US Weekly
By Ian Drew
3 out of 4 stars
Judging from her strong second country disc, Kellie Pickler is not as dumb as she often comes off. The former American Idol castoff — who won surprise raves for her debut Small Town Girl in 2006 — impressively cowrote half of this CD, including clever numbers like “Rocks Instead of Rice,” a feisty fantasy about destroying an ex-flame’s wedding, and the frisky duet with Taylor Swift, “Best Days of Your Life.” Usmagazine.com
People
2 out of 4 stars
Kellie Pickler surprisingly turned a sixth-place finish on American Idol into Nashville gold with her hit debut, 2006’s Small Town Girl. With higher expectations for this follow-up, though, she comes up short. This passable but underwhelming effort doesn’t feel like the work of a major country artist. Most of the songs (five of which she co-wrote, including one with Taylor Swift) aren’t strong enought for her to really dig her red high heels into. Despite her folksy charm, Pickler doesn’t possess the voice to elevate mediocre material like the girl-empowerment single “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful.” But the bitter “Rocks Instead of Rice,” co-written with the same tunesmiths who gave Carrie Underwood “Before He Cheats,” delivers some feisty fun. view SCAN.
USA Today
Brian Mansfield
3 out of 4 stars
The woman who launched her recording career singing about red high heels continues her footwear fetish — “Don’t be sad or broken-hearted,” she sings cheekily in Going Out in Style, “just spread my ashes in the shoe department.” The song, which begins like a sappy ballad worthy of an American Idol finale, isn’t really about shoes, though; Pickler, like Dolly Parton or Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday, loves to set up stereotypes only to confound them. Half the time, she’s a blonde caricature, singing about throwing rocks instead of rice at a wedding or taunting an ex in a song she wrote with Taylor Swift. But just when Pickler convinces you she’s nothing but a confectionary creation of mascara, hairspray and shapely legs, all the artifice falls away and she sings something simple and plaintive, like “I just want somebody to love me.” That vulnerable girl’s in every song here — sometimes she’s just biding her time behind catty humor and country-pop hooks. USA Today
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