Women of Country - Album Reviews

Album Review

Jamie O'Neal
Brave
Capitol Records

It’s been a long five year wait for Jamie O’Neal fans to get a new album. After her debut album Shiver spawned such massive radio hits as “There Is No Arizona” and “When I Think About Angels” it seemed like O’Neal was well on her way to obtaining superstar status but the music industry has a way of complicating things. After recording a second album for Mercury which was never released Jamie parted ways with the record label and it looked like O’Neal’s star was going to crash and burn as quickly as it had rose. Thankfully, Capitol Records quickly signed Jamie and work on a second album began again. Brave is end result of the long, drawn out wait for new music and it’s a completely serviceable collection of modern country pop tunes.

The lead off single “Trying to Find Atlantis” is classic Jamie O’Neal. She nails this song and you’ll be hard pressed to not find yourself humming the song hours after you last heard it. If she can keep finding songs like this then she’ll find herself a constant staple on country radio. “Devil on the Left” is the other real winner on this record. It would make a great follow-up single. The soaring “Naïve” will be sure to draw comparisons to Faith Hill. In fact, a lot of this record will remind you of something Faith would record. “When Did You Know” is a stunning power ballad that shows off a seemingly new found vocal power that Jamie now processes. This song is absolutely belted out.

Unfortunately, the rest of the album is fairly generic. “Girlfriends” is just a cheesy Shania Twain wannabe romp through the pop landscape. People need to learn that Shania is somehow able to pull this off and get away with it, but most others can’t. “Somebody’s Hero” is another song in the endless stream of parent singing about their children songs that have been pouring out of Nashville lately and while it’s better than most of them it’s still getting a little repetitive. The title track is also nothing special.

In the end, Brave isn’t the kind of quality record that Shiver was. The album is an enjoyable listen with a number of powerhouse vocal performances but there just isn’t much here that stands out from all the other mainstream country albums you’ve heard in the last few years. O’Neal took absolutely no chances with this album and the end result is a record which has a “been there, done that” feel to it. That said, Jamie has a fantastic voice and as long as you don’t go into this expecting something earth shattering you’ll enjoy your journey through Brave.

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.