Something Real

AMG Review of Something Real

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

"This time when I reach out, it may be my last try," warns Phoebe Snow on the title track to her seventh album, which is her first in eight years. Perhaps with that in mind, it's a well-considered effort, and one that brought moderate success, including two Adult Contemporary chart hits in "If I Can Just Get Through the Night" (Number 13), and "Something Real" (Number 29). Snow takes a slightly more relaxed approach to the ock style of her last album, Rock Away. She sticks to contemporary songs for the most part (there's a dance music cover of the Emotions' "Best of My Love"), and writes half of them herself. She tends to de-emphasize the more unusual aspects of her voice, although not so much that you'd confuse it with anybody else's. The result is a sturdy, respectable set, although not one likely to launch a major comeback.