Who's Your Momma [Import]

Anouk Finally Strikes Gold with "Who's Your Momma" CD. Although Anouk has released a number of records with some really great under appreciated and under promoted songs, the albums have mostly been overburdened by ballads (that also happened to be fairly similar). However with "Who's Your Momma" Anouk has finally produced a great rock album with variety that you can enjoy all the way through with no songs you want to skip.

Half of Anouk's best 16 songs appear on this CD. If Anouk was American or British there would be at least 3 hit songs here. They are: the pop radio and MTV perfect "Ball and Chain", the hard rocking rip roaring ready for rock radio " If I Go" (great for the pole dancers at the local strip club as well), and the cheerful up-tempo "Good God" reminiscent of 60's Girl Bands and better than any Amy Winehouse number. There are also the potential hits: the semi-ballad "Make It Rain" and the bouncy "Might as Well" with it's typical Anouk vocals (sometimes it seems her vocals could almost becalled a musical instrument rather than a voice).

On this CD Anouk tried to do a few very different songs than her norm and with success. They would be the above mentioned " Good God" and the soul-like "Whatever You Say". There is also the country rockish "Modern world"l. There are thankfully only three ballads here as there always should have been. All three are excellent and among Anouk's best. They are: "Daze, "I Don't Wanna Hurt", and "If You Were Mine". The first two may also be potential singles.

Anouk has her influences as any musician does. However, she also has a strong individuality and creativity to make this a must have for anyone looking for new music from a woman that both rocks and sings beautiful songs. If you are female you can not help but love this album. If you are a male, as I am, that likes woman that can rock. and of which there are so pitifully few, you will also love this album.

I fear this CD will not achieve the promotion and radio airplay it deserves outside the Netherlands (Anouk is a Dutch singer). If not, maybe when Anouk releases her Greatest Hits package it will be a breakout success that is long overdue (as Peter Framptom's greatest hits double LP was in the 70's) and she will finally get the acclaim and record sales she deserves in the anglo world.

-Henk Griffin

On Anouk's latest studio effort she edges herself out into one of the overall best things to ever come out of the machine known as the music industry. With ferocious vigor and vim she commands each track and simply knocks this one out of the ballpark. Like a seething Tracy Chapman, Anouk makes this edged out folk music her home and establishes herself as one of the most powerful, poignant and unique voices in modern music.

What a soul this woman has.

The album opens with one of her best songs ever recorded. The energy on `If I Go' is incomparable. From the opening verse, when that drum line kicks in and that bass hits you, you know that this is going to be a memorable experience. She closes the song with the words "it's time to step up", and `step up' she does. This album is probably her most complete studio effort, each and every song fitting perfectly into line with the next. She follows the opening track with a bouncy ditty about fidelity, or infidelity should I say. `Might as Well' is fresh and has a spunk that sets it apart from the rest of the album. The falsetto that Anouk hits is different from her usual vocal range, so it was a nice change of pace. I the usual Anouk style, she refuses to be pigeonholed and so her next offering is a personal and touching ballad called `Make it Rain'. The musical arrangement is sincere and intimate, and Anouk's deep vocals match the mood beautifully.

My favorite track here is without doubt `I Don't Wanna Hurt No More', a song that can actually compete against `Lost' as one of the most beautiful songs Anouk has ever recorded. Like `Lost', this is a simple and soft ballad that is moving, touching and emotionally connected to the singer and the listener.

Prepare yourself for tears.

Immediately following this delicate ballad she rips into `Good God', a funky rock track complete with horns and background vocals that are designed to get you dancing. This is a marvelous example of Anouk's range. I love the dated quality of the track too, for it sounds like a barroom romp straight out of the Jazz era.

I'm totally in love with `Ball and Chain', an impeccably done song that is primed and ready for the radio. I love the lyrical message here, and Anouk's delivery is so effortlessly melodic. The closing track `If You Were Mine' is a stunning example of pure emotional intensity. The piano accompanies Anouk's beautiful delivery. This girl knows how to end her albums on such a rich and powerful note, and this is no exception.

`Whatever You Say' has a smooth vibe that sits well for easy listening, and Anouk's high pitched delivery is instantly likable. I love that fact that this song comes across fresh beings that her vocal delivery is unlike anything else on the album; and the chorus brings to mind the sweet and cheery groove of Motown. `The Difference' and `Daze' are the songs with the least amount of `pop' for me, but both are great songs. They just lack the memorable factor the rest of the album possesses. I do want to mention that the chorus for `The Difference' is beautiful, truly beautiful.

No, I have not forgotten about `Modern World'. The single off the album and one of her most beloved tracks, `Modern World' is a very good song, but to me (like I was with `One Word') I'm just a little baffled at all the love. It's a great song, but it's not her best and it's far from the best on the album even. I like the message she is projecting, but I find the delivery to be almost boring. Even when the chorus picks up it doesn't really `pick up', at least not for me. At the end she actually turns it out, and I got excited, but that's at the end.

Overall, this album is nearly flawless and probably her finest album of unreleased material. The best things she's ever released have been her live performances; no ifs ands or buts about it.

I happened on this artist on youtube, her video 'Modern World', which is on this CD, Who's Your Momma is excellent. She is well known in the Netherlands, but not here supposedly. Her voice is strong and confident and visually she is fine to look at. She should be well known in the US for sure, if one likes rock and roll sung by a very good singer.