review of Joan's new album
Tim Howard
Her ode to early 70s MOR soul, ex. the "Philadelphia Sound" mostly hits
the mark, but IMO this music is not as good as Motown or Stax, or Fame
Studios...
In an interview included with the CD, Osborne talked about how her
penned songs for the CD (6 out of 16) fooled people who thought they
were remakes too. Good job on her part for capturing that sound, but it
follows they are not spectacular either. Not that most of not very
good, remakes and originals. My favorite remakes (of the 70s, I'll
elaborate on that more later) are "Kiss and Say Goodbye" and ""I've got
to use my imagination." My favorite originals are "I know what's going
on" and "Eliminate the night." Two or three of the remakes could have
been left off, most notably "Sara Smile", which is only interesting as
it hints at Osborne's bi-sexuality that many have speculated on. But
she does the best job with "What becomes of the broken hearted" and
"Heat wave" because she sings them differently than the originals, while
she does more modest versions of the 70s soul songs. The problem is
they sound out of place on this record--and they are, since they were
done for the movie bio "Standing in the Shadows of Motown." I wish
should would have tackled all those songs with less reverence and more
gusto and originality. Perhaps a Motown tribute record. Actually, no.
I don't want another remake or mostly remake album from Joan Osborne.
I want an album of mainly original music.