I'm Yours

This may sound familiar: I'm Yours is a country album by a beautiful woman with a nice voice. Yawn? No doubt. But Linda Davis's debut is not nearly the slice of Nashville fast food that such a description implies. A Grammy Award-winning singer (Best Country Vocal Collaboration with Reba McEntire for "Does He Love You," 1994), Davis uses her quivering, Parton-like voice and a fighting spirit to good emotional effect, especially on genuine moments like the evil-boss-minded "Company Time" and the distant father story, "In Pictures." A twang-friendly album that rocks better than it ballads (think heartland rock   la John Mellencamp), I'm Yours is a near-miss, hampered only by the too-frequent schmaltz and gloss requisite in the country mainstream. --Neal Weiss