The Good: The occasional lyric
The Bad: Most of the lyrics, Overall sound, Themes
The Basics: With minimal appeal for those who were not grabbed by "One Of Us," Relish does not encourage one to give Joan Osborne a second listen.
I recall when Joan Osborne's single "One of Us" was racing up the charts, I was in college and I had a friend who was a Christian fundamentalist. We both hated the song. She hated it because she felt it cheapened God. I think her exact hatred involved the line "A slob like one of us." I loathed the song - outside its near-constant play around the campus and on all of the local radio stations - because it didn't seem to "get" what it was selling. It's selling a Judeo-Christian view on god (". . .if seeing meant that you would have to believe / In things like heaven / and Jesus and the saints and all the prophets . . .") but it doesn't understand what that means. In short, in that theology, god IS one of us. God is ALL of us. So, Joan Osborne was simply peddling another annoying pop song in my book.
Yet, I decided to give Relish a spin and it was surprisingly mediocre (I would have thought, given the lack of quality of its star single, it would have been flat-out terrible). Osborne sings some flat out Christian Rock ditties, like "St. Teresa" and "One of Us," that sound like, well, pretty much what one would expect out of Christian Rock. They are songs about god and living together or being lost without the divine or just what it means to be in a Christian world.
Osborne mixes it up, though, with a cover of Bob Dylan's "Man In The Long Black Coat," which she does competently. She puts in a song that sounds strikingly similar to one of Sheryl Crow's songs, entitled "Let's Just Get Naked." That song is a bit edgy for a Christian rocker; the refrain is "Let's just get naked / Just for a laugh . . ." I guess this is seeing the humor in the image of the divine. Way to go Joan!
She also have some tracks that border on folk music, with songs like "Pensacola" telling stories. "Help Me" has a bluegrass feel to it and like "Man In The Long Black Coat" and "One of Us," was not written - even in part - by Osborne. In the "credit where credit is due" department, Osborne seems to have quite a bit of creative control over Relish, with nine of the twelve songs being written, at least in part, by her. It's always refreshing to see an artist, as opposed to a performer, so Osborne gets credit for that.
In general, though, her sound is comprised of her voice, guitars, bass and drums. It's not a terribly original sound and her voice is nothing to shout about. The vocals are not imaginative, they do not push any envelope. They are bland, average, utterly mediocre within an alto range without any real deviation. Joan Osborne is not terribly articulate on Relish and as a singer, she does not encourage the listener to seek out a performance.
Ultimately, the genre Joan Osborne is in does not so much matter. The female artists I tend to enjoy each have something distinctive about them. Hem is led by an amazing voice, Dar Williams has a great storytelling ability, Heather Nova makes amazingly cohesive albums filled with emotion, Sophie B. Hawkins is a great poet, and even Michelle Branch has a youthful perspective that is energetic and compelling. Osborne has none of these things, leaving very little to relish on Relish.
The best track is the Crow-like song that still manages to rock, "Let's Just Get Naked." The weakest track is "Spider Web" which is obvious and idealistic when it is not being creepy.
For other Folk or Christian Rock works, be sure to check out my reviews of:
…For All The Seasons Of Your Mind - Janis Ian
Pure - Hayley Westenra
Flyleaf - Flyleaf
4/10
For other music reviews, be sure to check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!
© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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