Janis Joplin
Pearl
Play Pearl
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MOG Editorial Review
More than any other work she did with Big Brother, the truly wild and ferocious spirit of Janis Joplin is fully captured on Pearl. “Cry Baby” lets her raspy voice wail with emotion, and it’s just as stunning on up-tempo soul rockers like “Half Moon.” Pearl is the refined sister to the blues-rock sound found on Joplin’s stunning major label debut, Cheap Thrills. The difference is that she’s capable of pulling off the polished Kris Kristofferson cover, “Me and Bobby McGee,” which went on to become more recognizable than the original, in part thanks to Joplin’s learned restraint of her voice which comes without sacrificing any of the unapologetic grittiness and feeling.
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AMG Review of Pearl
Steve Huey
All Music GuideJanis Joplin's second masterpiece (after Cheap Thrills), Pearl was designed as a showcase for her powerhouse vocals, stripping down the arrangements that had often previously cluttered her music or threatened to drown her out. Thanks also to a more consistent set of songs, the results are magnificent -- given room to breathe, Joplin's trademark rasp conveys an aching, desperate passion on funked-up, bluesy rockers, ballads both dramatic and tender, and her signature song, the posthumous number one hit "Me and Bobby McGee." The unfinished "Buried Alive in the Blues" features no Joplin vocals -- she was scheduled to record them on the day after she was found dead. Its incompleteness mirrors Joplin's career; Pearl's power leaves the listener to wonder what else Joplin could have accomplished, but few artists could ask for a better final statement. [The 1999 CD reissue adds four previously unreleased live July 1970 recordings: "Tell Mama," "Little Girl Blue," "Try," and "Cry Baby."]
 "Pearl")
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