《Shine》是马丁娜·麦克布赖德（Martina McBride）两年来的首张录音专辑，继她成功的自制专辑《Waking Up Laughing》之后。这张专辑的前作完全由她自己制作——在纳什维尔，这是一项罕见的成就，但麦克布赖德凭借一系列白金销量的专辑赢得了这一荣誉。这次她与资深制作人丹·哈夫（Dan Huff）共同担任制作人。按照惯例，她的丈夫约翰（John）负责录音和音响工程。麦克布赖德长期以来与激昂的歌曲密切相关，如果没有这些歌曲，她的专辑似乎是不完整的；换句话说，必须有能够充分展现她那强大歌喉的真正作品，而《Shine》毫无例外。专辑的首支单曲《I Just Call You Mine》拥有气势磅礴的合唱、宏大的弦乐编排、哀鸣的电吉他和歌唱的踏板钢琴——所有这些都由马特·钱伯林（Matt Chamberlain）打出的震撼鼓声组成，完全符合这一要求。专辑开场曲《Wrong Baby Wrong》同样是麦克布赖德武器库中的一个老梗，传递了在艰难时刻坚持不懈的励志信息，配上引人入胜的、带有强烈吉他节奏的摇滚风格，前奏中的力量和弦更是令人难忘。然而，最引人注目的是《Shine》的音色。在许多方面，麦克布赖德一直是同龄人中最具现代感的歌手，同时又保持着自己的独特风格。但这次并非如此。实际上，这张专辑的音色更像基思·厄本（Keith Urban）的作品，而非麦克布赖德的。这并不是贬低，只是一种小小的震惊。音乐上，它在整个专辑中保持了一致性。所有歌曲都紧密相连，无缝流畅。音色也显得异常相似，但不同之处在于《Shine》内心的摇滚音色。毫无疑问，麦克布赖德同样可以演唱摇滚乐，就像她致力于的其他任何风格。比如，单曲《Ride》便极为欢快，伴随着跳跃的鼓点和猛烈的吉他（几乎让人联想到.38 Special的经典曲目），以及逐渐上升的合唱。尽管如此，即使是抒情曲也带有非常现代的色彩——如假凯尔特风格的《Wild Rebel Rose》，或是分手的国歌《Walk Away》，在合唱中融入了摇滚元素，伴随流畅的班卓琴、踏板钢琴和力量和弦，伴着轻快的小提琴旋律。专辑的结尾又是一首麦克布赖德的标志性作品：华丽、成熟的成人当代抒情曲伪装成现代乡村音乐——这是基思·厄本在他自己的专辑中不会尝试的内容： 《Lies》。一架孤独的钢琴伴随着主唱走过一段令人心碎的旋律。在每一个转折点上都似乎要爆发，尤其是在弦乐加入时，但张力不断积累，合成器、缓慢的葬礼般的军鼓和低音鼓，以及一点点的原声吉他相继进场。最终，在专辑的三分之二处，情感终于爆发，但麦克布赖德的嗓音却在乐器之上绽放，乐器始终不与她竞争。它保持稳重，以便让她的情感得以倾泻而出。这是一张贯穿始终的坚实、统一的专辑，证明了麦克布赖德在音乐排行榜上的长期成功。——汤姆·朱雷克（Thom Jurek） Shine is Martina McBride's first recording in two years, following up her successful self-produced album Waking Up Laughing. While the previous album was entirely self-produced -- a rare reward in Nashville, but one McBride earned with a string of platinum selling recordings -- on this set she is listed as a co-producer with the veteran Dan Huff. As is customary, husband John recorded and engineered the set. McBride has long been associated with anthemic songs, and an album by her without them would seem incomplete; in other words, there have to be real showcases for that incredibly powerful singing voice of hers, and Shine is no exception. The album's first single, "I Just Call You Mine," has the big swelling choruses, enormous string arrangements, wailing electric guitars, and singing pedal steel -- all with larger than life drums by Matt Chamberlain -- fits that bill. The set opener, "Wrong Baby Wrong," is another trope in McBride's arsenal in that it contains an uplifiting message of perseverance in tough times all set to a catchy, insistent, guitar-based rocker complete with power chords in the intro. What's most compelling about Shine, though, is its sound. In many ways, McBride has always been among the most contemporary sounding of her peers while always maintaining a sound of her own. No so this time out. In fact, this disc sounds more like a Keith Urban record than it does one of McBride's. And that's not necessarily a criticism, just a bit of a shock. Musically it's consistent all the way through. The songs are all of a piece and flow seamlessly from one another. Textures are also remarkably similar, but the difference is the rock & roll sound at the heart of Shine. And make no mistake, McBride can sing rock as well as anything else she sets her mind to. Check the wildly celebratory single "Ride," with its shuffling, big drums and chugging guitars (which feel almost like outtakes from .38 Special's hit book) and the gradually ascending chorus. That said, even the ballads come across with a very modern slant -- check the faux Celtic "Wild Rebel Rose," or the breakup anthem "Walk Away," that gives way to rock in the chorus with its Urban-esque banjo textures flowing through the drums, pedal steel and power chords with a lilting fiddle tag. The set closes with another McBride trademark, the big, sophisticated adult contemporary ballad disguised as contemporary country music -- the one thing here Keith Urban wouldn't attempt on one of his own records: "Lies." A lone piano accompanies the vocalist through a heartwrenching verse. It threatens to explode at every turn, especially when the strings enter, but the tension just builds as synths, a slow, funereal snare and bass drum, and a dollop of acoustic guitar come in. Finally, two thirds of the way through, it does, but it's McBride's voice exploding over the top of the instrumentation that never competes with her. It remains staid so she can allow the catharsis to come pouring out. This is a solid, consistent date all the way through that is evidence of McBride's long chart success. by Thom Jurek