You Are Not Alone

Rolling Stone - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Staples' voice is a rich, liquid wonder, and Tweedy's production -- thick with guitar tremolo -- is faithful to her funk and gospel work with the Staples Singers." Entertainment Weekly (p.139) - "[S]tellar...with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy producing 71-year-old gospel great Staples." -- Grade: A- Uncut (p.106) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "The stripped-down, Muscle Shoals-style arrangements give Mavis space to do her thing, and the song choices are spot-on..." CMJ - "Staples' voice has aged remarkably well, and the rasps and crackles come in all the right places..." Living Blues (p.40) - "Mavis applies her throaty contralto with consummate passion to a mix of spiritual and secular material that includes a hauntingly harmonized a cappella reading of 'Wonderful Savior'..." Billboard (p.40) - "The standout is Staples' tear-stained take of Randy Newman's 'Losing You.' She wrings every bit of emotion out of the song without seemingly batting an eye." Mojo (Publisher) (p.93) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Little Milton's gutsy soul'n'blues 'We're Gonna Make It' is delivered unequivocally as a hymnal to universal peace; Mavis's vocal performance, intense, deep, almost a growl at times, and quite simply jaw-dropping." Mojo (Publisher) (p.56) - Ranked #12 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2010" -- "The results: exciting, impassioned, essential." Pitchfork (Website) - "'You Are Not Alone, as its title suggests, intends to be a salve in hard times, and Staples rallies her most sympathetic delivery, as if comforting listeners individually." Record Collector (magazine) (p.94) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "'You Don't Knock' is a deft gospel number that sets things off well with an uplifting call-and-response passage."