Cry [Enhanced]

Faith Hill | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 15, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B00006J3UT
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  DVD Audio  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (473 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,931 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Faith Hill finally owns up to what we knew all along. She may be from deep-dish Mississippi, but she isn't a country singer, and never has been. This babe's a diva now. And, as she says in her best Diana Ross voice on "Free," "There ain't nothin' I can do about it." But what she could exercise some control over, as the coproducer of her fifth studio album, is the quality and style of her particular brand of über-pop, which on Cry considerably ratchets up the noise factor from 1999's Breathe. The songs, many written by tunesmiths long working in Nashville, often come stocked with meaningful messages, i.e. the emptiness of addiction ("If You're Gonna Fly") or the momentary connection with a loved one who has passed on ("You're Still Here"). Yet Hill and company (longtime producers Byron Gallimore and Dann Huff, in conjunction with Marti Frederiksen) obviously think the best way to make an R&B/pop record is to build a huge, airless production around screeching guitars, wall-rattling drums, and Big Mama choirs. The singer herself may be, indeed, turning out her best vocals ever. But the album itself is a self-conscious mess--a big, wallowing cacophony of sound that leaves the listener numb. In the end, it's a miserable failure. This chanteuse's R&B just ain't got no soul. --Alanna Nash

Product Description

HILL FAITH CRY

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Taking A Chance On Success, October 17, 2002

By 

Frank J. Foley - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cry (Audio CD)

I don't usually do this. I'm a 50ish white guy up in Vermont with a 5,500 piece record collection not prone to reviewing anything. I like what I like. But, every now and then an artist (and if it was ever in doubt before, it is not now. Faith Hill is an artist - not just a singer)puts out work that cannot be ignored and that you just know you will contiue to play regularly because it gets inside you and changes how you deal with your day or your night or your own self, for that matter. This was a gutsy album to make. Faith Hill's success is not just that of a country singer. Nor of a cross over singer. With each of her albums she has moved in a progression toward...something. It is not easy any more to put her in a nice little niche. This album takes risks musically and lyrically. While she did not write any of the songs, she sings as if she owns each one - passionately. She makes each one her own and you can hear that in the way she takes a familiar word or phrase and stamps (or breathes) her own phrasing into them -making each song (and she) unique. The lyrics are sometimes beautiful (Cry, If This is the End, Beautiful, You're Still Here, Baby You Belong), sometimes wrenching (When the Lights Go Down, This Is Me), brutally honest(Back to You, Stronger,You're Still Here). Sure song writing teams may have put these songs together, but they do NOT feel that way...and they are cetainly not sung or played that way. Musically...some great musicians do some wonderful things on this album. (Headphones help realize the extent of this.) This does not come off as an album dominated by a bunch of talented studio musicians. No, on this album they join Faith Hill in giving every song it's own breath. No two alike. No safe sameness. There are adventurous things going on musically - no twang, no pandering (like a sampler platter of fave craves of the moment) to widen market sales, no effort to create a safe successful album. Faith Hill did not choose to rest on her laurels. Instead she continues to bravely and beautifully move in her progression toward...something. Country? Sure (pure and simple). It's there; she did not stomp on her "roots". Pop? Sure, but no syrup, (no TV contest winner here). There are moving stories here (whether hers or not). There are blues, and gospel tinges, rock (not soft, by the way), and a mix of musicians, instruments and production (she is half of the production team for each song)which make each song unique - while collectively creating a wonderous and moving drama right down to the last words in the last song. Faith Hill is the real deal. There is not a false "note" in this album. Faith Hill is simply and refreshingly honest. However difficult it might be to not consider her beauty, her natural and sincere stage presence, her humor, and her ability to hold her own with David Letterman, this album can (musically and lyrically) stand entirely on it own merits. It is the work (and team work) of a confident artist willing to take risks for the sake of her art. Do I like this album? No, I love this album.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 2nd Review for "Cry", November 3, 2002

By 

Mark (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cry (Audio CD)

The first thing I want to say is sorry to Faith as I bashed this album in my review when the album came out. I was disappointed that this was not her typical music: Country. The fact is this album has grown on me. There are some really great songs on this. Probably my favorite is "Baby You Belong". But other good songs are "If You're Gonna Fly Away", "Unsavable", "Free", "I Think I Will". Faith sounds good but it is completely different than previous material including "Breathe".
Anyway, I think this album will produce many hits and I hope Faith has a long happy career ahead of her.

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not country - but she hits a home run, October 16, 2002

By 

Jamie L. Nelms "Jamie" (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cry (Audio CD)

A lot of people - mostly critics and some country purists - will be upset that Faith Hill has abandoned her familiar country sound on "Cry." There's not a steel guitar or "fiddle" to be heard (although there are "violins" in the string sections). Faith completes the evolutionary process she dabbled in with "Faith" and spotlighted with "Breathe." The vocals on "Cry" are confident, and she has never sounded better. In fact, her vocal arrangements are true to what she sounds like in concert - soulful, edgy and gospel-tinged. Don't expect to find any fluffy subject matter ("This Kiss" or "The Way You Love Me"). This time around, the song selection emotes independence, tough relationships and even anger (the title track). She rocks on the free-spirited "Free," and "This Is Me." Fans of her recent power ballads will find familiar territory in "When The Lights Go Down," "Back To You," and "Beautiful" (a departure with it's spoken verses - her husky delivery pulls it off). Despite the predetermined label of "pop album," and the absence of a duet with husband Tim McGraw, country fans and programmers still have plenty to enjoy: "Baby You Belong" is a perfect, multi-format choice for the second single. She outdoes herself on the dazzling ballad "Stronger," and the quiet yearning of "You're Still Here" is appropriate in our post 9-11 climate. Faith even takes on dance/pop with "If You're Gonna Fly Away," but it's far from teen pop. The song sticks to the album's theme of tough love and a woman finding herself. She rarely stumbles - the album may be a bit overproduced in some areas ("One"), and "Unsaveable" is the only track that seems to be - mismatched and not strong lyrically. At first listen, your first reaction may be that Faith Hill has gone too far. But give it three or four spins, and you do appreciate her honest delivery and her guts to step outside the comfort zone of Nashville. This is a great effort by an artist who refuses to be defined by genres - and she succeeds brilliantly. Definitely recommended.