' second album was met with quite a bit of anticipation. The album was released three years after her acclaimed, soulful, and raw debut , and in that time she had witnessed the murder of her husband , which led to the biggest hit of her career (and one of the biggest of the 1990s), the tribute (in collaboration with ). proved to be a success, and she happily avoided the curse of the sophomore slump. The album scored two Top Ten singles with the irresistible / cut and its follow-up, the equally intoxicating Aside from those two numbers, the rest of the album falls somewhere between heavy and mid-tempo grooves. Ms. shines when she sings fast or mid-tempo songs, such as the slick but the weigh too heavily on this otherwise fine album. Some of the ballads stand tall, such as the gorgeous and the inspiration-tinged while others are about as entertaining and inspired as tree sap ( and the yawn-inducing interludes). Unfortunately, these ballads are all lumped together on this album, to the point where they almost blend into one long drip of molasses. However, the classy Ms. possesses a beautiful voice, is a gifted songwriter, and happily steers clear of the tacky cliches that burden so much contemporary . So despite the heavy reliance on , this is actually a fine album, and is without a doubt a highlight of 1990s music. Other notable tunes include the beautiful which could be classified as the last great hit song of the 1990s (that song, incidentally, topped the charts and hit the Top 20 on the charts), and the -penned which never became the hit it should have been. ~ Jose F. Promis