Rachel Sweet – ...And Then He Kissed Me

This should have been Rachel Sweet's breakthrough moment. In fact, it's obvious that that's what Columbia was going for. They liked her so much that they signed her directly to Big Red (Stiff was just a little Euro thing, after all), and brought in the big guns - Rick Chertoff to produce, and a raft of Nashville session cats to make the music. Gone was the indie sensibility that provided so much of the spark for her first two Stiff Lps; gone were The Blockheads and their UK punk sensibilities -- and sadly, gone was the innocence and enthusiasm that had made "Fool Around" such a remarkable debut. The CBS folks had taken Rachel's grit and charisma and sanded, buffed and polished it to a smooth sheen. And they got their Top 40 hit, by pairing her with then-heartthrob Rex Smith on a big-studio cover of "Everlasting Love".

There are some bright moments here, mostly when Rachel was allowed to do her own songs (produced by Stiff prexy Pete Solley). Her voice retained the sulky, raspy charm that had endeared her on her previous outings. And even the big productions where Chertoff was obviously going for an E-Street Band feel have their appeal. But the spontanaeity, the DIY appeal of those first two albums had been paved over by the New York machine.

She'd have one album left to prove what she could do.

cassette wanted