nita (Warner, 2000)

It's quite fitting that Anita Cochran closes her thanks on the CD jacket with one to Wynonna. Cochran says, "your music changed my life." It also made undeniably clear that there is precious little difference bewteen the two. The types of songs Judd would sing are exactly like many of the 11 on Cochran's long-delayed sophomore effort. That is so obvious from the opening two tracks, "Good Tims" and "Let the Guitar Do the Talkin'." On the plus side, Wy, who sings backing vocals on "God Created Woman," is not exactly a bad influence as Cochran also has a strong set of bluesy vocal chords, although she particularly excels on the ballad "Every Time It Rains." The uptempo songs have some kick in the turbo-charged Terri Clark mode.

On the negative, Cochran has not exactly forged her own musical identity. There's generally a light, breezy feel to the music, easy on the ears. Including a Diane Warren song ("Last Kiss') only amplifies that. Fortunately, there's nothing as saccharine as her big hit from the debut, "What Would You Say" with Steve Wariner.

And the band of some of Nashville's sidekick heavyweights isn't exactly high on the inspiration meter. There's no soph jinx here, but neither is it anything out of the ordinary.