Lila McCann - Complete (2001)

In 2001, four years after her debut and approaching the big Two-O, Lila McCann still conjures up a young Reba or Dolly with her voice, a formidable asset compared to the weakness of some of McCann's peers. Her ballads are riveting where they were once tentative. The proof is on the title track and on "Whisper the Words." Her performance of "She Remembers Love," yet another ballad about Alzheimer's (not long after Tim Rushlow's "She Misses Him), transcends the song's airy, mawkish lyrics. Regrettably, that's as good as it gets. Working with producer David Malloy, a quintessential purveyor of Nashville radio fodder, McCann spends the remainder of the album belting out catchy if interchangeable tunes like "Is It Just Me" and "Like a Rocket" atop ultraslick pop-rock arrangements. Her charm, vigor, and youthful abandon easily propel her through such material, none of it as drastic a departure as there could have been. With the youth market at her back, McCann and her substantial talents have grown up. It's time that her material did likewise.~Rich Kienzle