I'm Just a Girl

Import edition of the singer/songwriter's 2003 album, produced by Deana & Dan Huff & featuring an incredible duet with Dwight Yoakam - 'Waiting', includes one bonus track, 'Ordinary'. 13 tracks. BMG.

After a big but brief run in the late '90s with hits like "Strawberry Wine," Deana Carter faded back into the woodwork. But after divorce from both husband and record label she has bounced back admirably with this provocative, if slightly uneven, album full of quirky lyrics and some irresistible melodies. The album opens with its flaky pop-country title track that's so chock full of calculated down-home imagery it sounds like it was written for a truck commercial. Fortunately it's pretty much uphill from there. On stand-out songs like the vitriolic "Liar," the troubled "You and Tequila," and the comic "Girls' Night" Carter is as intriguing and cutely idiosyncratic as ever. --Bob Allen