Sandie Shaw - Reviewing the Situation (CD)

All Music Guide

On her last album of the '60s, Shaw proved that she was hipper than a lot of people would have suspected. Moving away from the usual light pop and MOR, she chose a set of covers heavy on material by the likes of Bob Dylan, the Lovin' Spoonful, the Rolling Stones ("Sympathy For the Devil"), Led Zeppelin's "Your Time Is Gonna Come" (double exclamation point), Donovan, Dr. John, and the Bee Gees. Which doesn't mean it's a great album. It's thoughtfully arranged and energetically delivered, but Shaw's slight, wispy voice is as illsuited for some of the material as a nun is for the mosh pit. Hearing her attempt even the slightest hint of funky menace, as on "Sympathy For the Devil" and Dr. John's "Mama Roux," is apt to induce snickers, however heartelt the endeavor might have been. On the other hand, there's a nifty slinky, jazzy cover of the Beatles' "Love Me Do," and her version of the Spoonful's "Coconut Grove" is also good. The CD reissue adds ten bonus tracks from 196971 singles, most ...of which are far more akin to the straight pop of her earlier '60s work (a cover of Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" being an exception). None of the singles were especially memorable, and none of them were hits, closing the chapter on the first phase of her career. - Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide Read more Less