The Secret of Life (original)

Album Review

The Secret of Life marked a new era for country songwriting maven Gretchen Peters. The woman who is most famous for having written Martina McBride's poignant breakthrough single "Independence Day" has also written hits for Patty Loveless, Trisha Yearwood, and many others. But The Secret of Life marks her first serious attempt as a singer and performer as well. As expected, this independently released debut is loaded with great songs, and features a top-notch band that includes Dan Dugmore, Michael Severs, and Barry Walsh, to name a few, and guest appearances by friends Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle (with whom she duets on an excellent cover of his "I Ain't Never Satisfied"), Raul Malo, and James House. Peters opens the album with a reading of "Waiting for the Light to Turn Green," a co-write with Suzy Bogguss, and she delivers it convincingly. Her voice is a great surprise. She doesn't have a great range — she is somewhere between alto and contralto — but it hardly matters because she is such a convincing vocalist. The truth remains, though, that her guest stars take away some of the incredible poetic power of her own material and the listener has to remember that Peters' own readings of her tunes are the defining elements here. Green Daniel did a decent job on the production, and Peters never steps over her own lines — which she did on later recordings to great effect. There is some tentativeness in her presentation that, again, takes just a bit away from such excellent material. The way she transfers emotion while singing compensates somewhat, and if anything, the songs come through as intimate statements, coffee-table confessions. Standout tracks include her version of "Independence Day" (a bonus track on the 2001 CD reissue), containing a kind of quiet power that sends shivers up and down the spine; the beautifully understated "I Was Looking for You," one of the great country love songs to come out of the 1990s; and the rollicking anthem "Room with a View." This is indeed an auspicious debut, and is merely a hint of what would take place on later records such as her self-titled follow-up and the absolutely stellar Burnt Toast & Offerings.