Faith Hill proves with her new CD, Cry, that she can go beyond her country roots. On Cry, moving ballads, up-tempo dance beats and medium-tempo songs come together to make a thoroughly pop album — with just a hint of country.
The ballads on this album are brought to life by Hill’s emotional interpretation of the music and her powerful vocals, which are Cry’s strongpoint. The most notable songs are “When the lights go down” and “Cry.” Many of the songs deal with love and the different situations a person might find himself or herself in, in a relationship.
A favorite is “You’re still here,” which is about finding the presence of a loved one you can no longer be with in the simple things around you. Some of the lyrics are “You’re still here/ I can see you in my baby’s eyes . . . / Oh, you’re everywhere we’ve ever been/ You’re still here/ I heard you in a stranger’s laugh/ And I hunger to hear him laugh again/ Just once again.”
Another song on the album, “This is Me,” clearly is directed toward all of Hill’s fans — “Yeah I have my addictions/ I keep my share of secrets/ And things you’ll never see/ I get selfish and defensive/ I pay too much attention to my insecurities/ I’m just like everybody else/ I try to love Jesus and myself.”
The melodies of some of the songs on this album could be improved to make the songs a bit more interesting. An example is “Beautiful,” which doesn’t even have a melody except for the chorus. The verses of this song consist of Hill’s voice, speaking the lyrics. This gets old after about the first three spoken words, which is a shame because the chorus is quite good.
Cry most likely will appeal to a wider audience than Hill’s previous albums because of its pop tunes. But country fans won’t have a reason to shun it because she maintains some of her country roots as well.
