Family

This sounds like a pivotal release for Rimes, who made her breakthrough as a childhood prodigy with an uncanny vocal resemblance to Patsy Cline, and then evolved into an eclectic diva who couldn't quite decide what she wanted to be when she grew up. She's all grown up now, as both the sensual "Upper Hand" and the spiritual "What I Cannot Change" attest. Rimes had a hand in writing all the material (except for the bonus-cut duets with Jon Bon Jovi and Reba McEntire), and themes of family--though not always her family--pervade the lyrics. Musically, this is grittier, harder-edged, and more propulsive than much of her previous fare, with the title cut and "Nothin' Better to Do" evoking the Southern country soul of Bobbie Gentry, her duet with Marc Broussard on "Nothing Wrong" riffing like the Rolling Stones, and "One Day Too Long" sounding like the female Otis Redding. She's lost none of her supple upper register, as the balladry of "Pretty Things" attests, but Leann Rimes in no longer just a pretty voice. --Don McLeese

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Album Review: LeAnn Rimes – ‘Family’