What the critics are saying about

Joan Osborne's How Sweet It Is:

“…An entire album of cover songs can either be a bold, self-assured statement or a retreat into the safety of proven gems. Here it is most definitely the former. In reintroducing these songs, even well-known ones like Franklin’s “Think” and Stevie Wonder’s “Love’s in Need of Love Today,” Osborne reminds listeners of the original greatness and yet makes them partly her own. These are intimate renderings, reworked in stripped-down neo-soul fashion to bring out previously hidden details and create new shades of meaning.

Alternating between songs that reassure, like Gaye’s  “How Sweet Is,” and cautionary laments such as Timmy Thomas’s “Why Can’t We Live Together,” the album aims to give comfort to a grieving people while questioning a nation moving so quickly and seemingly inexorably, to full-scale war. The songs reflect personal grief, political uncertainty and unbounded love, and though they are ancient in pop music terms, they feel especially pertinent today.

The songs here have aged well and feel not like oldies but relevant and poignant anthems. Taken together, they are all the more powerful. With Osborne’s help, they speak to new ears for a new strangely and dramatically altered age…. The Washington Post

“Essentially, she brings a singer-songwriter’s erudition to soul . . .  In the end, Osborne pulls off two rare feats: She gives other people’s songs her special spin and shows us an extra layer of beauty hidden within.” – New York Daily News

“Certain performers elevate covering songs to an art. They enthrall us by finding something new and unexpected in the familiar. Joan Osborne works this magic with HOW SWEET IT IS . . . With Osborne’s vocals well in front of the tight and tasty guitar-driven arrangements, the lyrics hit you like never before.” – Boston Herald

“Joan Osborne places a timely twist on decades-old soul gems on her latest record . . . Osborne’s throaty delivery puts across some deliciously unexpected choices, including Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Axis: Bold as Love’ and Dave Mason’s ‘Only You Know and I Know.’ “ – Daily News (Los Angeles)

“Osborne grabs a tiger by the tail with this concept soul disc and totally tames the beast. She brilliantly makes you listen to songs you already know, and the old words in these renditions seem to take on new meanings . . . one of the top discs of 2002.” – New York Post

“Attempting to cover songs like ‘Think’, made famous by Aretha Franklin, the Band’s ‘The Weight’ and Otis Redding’s ‘These Arms of Mine’ is heady stuff. Smartly, Osborne doesn’t try to outsing the classic originals. Instead, these tracks simmer and percolate over low, steady heat . . . Osborne’s is a voice that we still need to hear.” – St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“The last time I reviewed Joan Osborne in concert, I raved ‘I feel sorry for people who haven’t seen and heard her perform.’ Some readers accused me of proposing to Osborne in print. Whatever. All I know is she is one of the few vocalists alive who can express the full range of musical emotions in a unique and consuming style.” – Doug Elfman, Las Vegas Review-Journal

“Osborne certainly had her work cut out for her when she selected this musical grouping, out of reach for many of today’s would-be divas. But her vocals, one of the best amongst today’s female artists, passionately recaptures each of these timeless tracks, renewing their strength for a different generation in desperate need of peace, and love.” – Seattle Gay News

“Osborne’s ability to find fresh new dimension in well-worn songs . . . makes HOW SWEET IT IS a marvelous and oh-so-soulful journey into the known and unknown. It’s not sweet like sugar. It’s sweet, with a bite, like a fine vintage wine.” – Winston-Salem Journal

“Osborne keeps growing as an accomplished interpreter…the efforts are consistently worthy of admiration, particularly when an easy path was not taken” – Louisville Eccentric Observer

“Ms. Osborne’s earthy voice is a perfect fit for R&B classic such as ‘Think’, ‘War’ and ‘Smiling Faces.’ But some of the CD’s best tracks are the less obvious ‘soul’ tunes such as ‘The Weight’, ‘Axis: Bold as Love’ and even Dave Mason’s ‘Only You Know and I Know.’ “ – Dallas Morning News