Miranda Lambert photo by Randee St. Nicholas, courtesy of Front Page Publicity.

To ensure the album had both cohesiveness and spontaneity, the vast majority of it was recorded in one whirlwind session in early 2009 (excepting two tracks that were laid down last November). "It was old school," says Lambert. "We went in and cut the whole project in a week. I didn’t want to go record two songs one day and then two weeks later go record some more, and so on. We did it all as a single project, a vibe record. Usually the studio is really stressful, and this time it was just fun. It just felt like making music? not work."

Stylistically, she says, "This record is country—a lot more country than the other two. And I’m so glad about that. I didn’t plan on writing more country songs or go into it with a style in mind, I just wrote what I felt and put it on the album." Of course, diehard traditionalists should be warned that, while she’s capable of getting as pure honky-tonk as any young performer out there, Miranda is definitely a volume dealer. "My bass player brought up a good point: ‘You write country songs and put a rock beat to ‘em.’ So ‘Maintain the Pain’ is definitely a country lyric, but it’s got a classic rock sound to it."

And mind-set? "I still hear the classic Miranda Lambert lyric and voice and attitude. But I definitely feel like this record’s more well-rounded than the other two. I feel like it’s a little more grown up." Not that she didn’t always have a certain precocity. "My parents were private investigators, and I saw a lot and heard a lot growing up. As a family we went through financial hard ships while growing up, off and on we had to "grow" our own food. Going through all that really does stick with you, builds your character and lets you know who you are.

Miranda has been through some changes in the last 2 years, like moving from Texas to Oklahoma, where she bought a farm a few miles away from her boyfriend Blake Shelton’s.

"It is like moving to another country, if you’re from Texas!" she interrupts, laughing. "I have a little house on my parents’ place that I’ve had for a long time. But I felt like I couldn’t live 100 feet from my parents the rest of my life. So I bought a farm, and it’s been the most amazing place. I feel like I gained some independence by buying some land and some animals and raising chickens. I really feel very grown-up now!"

There is a measure of romantic contentedness in some of Revolution’s songs, like the aforementioned "Love Song," or even the wryly mocking opening track, "Only Prettier." But if you’re worried that Lambert might get a little too settled for her own musical good, don’t. Was it hard to tap into tension when she was feeling that good about her personal life? "I found it amazingly easy," she counters. "Being happy and in love is the worst thing for your figure and your country music songwriting. But even though I’m happy and have a really great life right now, I found some angst."

The maturity of ballads like "Virginia Bluebell" and "Love Song" doesn’t preclude a fair share of new material in which Miranda definitely still acts her impetuous age. "I wrote from my perspective and where I am at 25 years old. It is who I am, and it’s pretty honest." That bluntness extends to interviews. "I’ve always been open and really say my opinion. Not in a rude way; I don’t ever want it to come across as cocky. I’m not cocky, I’m confident. I just think I have something to say. If people don’t like it, then they don’t like it. You can agree to disagree."

You may get an even greater sense of Miranda's firebrand side from "Heart Like Mine," in which the singer writes about her expectations of the hereafter? which involves Jesus greeting her with a couple of wine glasses.

"I grew up in church, and I’ve been a Christian my whole life. My mom always says I cut my teeth on a church pew. It could be autobiographical in a way, because I’ve definitely had my share of being judged but I’m playing a character a little bit in every song, too."

Miranda is a character, in a lot of people’s minds—and while she doesn’t actively try to go against the Music Row grain, she doesn’t mind if she’s perceived that way.

"I hope I’ve been able to break open some doors for more open-mindedness in country. People have told me I have. But it’s been a lot of work, and it’s been a lot of putting my feet in the dirt and saying, here’s the line I won’t cross. I may have lost a lot of things for it or I may have gained a lot of things. But I know that I sleep great at night. I hope to do this forever, whether it will be performing for 10,000 fans or singing in some bar, 20 years from now."

Fortunately for country fans, we’re still at the relative beginning of Miranda’s career, able to relish a performer who only seems to be as seasoned as someone in her 40s while really having decades ahead of her. May she continue maturing in all the right ways—and failing to lose her youthful feistiness in all the right ones, too. As they say: Viva la Revolution.