Just the Same (Mercury, 1996)

Terri Clark's second album picks up right where her first left off withpure, unadulterated turbo-twang. The opening song, "Emotional Girl," is driven by electric guitar and screeching fiddle, and Clark's growling voice says, "Take me as I am cuz Ifm not gonna change for you!" It's an gutsy, well-written, strong-woman song, and it should be a hit single. "Something in the Water" is a cool, swampy-sounding song that Clark sings with the same power.

Unfortunately, other songs, like "Twang Thang" and "Neon Flame" share the same in-your-face quality but lack any serious message, and Clark comes across as over-singing.

By the end of the album, her growl becomes tiresome as the listener realizes that Clark is just trying to substitute energy for conviction. If only some of her uptempo songs shared the understatement of the title song, an absolutely gorgeous, poetic love song in which the singer proclaims that she and her lover were meant to be together. Clark is a very talented songwriter, but perhaps not the best interpreter of her own songs.