s
SLAMM, San Diego's
Music Magazine
July 17, 2002, Issue #188
Goes well with: Bonnie Raitt, Susan
Tedeschi and Shelby Lynne
Strip away the layers and get to
the heart of the matter. That's exactly the approach Tracy Niles takes on her
debut CD Breaking the Silence.
On this no-frills acoustic effort, Niles strips down her
tough, bar room blues-rock sound to its essential bare bones. Armed with
passionate, emotive vocals and an acoustic guitar, Niles declares "take me as I am" as
she surveys the wreckage of love gone wrong, reflects on paradise lost and
rejoices in salvation found.
Niles covers a lot of musical ground on the CD's
ten tracks, moving easily from the rocking lilt of opener "Higher Road"
to the full tilt boogie of "Everything with You." Without shouting or
belting, Niles
delivers a knockout punch on the hot and rambunctious "Driving Me
Mad." She reveals a softer, more vulnerable side on the Jewel-esque
"Out of the Shadow" - and with the tender gratitude of "You're
My Way Home," which recalls Stevie Nicks on "Landslide."
With Breaking the Silence, Tracy
Niles emerges as a versatile blues-rock singer-songwriter who isn't afraid to
take the acoustic road less traveled.
Joann D. Ball