Customer Reviews

Just Believe It

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Susan Cowsill's first solo album is powerful with an excellent mix of songs that are firmly rooted in life experience and deliver a wallop in their expression. Frustrations punch through on "Talk," "You just sit around and sit around talking sh*t around town." Lucinda Williams joins for a guest vocal on "Nanny" which boasts a stunning original lyric and an aching melody, "With all the endless summer days, watching winter while it fades, autumn's sunlight through the trees, the scent of springtime on the breeze, it's real life that sets you free, can I take it all with me?" and then the amazing chorus, "I don't want to leave this Earth." "Gazebo" is a dark swirling Cowsill original whose melody starts awkwardly like an ill-fitting relationship, "If I sit quiet in the green room & do your dishes everyday, Stay out of your secret closets where you always went to play, and I've seen your monkey shaking in his cage as you walk by, Just thinking about the old house always seemed to make you cry." "Christmas Time" is another excellent track. The title track "Just Believe It" is a bright uptempo ditty with Susan's voice sailing joyfully, "The way I see it, we make a choice, Take or leave it, just believe it, Tell me now, what are you going to do?" There are two covers on the set which are both excellent. Sandy Denny's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" has such a tender reading that as much as I loved Judy Collins' version, this one moves me immensely, "Across the evening sky, all the birds are leaving, but how can they know it's time for them to go?" The unaccredited 15th track is a stunning version of the Beach Boys' classic "Don't Worry Baby" with female harmonies drenching the familiar melody in a fond embrace. After being part of the Cowsills who had hits "Hair," "Indian Lake," & "The Rain the Park & Other Things" and then doing backup singing with Dwight Twilley, Hootie & the Blowfish, Smithereens, Carlene Carter & Jules Shear, and three fine sets as part of Continental Drifters, Cowsill delivers a knockout first solo set that just gets deeper the more you listen. Bravo!

I don't know what to say, this is simply one of the best singer/songwriters in the world today, finally making her solo debut. You will be amazed at the range of emotions expressed here by Susan and the great supporting musicians surrounding her. It will make you think. It will make you dance. It will make you think about dancing. Do yourself a favor and get it, and get one for a friend. PASS IT ON! And see Susan and the band live if you ever get the chance.
It's a celebration of all things GOOD in music! I know you know what I'm talking about.
There's nobody more deserving of success and recognition than Susan Cowsill.

Susan Cowsill's "Just Believe It" is a real gem and is a must buy. It offers end to end smoothness, soul searching, and introspect rare in recordings these days. The production is very good and Susan's voice is excellent.

Susan Cowsill is one of those rare artists who can take events of her life and turn it into great songs without sounding self serving or preachy with "Nanny's Song" and "I Know you Know" being prime examples of this.

She blows away many other female artists in her vocal ability including Sheryl Crow. I tend to feel the tonality of her voice compares to Stevie Nicks without the things about Stevie Nicks's voice I never liked, with Susan's range and inflextion being superior.

It seems the songs on "Just Believe It" were gathered over a long time span which, in the case of this CD, helps garner the strength of the release as opposed to many who release a recording with seemingly nothing in particular to say. The range of emotions felt on "Just Believe It" covers the whole spectrum.

I rate this CD a Five out of Five.

A companion to this CD would be the Cowsills' excellent "Global" available privately from Robin Records.

Susan Cowsill's solo effort "Just Believe It" is hard to categorize. When I listen to one song, I want to say it's pop, but then I listen to another and it reminds me of bluegrass country music. You'll have to be the final judge. While listening to the CD, I felt as if I was transported down south. The acoustics were phenomenal. Out of 14 tracks, I liked at least 5. Tracks number 4, 5, 7, 8, and 13. "I Know You Know," "Nanny's Song" and "White Light of Winter" stand out the most to me.--Shelia M Goss, BellaOnline Women in Music

Well I love it. Cowsill does have a distinctive voice, but I think it's soulful, expressive and effective. In a way this is somewhat like a poppier Lucinda Williams (who sings memorable harmonies on the achingly gorgeous "Nanny's Song"). There are some
references to Continental Drifters & even The Cowsills, and a bit of pop sheen compared to say, the Drifters. But okay with me. What I like too is the sense of 'hard won' optimism that is here overall, even if many of the songs are also ballsy and realistic. Her dramatic read of "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" is one of the greatest I think-- only Sandy Denny herself can compete, and she
sang it rather differently. I think Susan stakes out a significant solo place here-- roots
rock/folk/pop with heart.

When you're a small town disc jockey playing Indie artists as I do, which I find is taboo everywhere else, I never give a thought to artists that once were. I do sometimes reflect on where past artists are today and what they're up to and sometimes it's sad, happy or amazing. I've become totally amazed at the talent Susan Cowsill has evolved into after years in the business. I lost track of the Cowsills thinking they were doing other things. I just had a very rewarding musical history lesson I wish I could share here, but the bottom line is that Susan Cowsill has swept me off my feet with her voice, her lyrics, her sound and her life's story! "Just Believe It" has become my most listened to CD to date and I see it remaining my favorite for a very long time. Susan's voice will melt candles without fire. Long overlooked, under estimated and under played, her time is overdue! You will keep this in your homes, your vehicles, your iPods and you will still find ways to keep her voice near to you! Susan is an example of true quality, honesty, integrity, talent and a voice to be reckoned with! Her legacy is only starting. The best is on it's way! I proudly play Susan every day on my show and really cannot forsee a day she will disappear. I love Susan and her music and can only give honest praise where it's due! KRIM-FM 96.3 in Payson, Arizona is in support of her all the way and on my show, Kit's Korner, you will hear her and be happier for it!

Probably the best CD of the year & definitely the best "debut." Offhand, I like "Palm Of My Hand," "Just Believe It," "Gazebo," and especially "White Light" as the hits for the radio (Just Play It) -- but, the WHOLE CD is TERRIFIC. If it's possible to wear out a CD, I'll do it to this one! THANK YOU SUSAN! (may we have some more?)

Susan Cowsill certainly is a survivor. Who would have believed she would be bobbing up with a debut album, forty years after the Summer of Love and "The Rain, the Park, and Other Things"?

Susan, it seems, stored a lot of songs away in her attic in preparation for this album... it really covers a lot of ground stylistically! At times it can seem very ambitious (it has a repeated theme running through it, like Willie Nelson's "Red-Headed Stranger") and at other times it can seem almost off the cuff. The album balances upbeat alt-country anthems like "Palm of My Hand" and "Just Believe It" against rather dreary imitations of Lucinda Williams territory, like "Talkin", and the albums lowpoint, "Crazy".

Cowsill is possessed of a good but unspectacular voice, which she can shade so it sounds at times like Williams, or Sheryl Crow, and there's even a touch of Karen Carpenter's poppiness.

She's better when she's upbeat. "I Know You Know" is a chip off the Breeders' block, with it's roaring ditzy guitars, and "Just Believe It" is an infectious country shuffle. "Nanny's Song" is memorable, but "Who Knows Where The Time Goes" is very ordinary compared with the majesty of Sandy Denny's original.

The bonus tracks--"Mr.Everything" and "Don't Worry Baby" outshine a few of the downtempo offerings.

If Cowsill had been a little more judicious, this could have been a five-star debut. Susan drove her brand new album all over the map... but it still has a lot of sparkle, and worthily stands up alongside other alt-country contenders like Kathleen Edwards.

I don't usually take the time to write a music review, and typically find the "five star parade" for any piece of junk pretty tiring. But I have to sound off about this release. This is the first disc in years that I have just listened to over and over again. And it's by SUSAN COWSILL of Cowsills fame?? Who'da thunk it?!

I have the first two Continental Drifters CD's and noted and enjoyed Susan's contributions on those releases, and I knew she sang backup for Dwight Twilley back in the day, which is why I checked this one out. That didn't in any way prepare me for this, though. This is absolutely excellent and the best "roots pop" I've heard in years.

The four "Wiwoma" song fragments neatly split the album into three sections. The first "section" is damn near flawless, and if there was any justice would make Susan a star. The rockin and catchy "I Know You Know" should have been a monster radio hit, and lilting "Palm Of My Hand" would have made a great follow up, with its interesting melody and great background vocals.

The middle section is a slow trilogy that deals with mortality and the passage of time. "Nanny's Song" is simply the most devastating and tear inducing song about the fear of death that I have ever heard. The cover of "Who Know Where The Time Goes" is the album's first minor stumble. It fits thematically, but does not approach Sandy Denny's/Fairport Convention's definitive original version. (With the quality of the songwriting on this album, why bother with a cover?)

OK, this thing drags a little toward the end (or maybe those songs just haven't taken hold). But I would give this 5 stars based only on the first half of the album. It's that good. I love Susan's "no diva" voice and particularly the backing vocals that weave their way in and out of some of the songs are stunning.

I highly recommend this. Susan Cowsill should be a big star, and if she released this 20 years ago I believe she would be...unfortunately I fear the record companies have no idea how to market a mature middle aged woman's "debut".

And there are people who really care about the "American Idol" winners when there is stuff like this out there waiting to be discovered! Go figure.

I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Susan Cowsill fan! She's as talented a songwriter as her brothers and can deliver her life in songs with passion. My current favorite is "Mr. Everything" but "White Light of Winter" is truly amazing. Her cover of Sandy Denny's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" is perfect for reflection and wonder. Susan's voice is in a class by itself and it's #1 all the way! It's a MUST LISTEN for anyone with a liking for pop, rock, zydeco, and ballads...Susan does it all.