You Hold the Key

01/01/1993 | Reprise / Wea 

Submit Your Review

All Music Guide Review

While known as a crack Nashville songwriter, Beth Nielson Chapman works inside the pop realm on You Hold the Key, her second effort for Reprise. But pop for Chapman isn't all easy-to-digest nuggets. A talented songwriter, she moves in fluid motion between hearty pop, heart-tugging piano balladry, and burnished adult contemporary groove. She flirts with smoky piano jazz on the coy "Dance With Me Slow," imbues the first-person, fibrous title track with uplifting grace, and sells the smooth Paul Carrack duet "In the Time It Takes" with precision. But she's just as comfortable with the brassy, Bonnie Raitt-style blues-rock of "You Say You Will" or the quietly surging "Faithful Heart," where violins, harp, pipes, and a reverent choir of voices combine with her own fervent vocal for a truly moving experience. It's all in a day's work for Chapman, a wonderful performer who elevates the few scant weak moments of You Hold the Key with pure talent. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide

Track Listing

Similar Albums

Credits

  • Jim Ryan
  • Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Guitar
  • Simon Nicol
  • Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Vocals (Background)
  • Nick Bicat
  • Organ, Conductor, Clavichord, Arranger, Piano
  • Danny Kee
  • Assistant Producer, Project Coordinator
  • Beth Nielsen Chapman
  • Guitar (Acoustic), Piano, Keyboards, Associate Producer, Main Performer, Vocals (Background)


ARTISTdirect plus

What's Hot from ARTISTdirect