What the World Needs Now Is Love

1	What the World Needs 3:37
2	Heaven Help Me 4:02
3	It All Comes Down to Love 3:43
4	Flies on the Butter (You Can't Go Home Again) / The Judds 4:30
5	I Will Be 4:15
6	I Want to Know What Love Is 5:41
7	It's Only Love 4:17
8	Sometimes I Feel Like Elvis 4:43
9	Burning Love From "Disney's Lilo & Stitch" 3:12
10	Who Am I Supposed to Love 4:04
11	Your Day Will Come 3:54
12	(No One's Gonna) Break Me Down 3:16
13	You Are From Someone Like You 4:54
14	Rescue Me 4:04

Barnes & Noble

Love as a healer, as salvation, as a panacea for the world's ills, as a moral compass -- not surprisingly, these variations on a theme dominate an album titled What the World Needs Now Is Love. The disc and its buoyant opener, "What the World Needs Now," are not to be confused with the Bacharach-David song made famous by Jackie DeShannon, although they share the sentiment that is triumphantly carried off by Wynonna Judd. She makes her case with fire-and-brimstone country rock, R&B-flavored workouts, and a couple of exquisite ballads that showcase her nuanced delivery, such as the one-off Judds reunion "Flies on the Butter (You Can't Go Home Again)," a nostalgic look back at an elegiac childhood, with momma Naomi supplying the captivating family harmony. Jeff Beck shows up to lay some screaming guitar on a gut-wrenching cover of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is," but no one steals the show from a rejuvenated Wy, who is clearly on a mission. "It All Comes Down to Love" percolates along on a funky groove as Judd coolly lacerates TV evangelists, mealy-mouthed politicos, oily talk-show hosts, and Wall Street "suits" who prey on the desperate and lonely. The highlight, however, is a powerful trifecta of tunes: "Sometimes I Feel like Elvis," which rails against stardom's soul-numbing isolation; a roaring cover of the Elvis chestnut "Burnin' Love" (from Lilo & Stitch); and the low-key "Who Am I Supposed to Love," a jazzy bit of moody introspection that mourns lost love. Pondering the multifarious meanings of an age-old topic, What the World Needs Now Is Love finds Wynonna digging deep -- and soaring higher than ever. David McGee

All Music Guide

What the World Needs Now Is Love may be titled after a Burt Bacharach and Hal David song, but it as far away from that song musically as one can get and still remain popular music. On her alleged return to her country roots, Wynonna Judd cannot resist the temptation to allow many forms of pop and rock into her sound. But that's fine; just fine. On her first studio outing in three years, Judd turns in a performance that is consistent all the way through, and one that seamlessly blends that astonishing voice of hers with banjos, strings, electric guitars, mandolins, pedal steels, pianos, and lots of drums. In addition to the heartbreakingly beautiful reunion of the singer with her mother Naomi ("Flies on the Butter"), Wynonna also collaborates with überguitarist Jeff Beck on the shimmering country version of the Mick Jones pop classic "I Want to Know What Love Is." This version may replace the original as its emotion is honestly wrought and pouring over the brim of the track's arrangement. Also featured here is her version of "Burning Love," the old Elvis nugget from the film Lilo & Stitch, and "You Are," from the Someone Like You soundtrack. There are contemporary arrangements galore, but Judd's voice carries them into the realms of history as one can hear voices as diverse as Connie Smith's and Aretha Franklin's in her delivery and phrasing. Tracks such as "Sometimes I Feel Like Elvis," and the rollicking barnburner "(No One's Gonna) Break Me Down," which could have been written by Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds, deliver intensity, honesty, and theatrics seamlessly. What the World Needs Now Is Love is a stellar outing from one of the most singular talents in the country music pantheon. If this doesn't cross over, then radio really is dead. Thom Jurek