She's certainly prolific. She's certainly beautiful. She can certainly sing. Yes, it's Nell Bryden and she has released another album. This one is called "What Does It Take?" Given that both surviving Bluesbunnies are fully paid up members of the Nell Bryden fan club, the dangers of a biased review become only too apparent.
Barely taking a breath after her "Live from Iraq" album, Ms Bryden strides through the songs on this album with poise and confidence. "Green Dress" is practically a text book approach to doing a ballad with some fine pedal steel from Greg McMullen adding the essential cry-in-your-beer seasoning. Ms Bryden seems intent on covering as many musical bases as she can too. She goes all Connie Francis with "Tonight", beats Joss Stone senseless with "Not Like Loving You" and then drives right up the middle of the road with "Goodbye".
It is perhaps an odd comment to make after giving the album a clean bill of health but it does leave you with a feeling of being a rushed performance with Ms Bryden's vocals sounding almost perfunctory at times. Maybe the fact that she has so much talent is something to do with it. She just never seems to break sweat. This is a fine album to listen to but it never really satisfies you.