Righteous Love

Righteous Love, unlike its 1995 breakthrough predecessor, Relish, is more profane than sacred. In fact, Osborne gets rather bawdy on "Baby Love," which details the pain and perils of involvement with a considerably younger man, and on the gender-bending "If I Was Your Man." The invigorated Kentuckian does seem to be describing love of the celestial kind on the title cut. And, like the Beatles, Alanis Morrisette, and Madonna before her, Osborne makes a detour to Mother India; raga elements spice up "Running Out of Time," the aforementioned "If I Was Your Man," and the outstandingly alliterative "Grand Illusion." The Osborne of Righteous Love is a graceful chameleon capable of conjuring the specters of Laura Nyro, Carole King, and Bonnie Raitt at their edgiest. She throws in a dash of gospel in "Angel Face," only to become a plaintive victim of love in Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love." But throughout, she proves that she's a survivor, borne up on wings of her own construction, singing fierce tales of renewal, empowerment, and endurance. --Jaan Uhelszki Amazon.com

DISAPPOINTING

joan's beautiful voice is too frequently buried in the arrangements, and the songwriting is disappointing. dylan's ability to write beautiful lyrics as evidenced on the final track of the cd reveals how pedestrian the previous songs' lyrics are. somehow i kept thinking joan was trying too hard to be the rebirth of janis joplin and not giving us the original artist she can be. November 11, 2006

Brilliant forgotten album

This album got barely any press when it was released and did not yield any hit singles. But, five years later, it sounds amazing..."Righteous Love," "Safety In Numbers," "To Make You Feel My Love," "Baby Love," all the songs on this CD shine, and I can honestly say it's one of the best CDs of the '00s. Trully timeless. July 22, 2005

So soulful and not afraid to push boundaries...

Osborne is so soulful and not afraid to push boundaries, she should be around a long time. This is the kind of album you can play over and over without getting sick of it. She also does great covers of Bob Dylan and Gary Wright October 25, 2004

Inspired, but not inspiring

Five years in the making and two record labels later, it's no wonder that 'Righteous Love' fails to live up to the stunning debut, 'Relish'.

The first thing you notice when you put this one on the CD player is that the production has been turned up and a middle-eastern flair has been added. This influence, by now over-exploited by Alanis Morissette and Madonna, is felt strongest on "If I Was Your Man" (one of the stronger tunes), is a welcome addition on the hard rocking "Hurricane", but is completely out of place on the funky, upbeat opener, "Running Out of Time".

Unlike the first record, there is a lot of pure pop on here, including the title track and first single, a 50s throwback that completely bombs, while the Gary Glitter cover, "Love Is Alive", and the horn-driven, "Baby Love", both work a little bit better.

All in all, the loss of co-writer/collaborator Eric Bazilian from the debut is evident here. Songs like the upbeat "Running Out of Time" and the bluesy "Angel Face" certainly have potential, but fall a bit short of greatness lyrically.

Although the record as a whole is a softmore slump, in fairness, I should mention that there are not a few gems here. The funky "Safety In Numbers" (drawing the bass-line right out of the Stones' "Miss You") and the now obligatory Dylan cover "To Make You Feel My Love" are as good as anything on the debut, musically and lyrically. September 11, 2004

Keep listening

The first two times I listened to this album I wasn't sure that I liked it or not. Since it was the only CD in my car I listened to it about four times before I decided that I like it a lot. The musical elements are familiar but the way they are put together are fairly original which makes it difficult to listen to until you've become more accustomed to it. The lyrics are right up there with "Relish" if not a bit more clever. Definatly good to groove to, good driving music, good working music. The songs just seem to move. June 23, 2004

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