Sometimes, all it takes for a singer to break it big is to have the right collaborator and nowhere is that truth more evident than with . After years of independent local releases and demo records, she released an OK major-label debut on in 1993 -- a record that was perfectly fine but not all that memorable. Not long after that, her path crossed with 's, the producer behind some of the greatest albums in history, including 's and . Based on that, didn't seem like an ideal match for , but they turned out to be expertly matched collaborators -- and romantic partners, too; they married as they were working on the material that became her second album, . Together, they totally reworked , turning her into a bold, brassy, sexy, sassy modern woman, singing songs that play like tongue-in-cheek empowerment anthems even when they're about heartbreak. She demands that "Any man of mine/better walk the line," tells a poor sap that and when she confronts her lover asking it sounds like a threat, not a lament. All these songs are painted in big, broad strokes and uses all the arena-filling tricks he's learned from , giving these steady rhythms and melodic hooks that are crushed only by the mammoth choruses which drill their way into permanent memory upon the first listen. That's not to say that is nothing but heavy-handed /rockers dressed as tunes -- they are good at like the title song, but they're even more impressive on as swinging slice of neo- so good you'd swear that is singing harmony. And that speaks to the skill of as a producer -- this is surely influenced, but he doesn't push it too far, for no matter how many tricks are in the production or how poppy the tunes are, they still feel like songs, especially on anthems for the post- era, when slowly, steadily became the sound of middle-American . started the ball rolling, but this is where the movement gained momentum, and although this isn't pure , it is in how it sounds and feels, particularly in how it captures the stance and attitude of the modern women, thanks in no small part to who plays this part to a hilt. And, like all the best productions, it's so exquisitely crafted from the songs to the sound that it's not only an instant pleasure, it's a sustaining one. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine