Tracy Chapman: Let It Rain : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Tracy Chapman has never been a mirth merchant, but her sixth album, Let It Rain, is a bum trip even by her somber standards. The gospel inflections and hand claps of "You're the One" and "Say Hallelujah" at least hold out the possibility of redemption, as the music momentarily lifts from its austere acoustic haze. But Chapman's primary subject is pain: "Another Sun" hungers for death over a creeping bass line; the tremulous shadow play of "In the Dark" hints at self-abuse; and "Hard Wired" envisions a future in which evil corporate forces leave us "stripped naked on the television, humiliated in front of millions." The singer sounds like she can barely pick herself up off the floor, mumbling her way through "Happy" and sleepwalking through an instrumental. In "I Am Yours," her voice trembling, she can't surrender unconditionally, even to a lover. It's a harrowing trip, and while clearly heartfelt, one is left with the impression that Let It Rain isn't so much meant to be enjoyed as pitied.