AMG Review of I'm Still Here

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Released a matter of weeks after Mindy McCready’s stint on VH1’s #Celebrity Rehab concluded, I’m Still Here plays like a survivor’s handbook, a testament to the singer’s newfound sobriety. Reflective and gentle even when the tempo starts to skip, I’m Still Here is certainly the quietest of McCready’s records and it’s also the most heartfelt, playing as a confessional. As it happens, she co-wrote only a handful of these songs, which hardly invalidates McCready’s meditative comeback as she handles these songs gracefully and with feeling. Ultimately, what matters on I’m Still Here is that outpouring of emotion: the songs are generally a mixed bag, veering from sweetly melancholy to syrupy, but McCready has never been more sensitive as a vocalist, pulling the album through the rough patches and convincingly selling the notion that she’s a sober survivor.