Marie Osmond appeals to every imaginable audience on
Music Is Medicine, roping in contemporary
Olivia Newton-John for "Getting Better All the Time," touching upon country with cameos from
John Rich and
Diamond Rio, duetting with fellow Mormon singing star
Alex Boyé on "Then There's You," and, inexplicably, bringing in
Sisqó for "Give Me a Good Song." Nothing ties these guests together --
Sisqó especially feels out of place -- apart from stardom, and stardom is
Osmond's specialty. Now in her 40th decade of fame, she no longer belongs to any particular sound or style, which means while
Music Is Medicine is nominally a country album, nothing about it feels country, not even the bright pulse of "Love This Tough," her duet with
Rich. It is an adult contemporary pop album with no designs on airplay: it only hopes to appeal to longtime fans of
Osmond, those who have stuck with her through thick and thin. In that regard,
Music Is Medicine works quite well. It's sweet, slick, and sentimental, nicely constructed in its bones and also so glossy that it goes down easy. Despite the ambitious cast of characters, it's music that's meant to soothe and comfort old friends, and it certainly succeeds in that regard. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine