EMOL Sandra's Country Music Site
CD REVIEW OF
FAITH HILL'S "IT MATTERS TO ME"
(Warner Bros. Records, 1995)
by Sandra L. Toney
Besides being one of the most beautiful women in the country music business, Faith Hill is also quickly becoming one of the most talented. Her latest release, "It Matters to Me," is causing quite a stir in the country music industry. The album has already produced several hits and promises to yield many more.
The first selection on the album became a big hit for Hill because it touches something in most of us as the title suggests, "Living in Someone Else's Dream." Hill sings in her chorus, "She was Daddy's little girl/Momma's little angel/Teacher's Pet, Pageant Queen/She said, 'All my life, I've been pleasin' everyone but me/Waking up in someone else's dream.'" Those words strike a chord in almost anyone who listens to this song.
Although Hill is probably at her best singing meaningful ballads, she holds her on as such upbeat tunes as the radio-hit, "Let's Go to Vegas," the sure-to-become-a-hit attitude song, "Bed of Roses," the longing for love single, "You Will Be Mine." A nice surprise on the album is a foot tappin' gospel tune that sounds like it's coming straight from the halls of a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baptist church, "Keep Walkin' On." Even if you're not a fan of gospel music, Faith Hill just might convert the most skeptical music critic.
As stated earlier, Hill's clear, angelic voice is at its best when singing ballads because she seems to become one with the song as if she speaking from experience. Such sad strains on the album include "A Man's Home is His Castle," the title song, "It Matters to Me," and "A Room in My Heart."
Probably one of the best songs on the album was penned by talented songwriter/superstar, Alan Jackson. The ballad entitled "I Can't Do That Anymore" tells the story of a woman who has lived her life around her husband and how she doesn't want to or, as the title claims, can't do that anymore. The opening lines of the song says it all, "Cut my hair the way you wanted/Watched you become important/Quit my job to make our new home far away/Now you're Mr. Successful and I'm queen of the treadmill/Trying to stay the size you think that I should stay . . ."
Hopefully, this meaningful song will become a big hit for Faith Hill and inspire women who are caught in the web of "living in someone else's dream" to do something about it. Of course, "I Can't Do That Anymore" was written by a man, and not just any man, but Alan Jackson. Hats off to Hill the singer and Jackson the songwriter for a beautiful song destined to become a hit!
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