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Number of Cry (2002) Reviews: 1
Reviewer: John Fitzgerald, Human resources staff database assistant December 16, 2002 There has been much talk over whether Faith Hill should "remain within Country" or not.
To me, the song itself is the most important thing regardless of style and for the most part
"Cry" does not disappoint. It sure does seem as though Faith wishes to further herself
from the Country tag and move towards Diva type torch ballads as exemplified on the title
cut (which is sort of a soundalike to the title track to her "Breathe" album), "When the
lights go down" & the closing "Youre still here" which is a piano & orchestral tune with a
slight "There you'll be" tinge but this song is not nearly as effective as TYB was. What's left are the
guitar & beat orientated pop & rock numbers. The jolting opener "Free" is a dirty
sounding funk driven track which certainly works better live than on record going by
Faith's recent live performances aired on TV (with Bekka of course!) but certainly can't
be denied here either. Speaking of funky tunes, "One" (the Burnette/Bramlett co-penned
with Roboff ditty) works even better in this vein and has a stronger hook than "Free"
does. The other Bramlett co-penned tune "Unsaveable" is less favorable but is more pop
and has a slight soul feel which is more surprising. As Faith obviously wanted to make a
bold rocking declaration with this album, perhaps the closer should've been a rocker such
as "If you're gonna fly away" as it remains upbeat throughout and is slightly anthemic but
where it actually is (at track 8) is somewhat anti climatic on a full album listening. Other
rockers are the less memorable "I think I will" (which maybe should've been sequenced
where "If you're gonna fly away" ended up), the louder statement "This is me" and the
slow tempo but hard rocking "Back to you" which includes screaming "wah wah" rock
guitars. Ballad fans need not worry though as there are still a few to comment on here.
Those that enjoy the title track may also enjoy "Beautiful" but the "talk sing" approach
during the verses may be an acquired taste. "Baby you belong" has a somewhat tired
ballad structure that I'm sure you've heard many times over elsewhere but strangely, it still
does really work. "If this is the end" is a sort of power ballad style which may be the track
to typify what may have been expected as a "pop" song from Faith on this record so I'd
imagine this may be a future single. Speaking of power ballads "Stronger" oddly enough
starts out as the closest thing to Country on the album with a sensitive acoustic guitar led
part but then it eventually works it's way in to power ballad territory. The "Cry" single has
2 non album tracks presumably from these sessions ("Wicked" & "Shadows") but it's
unclear as to whether there was any Bekka involvement on those 2 tracks or not. However, Bekka can be
heard very well on many of the 12 songs she is on from this record which makes it another
plus for us here. The enhanced section of the CD includes a 5-10 minute documentary that
is the same piece that appears on the DVD Audio version of this release. I've heard many
say they felt as though this music was "depressing" stuff (apparently compared to more
uplifting material Hill previously had done) but sad to say (no pun intended) I think the
most heartfelt songs are the sad ones so if the best songs to use are the sad one making for
a "sad album" then I would say "so be it". In the end as I say, the SONG is the most
important thing to me and I'd say most of them are winners and I personally think the
"musical shakeup" was much needed and has driven a breath of fresh air in to the Hill
musical cannon. Sure it's got it's cliches and it's overused toys in today's music business
but under such gloomy circumstances, it's the best outcome we could've hoped for.
