Tracy Chapman

Last year's debut album by Tracy Chapman held the promise that the Boston-based
singer-songwriter is that rarest of artists: one whose lyric and musical vision transcends the
normal boundaries of category and intent. Chapman's impressive second album,
Crossroads, affirms that her debut was no fluke; yet Crossroads is so similar to Tracy
Chapman that it seems less like a second album than the second part of its prede... More >

I like her best here when she's most objectionable--keying her politics to the anachronistic locution "government relief," making her lover commit first, identifying evil with white people. She's still too solemn, but at least she's not too tasteful, and how else do you describe a musician who gives the impression of singing solo with her acoustic guitar while deploying five or six musicians a track? As a musician who gets over on her voice, that's how. (Grade: B)