Amazon.co.uk With her big voice and soaring melodies, Faith Hill is seen in the UK as a cross between and . But musically speaking (and based upon the evidence on Cry), she's far more intriguing than either. Though often concentrating on power ballads (the title track here is another storming example), this Nashville resident has managed to combine country, rock, pop and contemporary R&B into an eminently consumable package. Cry sees Hill move into Twain territory, or rather that of Twain's husband and producer Mutt Lange. With the songs such as "One", "If This Is the End" and "I Think I Will", she employs the sweeping guitars and massive melodrama of prime-time (one of Lange's earlier successes). In fact, she even ups the ante with her superb backing vocals, "Back to You" in particular possessing an overlapping series of brilliant melodies. There are let-downs: "Beautiful" has Faith spilling spoken-word goo over a Clapton-style guitar solo, "Unsaveable" and "Baby You Belong" are rock throwaways, and "This Is Me" features the fabulously ignorant line "I'm just like everybody else / I try to love Jesus and myself." But all in all this very well produced album is as good as today's mainstream gets. --Dominic Wills