No one really cared much about her artistry or image during those early days. She was fat and frumpy but she also had a list of accomplishments that was the envy of older peers. She is the first country singer to win the Grammy for Best New Artist. She is one of very few artists to have three consecutive number one albums, Blue, Unchained Melody, The Early Years and You Light Up My Life, Inspirational Songs.
LeAnn has also written a book, Holiday in Your Heart and starred in the TV movie Heart, based on her semi-autobiographical novel. There are also the many sold-out tours around the United States, several lucrative product endorsement deals and lots of plans for the future. All these happened before she was 15.
Of course there were also downsides to what seemed like a near-perfect career. The book and the TV movie did not do as well as expected. Her hit version of How Do I Live? was taken out of the Con Air soundtrack and she lost the Grammy to Trisha Yearwood’s version of the song. Then there were her problems with her family and efforts to gain "independence" as far as her career was concerned from her parents. And record sales of that later period were not the usual record-breaking ones.
Then recently there came her new album Twisted Angel. I looked and looked for it among my CDs but couldn’t find it. Turned out it was there on top of the others all along lying face down. I couldn’t find it because the girl on the cover did not look anything like the LeAnn I remembered. This one is stunningly beautiful. The cover sticker says Hot New Release and it is indeed hot, hotter than anyone can imagine. No, she has not gone the same nude route as Christina Aguilera who is currently in the process of outdoing Britney by revealing everything possible. LeAnn’s new songs shock and I know it is not because I have an active imagination.
Get a load of these lyrics: There you go again when you rub up against my skin/ I have to catch my breath/ I began to sweat/lips tracing down my neck in Damn. Come inside my walls of ecstacy/ with me close the door and throw away the key/ that’s the way you can start by moving in nice and slow/ taking your time to move down low in Tic Toc. I want to review my kisses on every inch of your body in Review My Kisses. And there is much more of the same in the new album from this once wholesome country sweetheart.
It is also interesting to note that the contents of the album equate getting all sexed up with being independent. Not true but that discussion belongs to another piece perhaps in another section of this paper. Then aside from all those references to sex, today’s 19-year-old LeAnn also sings songs like Wound Up, which is about a nice little girl who sings. Lights go on and she’s ready to spin/on stage doing all the things she’s told to. Suddenly, which goes It’s independence day I’m free/and it’s a strange place to be/I’m gonna break these chains/unleash the changes in me. Or The room is spinning and my heart is skipping beats cause I finally cut all the ties that were hanging on me in Sign of Life.
The first single out is titled Life Goes On and hews to the same freedom theme. LeAnn is celebrating her sexuality, her being free and very aptly so, her new face and figure with everything in the right places.
Twisted Angel also presents Rimes with a very new sound that is certainly not country. She dabbles in hip hop, Latin and power pop. The results are not always great but she holds everything together with her magnificent voice. In the long run, sexy or not, I think her incredible vocals are the best thing that LeAnn has going for her.
Best cuts are Wound Up, Love is an Army, Damn and the lovely You Made Me Find Myself, written by another power pop beauty with great vocal chops, Tina Arena.