony singer for everyone from Patty Loveless to K...	Carnival Ride N	Julianne Hough Julianne Hough is already known to millions of fans as the two-time professional dance champion on ABC-TV's top-rated Dancing with the Stars (DWTS). The show, which pairs professional dancers with music, sports, film and television celebrities, has become a cultural phenomenon an...
Perfectly Clear It comes as no surprise that Jewel, an acclaimed American singer, songwriter, actress, poet, painter, philanthropist and daughter to an Alaskan cowboy singer-songwriter, finds herself in the embrace of country music for the release of her seventh career album, Perfectly Clear. ...	Taylor Swift Three years ago, a 13-year old Taylor Swift set out to be a star and moved from Reading, Pennsylvania, to Nashville. By 14, she had a publishing deal, and by 15, a recording contract. In these days of Bianca Ryan (and before her, Tanya Tucker and LeAnn Rimes), many are called, bu...	The Chain WITH SPECIAL GUESTS KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, DOLLY PARTON, HARPER SIMON, JESSI COLTER, JOHN ANDERSON, WILLIE NELSON, SHOOTER JENNINGS AND GEORGE JONES This album is one I ve been hoping to make since I was a little girl. It is a tribute to my father, Fred Carter, Jr., and some of the ...	Crazy Ex-Girlfriend There's no sophomore slump for Miranda Lambert, who follows her chart-topping debut, Kerosene, with a knockout punch. Both the title cut and the album-opening "Gunpowder & Lead" ("what little girls are made of") show that Lambert hasn't lost her edge or her appetite for revenge. ...	Family This sounds like a pivotal release for Rimes, who made her breakthrough as a childhood prodigy with an uncanny vocal resemblance to Patsy Cline, and then evolved into an eclectic diva who couldn't quite decide what she wanted to be when she grew up. She's all grown up now, as bot...

CDJ moving on, and better for it
Firstly before I comment on the tracks, I have to say how much I admire the courage, determination and self belief of CDJ. It takes great strength, to leave a label and go it alone,... because you want to do it your own way. Well CDJ, did just that, and in my opinion, was correct in doing so. Love and Negotiation is the best of the 3 albums to-date. 1), love and negotiation, up tempo, nice melody and well sung,.....2) taking back the brave, a life experience song, sung with passion and arranged very well,.....3) got a good day, sultry singing, CDJ can do it all, lovely chorus and great arrangement,.....4) thinkin things, lovely mid tempo track, great song,.....5)everybodys favourite, smashing mid tempo story song, with good vocals,.....6) dreaming without you, a lovely heartfelt ballad sung beautifully,.....7) crybaby, mid tempo, storyteller, lovely arrangement and backing vocals,.....8) little breakdown, wonderfully arranged track,.....9) all you need to know, another great life experience song, with strong melody and great vocals,.....10) into you, showing the fun side of CDJ's singing, great track,.....11) nothing good about lonely, a soft delicate ballad beautifully sung, accompanied by a great vocal by jimmy rankin, this is a real showcase of the talent of CDJ,.....12) mid tempo, great melody and usual high standard of singing from CDJ. Most of the backing vocals are CDJ, and they are extremely well done, adding good dimension to the tracks. 8 tracks were produced by CDJ, and I think the quality of the cd is excellent. I think this is the best of CDJ's 3 albums to-date and would recommend to anyone, that likes contemp country, nice work Carolyn, you were right to follow your heart, and do your own thing.

More CD Johnson
If you like Carolyn Dan Johnson, you'll like this CD. It wasn't, IMO, quite as good as Dress Rehearsal, but it is good.

Without Negotiations Johnson's New CD's Three Times the Charm
Prime Cuts: Dreaming Without You, Nothing Good About Lonely, Everybody's Favorite When it comes to songwriters who have the ruminative skill of translating the rhetoric of the heart to affecting sonic poetry, Carolyn Dawn Johnson is of the highest order. This is evidenced by the Johnson penned "Single White Female," a portent number 1 for Cheryl Wright. As a result, Arista Records has inked with Johnson resulting in two CDs plus a string of hits including "Georgia," "Complicated," "I Don't Want You to Go," "Die of a Broken Heart" among others. However, creative differences have led the intractable blonde to part company with Arista resulting in "Love and Negotiation" being released on Angeline Records, an independent imprint. Without opening any gambits, this new effort comfortably segues into the sonic cleavage between rock and pop with the occasional acquiescence to rustic twang. This means "Love and Negotiation" shows little variance from the type of rock-country of her last two Arista outputs. The only egression being that Dann Huff only co-produces with Johnson on 4 tracks, with the remaining 8 being helmed by Johnson herself. Opportunities for Johnson to showcase her mettle as an acerbic songwriter avail especially in the ballads. Written the day after she walked out of her Arista contract, "Dreaming without You" is a gorgeous ballad that perfectly captures the heartache of the breakup and the angst of facing an unknown future. Current single "Cry Baby," a straight ahead modern breakup ballad that mates effortlessly with the rustic soundscape of the honky tonk, making this the most country-sounding number. Co-penned with Mary Danna, "Nothing Good About Lonely" is another delicious slice of the heart vis-à-vis a subdued piano led backing allowing Johnson's vocals to take center stage. "Everybody's Favorite" is this album's "I Don't Want You to Go," a light peppy number underlining a determined Johnson demanding to be nothing less than her man's favorite. Introduced by a sparse pop beat before giving way into a full-blown garage-like shuffle, "Taking Back My Brave" is teem with attitude as a rejuvenated Johnson forges into future with verve. The title cut, though a little on the mundane side, succinctly sums up the secret of matrimony with some humorous twists: "I've kissed a few Jack's back in my day/Turned a few princes back to toads." However, the rest of the CD borders around the thin line of acceptable and forgettable. Not that they are paltry, rather, if you were to take away the fiddles and steel guitars, these numbers would not be out of place in a Sheryl Crowe or Michelle Branch or Vanessa Carlton CD. There's just nothing that makes them stand out as "Georgia" or "Complicated" had. Overall, this is a mixed baggage: there are definitely some stunning winners as well as some that never rises beyond the nondescript level. In hindsight, maybe Arista Records may not be all wrong in wanting Johnson to twinge her image and songs a little. Though she's known as a songwriter-singer, it does not hurt to give Dean Dillon or Paul Overstreet or Marc Beeson a phone call for a few of their tunes. Vocally Johnson's in fine form, she's just let down by her song choice. There are some great listens, but just don't expect another "Single White Female," Complicated" or another "Masterpiece."