Although
Kathy Mattea's self-titled 1984 debut album boasted four chart singles (two of them released in advance of the LP itself), it sounded like the material had been chosen from a batch of typical Nashville publishing demos without a lot of concern for who was going to sing them. The album showed promise mostly because of the sound of
Mattea's warm, confident alto. Everything is different on her second album,
From My Heart. Here, producer
Allen Reynolds seems to have shaped the song selections to the singer's talents and given her the opportunity to sing in a more individual manner. One thing this means immediately is that there's more uptempo material, in at least one case from an unexpected source. "Ball and Chain" comes from the pen of
Elton John, not exactly a Nashville household name, and appeared previously on his 1982 album
Jump Up! Yet it works as a country tune. "Heart of the Country," a reflection on the touring life of a country musician, was written by
Wendy Waldman and Donny Lowery, and is much better than the formulaic stuff
Mattea was given to sing the first time around. The song list is also notable for what it does not contain, much in the way of female victim portrayals. There's heartbreak, to be sure, in "When I'm Over You (What You Gonna Do)" and "If I Hadn't Met You," and advance single "It's Your Reputation Talkin'" expresses doubt about a potential lover. But the singer isn't being used as a doormat anymore.
Mattea responds to the upgraded material by singing with more conviction, demonstrating that she can belt as well as croon, and where her first album suggested she could have a career in the business, her second suggests she could be a star. ~ William Ruhlmann