A relatively new, nonwriting artist is at the mercy of outside material, selected not just by the performer but by the producer and record label, each with not-always-overlapping priorities. It's long odds that a truly satisfying, no-weak-cuts album can come of this song-selection-by-committee approach , but Martina McBride pulled it off on her second album, 1993's The Way That I Am. McBride's vocal versatility is a big plus; she sings the four ballads here exceptionally well, with "That Wasn't Me" and "She Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" especially affecting. Better yet are the uptempo songs, to which she adds just the right pinch of polite raunch. The breakthrough hit "My Baby Loves Me" is structured too close to "I Fought the Law" for comfort, but kicks satisfyingly; "Life #9" is delightfully spunky; "Heart Trouble" is well-executed modern rockabilly; and the Pam Tillis/Bill Lloyd collaboration "Goin' to Work" effectively extols the virtues of a job as a salve for heartache. The album's key track is the powerful "Independence Day," Gretchen Peters' groundbreaking table turner about a battered wife who burns house and hubby to ashes one symbolic July 4. McBride's impassioned performance is a fitting cap to a first-rate collection. --Ken Barnes
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