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(Warners)
Review: Russell Baillie
Tracy Chapman has hardly been prolific since her arrival with her self-titled debut of the late 80s, its runaway success casting a long shadow over everything she's done since.
This is only Chapman's fourth album and her first in four years. And if it again captures Chapman's
gift for burred bluesy folk melodies and understated delivery, it also feels like a wander through familiar territory one more time.
Worse, her lyrical efforts have lost the sharp observational edge that defined the best of her early work. That's all too apparent on Paper and Ink ("Money's only paper, only ink ..." she sings knowing full well that's not the case ) and Unsung Psalm (where she repeatedly expresses the thought that the world would be a better place if only we would "live right").
Though in a few cases among the 11 tracks, as on the hymnal farewell The Only One (with Emmylou Harris on backing vocals), it shows Chapman can still prove gripping when she drops the earnest lyrical placards. But still, Telling Stories might be better named "Humming Homilies."
