LeAnn Rimes - LeAnn Rimes (1999)

This is a collection of LeAnn Rimes's favorite country standards, plus one newly written hit, "Big Deal." Say what you will about this woman-child--yes, she really needs direction (the 11 remakes couldn't be more obvious choices) and a producer besides her dad. But she's slowly growing into her own style, which here falls somewhere between Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, and Tammy Wynette. Especially Patsy. Her timing on "Crazy" is quirky enough to offset the ham-fisted arrangement, and she's not bad on "I Fall to Pieces," either; her efforts on "She's Got You," "Leavin' on Your Mind," and "Faded Love" (a Bob Wills song Cline cut) fall short. She also chooses "Your Cheatin' Heart" and "Lovesick Blues," two songs identified with Hank Williams that Cline recorded, and sings the latter like she knows what it means. The wanna-rock "Me and Bobby McGee" is a travesty, but at least she gets to act her age, sort of, on "Big Deal." -- John Morthland