Women of Country - The Internet's #1 Guide to Female Country Music

Album Review

Faith Hill
Cry
Warner Bros. Records

Faith Hill has been on a monster of a roll the last couple of years. It started with “Its Your Love,” the hit duet with her husband, Tim McGraw. Hill’s career continued to skyrocket with “This Kiss” and “Breathe” which set the charts on fire and moved plenty of copies of her albums off the shelf. Now she’s back again with Cry, an obvious attempt to cash in on her name recognition and cross over into Britney Spears realm in the name of record sales. It’s a sad thing to see and ultimately she can’t compete with the current batch of pop superstars. The end result is a record that is completely unsatisfying.

From the opening 5 seconds of “Free”, the albums opening track, things already start to slide down hill. The synthesized pop is so overdone that it just makes you want to roll your eyes. Faith’s voice instantly feels lost in the studio glitz. “Beautiful” continues the trend of boring spoken verses songs that Nashville has seemed to fall in love with and ends up just being completely dull. Then we’re treated to slower songs like “Cry” and “Baby You Belong” which make listening to a Celine Dion album look tame in comparison. “If You’re Gonna Fly Away” is a blatant attempt to break into the R&B marketplace and it falls flat on its face. The bouncy rhythm of “One” might have lead somewhere until the overdone background vocals and weak lyrics came into the picture.

There are only a few songs on this album that hold up to the quality of music that Faith Hill is capable of. She tones down the studio glitter on “Stronger” and it allows her soulful voice to really have its full impact. “You’re Still Here” also gives Faith something to sink her teeth into. She needs to look for more songs like these, songs that allow her voice to standout and win people over. It’s a powerful tool that isn’t allowed to stand on its own two feet much on this record.

Faith Hill is truly a talented singer but this new album Cry is truly a disaster in every sense of the word; it’s a record that never even makes it off the ground. It’s an obvious attempt to cash in on Faith’s growing name and cross into the pop and R&B world. This alone is not a bad thing. However, the songs, the production, and to some extent Faith’s performances just aren’t convincing. Something about the entire experience feels phony. Cry won’t satisfy country fans and it ultimately won’t please the pop market in the long run. Put this one down on the short list for disappointment of the year.

Album Review by Jeff Krasky

The WOC Rating Scale

The album stands above the rest. This is a record that every country music fan needs to have in their collection.

This album is better than the average release. A strong record with some flaws that keep it from reaching that 5 star level.

This album is an average country release. Doesn't posses qualities that make it stand out among all the other albums out there.

A weak record that lacks solid songs or good vocal performances. Sample before you buy.

This record is a bargin-bin reject that just isn't worth the time or the money. Completely misses the mark.