The album yielded five major solo country hits (Happy girl, A broken wing, Wrong again, Whatever you say, Valentine) and also includes a wonderful duet with Clint Black (Still holding on) as well as some other outstanding tracks. Martina's strong, powerful voice may seem overwhelming to some people on the up-tempo tracks but I enjoy her music, whatever type of song and whether it is pop, country or somewhere in between.

I could have done without the recording of I'm little but I'm loud, made when Martina was just seven years old, but it only lasts a minute so it's soon done with. Much better is Happy girl, the first real track here, which has become one of Martina's signature songs. Be that way (about a woman in an uneasy relationship with a difficult man) is followed by A broken wing, which could be interpreted as being about the end of that same relationship. Wrong again (about a relationship that seemed ideal but didn't work) has more of a country feel to it. Keeping my distance is about a woman waiting for a man to finish with another woman, just waiting for her chance. I won't close my eyes is about a woman who is suspicious about her man but doesn't want to believe that he's doing her wrong.

There are so many great songs here. I've only mentioned some of them but, except for the brief opening track, they are all enjoyable, at least to my ears. This is a world removed from traditional country but in the field of contemporary country, Martina is as good as anybody. If you are new to Martina's music, you could begin with Greatest hits (which includes five of the tracks here) but this album is also a good one to start with.


Martina cd is a must have!   November 6, 1999
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Martina has the most incredible voice ever and this cd allows her to demonstrate her powerful voice more than any other she's recorded. Its full of awsome songs like "A Broken Wing," "Valentine," "Happy Girl," and "Wrong Again." My very favorate on the cd is "Whatever You Say." Her preformance of that song is beyond describible, its the most amazing thing I've ever heard. Nobody sings like Martina!


Aptly Titled   September 25, 2001
Chris S. (atlanta, ga United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

After a slightly uneven third effort, Martina McBride returned with EVOLUTION, which managed to capitalize on in spades the promise that she had shown with her sophomore disc THE WAY THAT I AM, and in the process produced an album that nearly matched that creative benchmark. While her first three efforts showcased primarily country music with pop undertones, this album incorporated more pop into the proceedings, with slicker, but far stronger, production values, and ultimately smoothing out alot of the country edges that were in evidence in her previous work. It was still country, but more country-pop than anything else. She still had the knack for catchy hooks, displayed on such tracks as 'Happy Girl', Keeping My Distance', and 'I Don't Want To See You Again', but as with her best work, she manages to temper the lightweight with stone-cold reality. 'A Broken Wing' continues her quest to relay inportant social issues through her work, much like the previous 'Independence Day'. Vocally, she was at her peak, particularly on the aforementioned 'Wing', and especially on the equally commanding 'Whatever You Say'--only Trisha Yearwood matches her vocally in the country genre. It's of interest to note that pop divas Mariah Carey and Celine Dion released albums close to the same time as this project, both(Carey's BUTTERFLY and Dion's LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE)creative lowpoints for each, while the equally talented and pop-inspired McBride was doing career high work--it's too bad more pop fans didn't seek this out in the wake of such mundane work, because it truly puts her in league with both of those artists.