'DECONSTRUCTION'
(12-track LP/ 1999/ 'CAPITOL RECORDS')
How time flies. This album, at time of first hearing and writing-about, is already four years old.
I bet you remember the name Meredith Brooks, right? In an ideal world she might be married to fellow soft-rock one-hit wonder Chesney Hawkes, seen as though this guitar-loving gal lapped up little more success or acclaim after her 'Bitch' anthem.
She's probably being dubbed 'a glorified Shania Twain' and thus largely ignored on that premise alone: there's no denying the two singers do sound extraordinarily alike the other, although my money would perpetually be with Meredith if they fought against each other in a mock 'wannabe Celebrity Deathmatch,' as Brooks is by far the feistiest and foxiest, and unlike the queen of pop-pout Mrs. Twain, Merry Dith graces at least a couple of her songs with genuine heart and soul as on the bare-backed acoustic nicety 'Nobody's Home.'
'Sin City,' in a similar artery, is acoustic, while 'Bored With Myself' oozes Chris Mills-styled self-pity - which is always nice, let me assure ya.
So as Twain-the-poser rakes in the acclaim and millions of dollars that go with her superstardom, the equally as talented Brooks pitifully wallows in relative obscurity.
'Why?,' I ask. 'Why?' (STEVE RUDD)
www.meredithbrooks.com www.hollywoodandvine.com