Roch On Music

By Roch Parisien (rocon@achilles.net)

NEW RELEASES CAUGHT IN CLASSIC CONFLICT

JOAN OSBORNE
Relish ***1/2
(Mercury/PolyGram)
*A Morality Play In Two Voices*.

(Voice of the Angel, Stage Right):
"Relish" can be a sharp, bitter-sweet condiment; it can also suggest a determined gusto to live to the fullest. Combined, these two images provide a good taste of Joan Osborne's major label debut (the live Soul Show was self-released in 1992). Grounded in blues, soul and gospel, the Kentucky native wields her gritty voice with personality and forceful presence, kind of Melissa Etheridge meets Sophie B. Hawkins with a splash of Jann Arden.

Osborne's passion for life oozes from the grooves. There's an uplifting fervor to her material and delivery, as if every second, every note was being individually savored. Key track "One Of Us" sets the disc's optimistic tone. It's a simple, direct statement of faith, honest and unadorned, one framed in a near-perfect chorus and delectable Neil Young-ish guitar riff:

"What if God was one of us/Just a slob like one of us/Just a stranger on the bus/Trying to make his way home/Like a holy rolling stone." (A later chorus adds the nice touch "nobody calling on the phone/'Cept for the Pope maybe in Rome.")

That one's getting a lot of airtime up here on Cloud Nine. The lady does seem to have spirituality on her mind. There's the vivid, mandolin-powered, street-life portrait of "St. Theresa" floating "higher than the moon.../every stone a story, like a rosary," and the lurching "Pensacola", accordions to the forefront ("He got the gospel on the radio/And the gospel on TV/He got all of the transcripts back to 1963/He said: I sold my blood for money/There wasn't any pain/But I just can't stand the feeling/It's in someone else's veins"). The imagery's got a thesis in it for someone down there in Theology 101.

Don't get me wrong, this ain't one of those sugary, superficial, goody-two-shoes Amy Grant kind of deals. "Right Hand Man" and "Let's Just Get Naked" confirm that Osborne's earthy, enlightened spirituality shares the same bed with sensuality and sexuality. Well-rounded both lyrically and musically, there's also no contradiction in this universe between "Lumina" s thoughtful balladry and the wailing harp and acoustic slide bursting the seams of "Help Me".

1. Billboard Magazine, Jan. 14, 1995. "Music To My Ears" column by Timothy
White. Column is a mix of album review and artist interview. An example can
be found on the internet at: http://www.panix.com/%7Etneff/dar/billbord.html

2. New York Times, March 5, 1995. Reviewed by Jon Pareles.

3. Rolling Stone, May 4, 1995. Reviewed by Paul Evans and given 4 stars.

4. Request, May 1995. Reviewed by Tom Lanham.

5. CD Review, June 1995. Reviewed by Dan Ouellette and given a rating of 8/8
(out of 10/10) for sound quality and performance.

6. Stereo Review, Oct. 1995. Selected as one of the four "best recordings of
the month" and reviewed by Ron Givens.

7. Stereo Review, Feb. 1996. "Relish" is picked as one of the 12 best
releases of '95. A quote from Givens' review calls Joan, "a highly 
resourceful singer who isn't afraid to take risks."

8. Blues Revue, Feb./March, 1996. Reviewed by Richard John Cummins.

9. Village Voice, Feb. 20, 1996. In the 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll,
"Relish" ended up in 11th place. Pretty good showing considering only 28 
critics (out of 278 who voted) placed "Relish" on their Top 10 lists.
Apparently, there was a great diversity of opinion.  In the poll's Top 25 
singles category, "One Of Us" was 6th.