This Woman
LeAnn Rimes, now 22, can't catch a break. After she belted her way into national consciousness at 13 with the Grammy-winningBluein 1996, comparisons toPatsy Clinecame flying around every corner. She spent the rest of the decade ducking countryphiles' charges that she had sold out (a few miscalculations in the electronic-dance direction are all it takes, apparently), and by the release of 2002's unselfconsciously poppyTwisted Angel, the genre had largely given up on her--her much-publicized move to Nashville notwithstanding. Now, if you believe early buzz onThis Woman, she's back and ready to be re-embraced. You'd have to be a hard-hearted purist to turn her away: though tracks like "When This Woman Loves a Man," tucked toward the bottom of the disc, owe more toJanis Joplinthan toTammy Wynette, it's impossible to argue withThis Woman's casually country aesthetic. Rimes's earthy unscarred voice is huger than ever, inhabiting lyrics that are no longer two sizes too big, and jolts of Cline-esque howling andBlack Crowes-y guitar raise the interest bar. Call it a pleasingly solid stab at a reconciliation with her country base, but don't call it kid stuff--one glance at the cover, and it's clear the onetime child prodigy has grown into her title. --Tammy La GorceRecommended Contemporary CrossoverLeAnn Rimes,BlueFaith Hill,FaithShania Twain,The Woman in MeMartina McBride,MartinaFaith Hill,BreatheShania Twain,Come on Over