Koch Records
2001
Love Makes The World
About This Album
Bouncing around smaller indie labels in the '90s after a few failed albums on majors, Carole King rebounded with this self-released 2001 disc on her own Rockingale (an anagram of Carole King and a takeoff on her song "Nightingale") imprint. Although it's not a totally successful return to her past triumphs, the disc is one of her best post-'70s albums and occasionally even rivals her most enduring work. Wisely, King returns here to her strengths of melodic love ballads. While only a few selections match the natural woman charms of Tapestry and Music, King remains in terrific voice. When she keeps the arrangements stripped down, as on the closing "Safe Again" and "This Time," she taps into that N.Y.C. singer/songwriter vein that made her finest albums so memorable. Guest appearances from Babyface, k.d. lang, and Wynton Marsalis are hardly necessary, since King carries the weight of their songs herself. On the downside, Celine Dion's exaggerated influence is far too intrusive on "The Reason," overloading a perfectly good track with the bombastic ballad treatment Dion is recognized for. King sounds stiff and by the time the screaming guitar solo comes in, it's obvious this is not the approach that best suits the singer or her songs.
Track List (try tracks 6,9,10 and 11)

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