Joan Osborne

Joan Osborne is best known for asking the poignant question "What if God was one of us?" over a glistening guitar riff. But truth be told, the pop sensibility Osborne displayed on "One of Us" was out of char-acter. For most of her career, she's striven to be a Janis Joplin–style blues-rock mama, with ho-hum results.

In the early '90s, Osborne put out a couple of records on her own, now largely available on Early Recordings. Eight of the 11 songs are live cuts; they're basically decent bar-band fare with overwrought singing. The studio tracks are okay but baffling; the best is a spaced-out version of Captain Beefheart's "His Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles."

Thanks in part to producer Rick Chertoff and songwriter/multi-instrumentalists Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman -- the same guys who contributed to Cyndi Lauper's triumph She's So Unusual -- Osborne scored big with Relish. Besides "One of Us," highlights include the jaunty "Spider Web" (which imagines Ray Charles regaining his sight), the pensive "Lumina," and the roadhouse rocker "Right Hand Man." But the album is uneven, to put it kindly; the cover of Sonny Boy Williamson's "Help Me" is downright atrocious, and Osborne's yodeling renders "Pensacola" almost unlistenable.

Five years in the making, Righteous Love was considered a disappointment by many, which is unfair. Yes, Mitchell Froom's production is a trifle over-bearing, but Osborne compensates with the horn-stoked "Baby Love" and a twangy take on Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love." In fact, Righteous Love mirrors its predecessor: pleasant, workmanlike, and essentially anonymous.

Quality of material certainly isn't an issue on the covers record How Sweet It Is, a collection of mostly '60s and '70s soul classics. Though it's sometimes hard to see the point in modern retreads of Aretha Franklin's "Think" or Otis Redding's "These Arms of Mine," the comfy vibe and judiciously restrained performances make this Osborne's most enjoyable work. (MAC RANDALL)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide