Martina McBride

What an apt title for Martina McBride's ninth album. Waking Up Laughing exudes the kind of inspired optimism you just can't fake. And this is hardly an easy thing to do when a lot of your lyrical content touches on socially conscious subjects like child molestation ("Beautiful Again") and the hardships of single motherhood ("Love Land"). Opening song "If I Had Your Name" boasts a beefy, southern rock guitar solo, and "For These Times" implements a jaw-dropping, southern, female gospel choir.