Innocent Years

Though barely past 40 on this disc, Kathy Mattea, best known for sentimental hits like "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" and "Where've You Been," has obviously been feeling some of the pangs of midlife. Themes of loss, atonement, and spiritual reckoning echo through 2000's The Innocent Years, her first album in three years and one of her very best ever. Mattea possesses a warm, magnificently expressive alto that has suffered comparisons (both fair and unfair) to Canadian singer Anne Murray's amiable purr. Yet Mattea has seldom sounded so impassioned, inspired, and delightfully contemporary as she does on this exquisite song collection. The title tune reaches far beyond poignant nostalgia and captures a painful inner yearning for spiritual rejuvenation and the rebirth of innocence. Throughout Mattea translates her spiritual and emotional quest into a deeply satisfying journey for her listeners as well. --Bob Allen