[1] After finishing her successful Play On Tour in December 2010 to promote her third studio album Play On, Underwood started working on the album, but took her time, as she "wanted to change things up", and needed to step away from the "celebrity bubble" to "have real things to write about and to sing about".
It took her over one year to finish the album, which, according to Underwood, ended up having a "darker storyline" than her previous efforts.
After Underwood's Play On Tour ended in December 2010, she started to work on her fourth studio album.
Together, the trio wrote "Two Black Cadillacs", which is about two women finding out that they both are involved in a relationship with the same man and set their differences aside to kill him.
Underwood said that "it was so much fun to write and just be in that room" with Lindsey and Kear, as they "didn't really know what to expect or where we were headed or what we would end up with.
[9] Ashley Gorley described writing the single, "Good Girl", saying, "I was out in Los Angeles working on projects with Chris [DeStefano.]
We all thought it would be a great combination and turns out we were right!”[10] Blown Away received mostly positive reviews from music critics.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave a positive review to the album, awarding it with four stars out of five and said: naturally, this showstopping act suits a former American Idol winner but, better still, this exercise in turn-of-the-millennium nostalgia is executed with skill and savvy, offering the kind of larger-than-life power ballads and cheerful, clomping arena country.
"[24] Jessica Nicholson of Country Weekly rated the album with four stars out of five and said: "This is easily Carrie’s most well-rounded and confident work to date".
The New York Times gave a positive review to the album and said: Ms. Underwood enjoys rage; her huge voice, both naïve and muscular, is well suited to it.
“Blown Away” is only her fourth album, but that number belies her concrete-hard place in the country firmament, with a combination of vocal ambition and toughness that recalls a younger Martina McBride.
Is more thematic and unified, resulting in Underwood's strongest effort to date, which easily leaves her previous releases twisting in the wind.
[25] At USA Today, Elysa Garnder told that the release "both reaffirms her natural gifts and makes us continue to root for her to push beyond them.
'"[26] While Johnathan Keefe of Slant magazine wasn't overly impressed with the album in his review, giving the album 3 stars, he did give Underwood credit for "at least tak[ing] far more creative risks than she ever has before and occasionally stray[ing] from a formula that had become stale and predictable.
"[28] Sean Daly of Tampa Bay Times gave the album a C, saying, "Cliche pleadings for lost love dominate Blown Away, which sounds a lot more Hollywood safe than Nashville tough.
"[29] Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone gave the album 2.5 out of 5 stars saying that "Underwood's voice is as powerful as ever, but Blown Away tries too hard, ratcheting up melodrama with strings and effects.
She is the third female to chart at number one on the Billboard 200 with three country albums, thus tying her with Linda Ronstadt and Faith Hill.
[40] In January 2020, the album received a 3× Platinum certification from the RIAA for 3 million units in sales and streams.
[46] With the release of her highly anticipated fourth album, Underwood made numerous television, radio, and online appearances.
[47] On May 26, she headlined at Bayou Country Superfest in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, performing several new songs from the album.
[52] The opening act for Underwood on the North American leg of the tour was country singer Hunter Hayes.
Underwood donated $1 from each ticket sold on the North American leg of the tour to support the Red Cross disaster relief.