Mary Black - Shine (1997)

Mary Black abandons her usual sound and production on Shine, an album of songs recorded in Los Angeles with local session musicians. At the production helm is studio veteran Larry Klein (who has worked with Peter Gabriel and Joni Mitchell), and he aided in selecting songs from a new crop of songwriters. Most notably, Mary Black sings five songs by David Gray, a gifted songwriter who would later break into the mainstream with 1999's White Ladder. The first half of Shine is a strong collection of songs that rank among her best work, with the uplifting title track and "Almost Gone" as the highlights. The second half is a bit uneven as slow ballads are sandwiched between harder-edged tracks. Despite the fuller sound and the presence of electric guitar, most of the songs work and it is refreshing to hear Mary Black try something new. However, she often stretches her voice and, therefore, loses some of the subtleties that are her trademark. The hidden track "Dancers in the Dark" shows that she has not abandoned spare acoustic arrangements, and it appears that this was a one-album experiment. Fans will definitely want to get this album, but casual listeners should start elsewhere.