Righteous Love by Joan Osborne

Pros: Osborne's power and versatility - and she seems to be having fun
Cons: some cuts wildly overproduced

If you've never heard of Joan Osborne, well, it's not my fault. It's probably the fault of massively-formatted airplay that revolves half around commercial success and half around the truly absurd concept that thinking people fit into nice little musical ...

Pros: Yeah, this is a different Joan Osborne all right--she's even better than on the choppy Relish
Cons: There's still a little bit of the "huh?" factor in the lyrics

Joan Osborne was almost a one-hit wonder.

Back in 1995, a lot of people were grooving to the funky, quirky "One of Us" which dared to suggest that God might walk among the unwashed down here on terra firma. Some people probably...

Pros: Joan osbornes's welcome and sometimes brilliant return
Cons: inconsistent deserving t of 3 1/2 stars

RIGHTEOUS LOVE, Joan osborne's long awaited followup to the dynamite RELISH; Is a cd that can be described as sometime's brilliant sometimes good sometimes awful, with the rest of the time floating in between those three categories. On one hand you ...

Pros: great songs, more emphasis on Joan's powerful and edgy voice
Cons: the studio takes something away from her rawness (is that a word?)

Sometimes, the artists and the suits don’t see eye to eye. The reason Joan’s album was delayed so long (Relish was released in 1996) is because Mercury didn’t like the songs she gave them, and ended up dropping her. (Their loss.) I cannot imagine the...

Pros: rich music. soulful voice. funky groovy rockin'
Cons: not enough songs. did she have to remake the hope floats song?????

Did you know Joan Osborne had a new CD out? Neither did I. Oh, sure, I was lucky enough to catch her interview in Entertainment Weekly, but when the album actually came out, I had no clue. That's called marketing skills. Go, Interscope, Go, Interscope,...

Pros: as usual for Osborne, creative and musically sound
Cons: some low spots, such as "Love Is Alive"

Five years and a record label have elapsed between Joan Osborne's break-through album, "Relish" and her latest effort, "Righteous Love." I'm still learning to like this one, but it's growing on me, it truly is.

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Pros: A spirited comeback by one of the more respectable artists and critical darlings.
Cons: (I can't put my finger on it just yet)

There is much to be said about artist integrity. Or, more precisely, artists who aim to be in control of not only their art but by a larger extension, their destiny. Ani Difranco's got it, as do most her folk brethren. Fugazi's got it, as do many in the...

Pros: Just good music.
Cons: None.

I've been waiting for this CD ever since hearing "Relish" for the first time, and while "Righteous Love" doesn't have any of the pop-polish of her first album, it puts Joan on the map as the most rock-solid, versatile singer out...