Faith Hill Breathe CD

Personnel includes: Faith Hill, Tim McGraw (vocals); B. James Lowry (acoustic & electric guitars); Larry Byrom (acoustic guitar); Dann Huff, Gordon Kennedy, John Willis, Michael Landau (electric guitar); Paul Franklin (steel guitar); Gary Smith (piano, organ); Aubrey Haynie, Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Steve Nathan, Tim Akers (keyboards); Glenn A. Worf, Mike Brignardello (bass); Lonnie Wilson, Steve Brewster (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); Bekka Bramlett, Chris Rodriguez, Gene Miller, Kim Parent, Lisa Bevill, Stephanie Bentley (backgound vocals); The Nashville String Machine.
Producers: Byron Gallimore, Dann Huff, Faith Hill.
Principally recorded at Ocean Way, Nashville, Tennessee.
Faith Hill won the 2000 CMA Award for Female Vocalist Of The Year.
BREATHE won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Country Album. "Breathe" won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. "Let's Make Love" won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. "Breathe" was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award in the categories of Best Country Song and Song Of The Year. "The Way You Love Me" was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Country Song.
Personnel: Faith Hill (vocals); Julian King (recorder).
Audio Mixers: Chris Lord-Alge; J.R. Rodriguez; Bryan McConkey; Mike Shipley.
Recording information: Emerald ENtertainment, Nashville, TN; Essential Sound, Nashville, TN; LOUD Recording; Ocean Way Studios, Nashville, TN; Sony Music Studios, Los Angeles, CA; The Sound Kitchen, Franklin, TN.
"What's in It for Me," the first track on Breathe, Faith Hill's follow-up to her starmaking third album Faith, is livelier than anything on its predecessor, but that doesn't mean it's country, even if it kicks off with sawing fiddles. This builds upon the pop overtures of Faith and turns Hill into a full-fledged diva -- something that should be clear from the cover of Breathe, where she's moussed and styled like a supermodel. And Breathe is as bold and brassy as any big pop album, which only makes sense since this is a country album in marketing only: it's an adult contemporary album, as Faith was before it, but where that was a bit of a humble affair, Hill is perfectly comfortable with acting like a star here, belting out songs whether they're rockin' anthems like "I Got My Baby" (which could have been a big hit for Whitney Houston in 1985), effervescent pop like "The Way You Love Me" or a power ballad like "Breathe." She's still celebrating love instead of singing about heartbreak, and while this doesn't have the warm, cozy feel of Faith, it has a punchy, rousing feel that makes this an inspirational aspirational record -- something to push you forward instead of being happy of where you are. If Hill still doesn't have the gaudiness or hooks of Shania Twain, or the sense of fun, that's fine -- this isn't music for the weekend, it's for getting through the week, and it's as good in an office as it is at home, the defining moment of Faith Hill's superstardom. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
With her third album, FAITH, Faith Hill tasted pop crossover success--and she evidently liked the taste. BREATHE, Hill's fourth release, takes the pop/country stylings of FAITH to the next level. It's an appealing collection of pop, gospel, R&B, rock, and ballads, with just a bit of country thrown in. The production, featuring Hill's big voice surrounded by booming drums and screaming guitars, is so slick you could skate on it.
Love is the subject of nearly every song, from the exuberant "I Got My Baby," to the soulful "Love Is a Sweet Thing," to the cutesy "The Way You Love Me," with its Beatlesque backing vocals. But while Hill can obviously handle a wide range of material, she sounds best on the quieter, country-flavored numbers, like the title track, the lovely "It Will Be Me," and a haunting, vaguely Latin-flavored reworking of Bruce Springsteen's "If I Should Fall Behind." The most emotional track is "Let's Make LoveEntertainment Weekly (11/19/99, p.144) - "...brings a winning exuberance to her performances....remarkably close to autobiography....it plays like scenes from some fantasy movie..." - Rating: B-
Q (5/00, pp.108,110) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...Accomplished widescreen pop....the title track swoons and there's an honest stab at Springsteen's 'If I Should Fall Behind'..."
Country Music People (1/00, pp.23-4) - 3.5 out of 5 - "...a completely over the top melange of wailing vocals....tough and abrasive....the album closes in truly rousing, exhilarating fashion..."