(01 April 2000) Tara McLean's debut album Silence (Nettwerk(Canada) 0 6700 30106 2 7, 1996) was recorded when the artist was in herearly 20s. Like her most recent release (review), the album is comprised of adult alternative vocally-laced tracks featuring the sensitive andevocative work of this very attractive young woman.

Electronic and conventional instrumentation are used to back tracksof varying styles. "Evidence" is a pop-oriented dance beat track withsensitive soaring vocals mixed well above electronic instrumentation.A slide guitar part on "Let Her Feel The Rain" elicits a slight countryatmosphere in anotherwise folky rock track with sensitive whispy vocals."That's Me" and "More" are two of the album's lovely ballads where TaraMacLean clearly shines. "Silence" is a blues track sensuously sung evocative track with vocals soaring above everso light instrumentation.

A sultry coffee house jazz atmosphere is the backdrop for the almostspoken vocal track "Red." Tara's soaring vocals are spine-tingling andcompletely illustrative of the power and range of this stunning artist."Holy Tears," "For You" and "In The Wings" are among the most sensitive of the album's ballads sung with only the lighest instrumentation. "If YouCould" picks up the pace everso slightly with even sweeter vocals anda lovely melody certain to please a wide ranging audience. The album'sfinal listed track is a lovely acoustic version of "Let Her Feel The Rain."A bonus track that follows contains a string-based instrumental of thesame song.

Tara McLean's debut album is lighter and softer than her followup,featuring a vast collection of sensuous and heartfelt ballads. Thepackage contains a lovely booklet with complete lyrics, productioncredits and photographs of the artist. You can listen to soundbites,read other reviews and order the album fromamazon.com here. Worth further exploration and a journey, the album is a verynice listen!