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Rimes illustrates her range as a singer along with some true strength as a writer, and they help make Family a canny blend of the commercial and the confessional--an album that feels heartfelt, yet is as accessible and enjoyable as her best records.
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Two bonus cuts, 'Till We Ain't Strangers Anymore' with Bon Jovi and 'When You Love Someone Like That' with Reba McEntire, are icing on an immensely satisfying collection.
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The lighthearted genre-hopping suggests nothing so much as a Broadway smash about a restless country star, borrowing from many styles, beholden to none.
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The result is the best, most cogent album of her career.
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Entertainment WeeklyThroughout, Rimes displays new maturity in songwriting, though too often she lapses into posturing power pop. [19 Oct 2007, p.129]
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A carefully manicured, but still lively assortment that highlights her substantial vocal strengths.
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Q MagazineThere's little spark, despite her admirable willingness to take chances. [Nov 3007, p.147]
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The songs are uneven, but the peak is a duet with Mr. Nashville himself, Jon Bon Jovi.
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Like most everything else about Family, it's a calculated risk that pays off.
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A slightly too-smooth production and typically overblown Bon Jovi collaboration act against notions of her as a modern Janis Joplin, but it's certainly disconcerting to hear a big-voiced former AOR child star saying that all she needs is a good friend and a glass of wine.
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True, she sometimes lays it on too thick: edging close to self-parody with bluesy groans and growls, or waxing inspirational (in 'Doesn’t Everybody') about our common need for love. She’s more convincing in 'What I Cannot Change,' a pretty, cello-driven ballad.
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UncutThe results sound like an update of the kind of AOR racket Pat Benatar and Heart were making in the '80s. [Nov 2007, p.116]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 10 out of 12
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Mixed: 0 out of 12
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Negative: 2 out of 12
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LynneKJun 21, 2009
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rogerc.Nov 5, 2007A brilliant beginning to an outstanding new decade of music from Ms. Rimes.
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erich.Oct 27, 2007Amazing vocals. Easily one of the years best cd's.