Amazon.comMichelle Malone's voice, which possesses both the sheer lungpower and the bluesy rawness of Janis Joplin's, has won her record deals with Arista, Sky, Sister Ruby, and Daemon by the age of 26. Unfortunately, in every case, the impact of her vocals has been undermined by her mediocre songwriting. "Redemption Dream," the album credited to her new blues rock trio Band de Soleil, is no different. Backed by bassist Mike Snowden and drummer Danny Bigay, the Atlanta singer/guitarist revives the clichés of early-'70s, blues-based hard rock but seems unable to come up with an original melody or a lyric more subtle than "Let the earth take its turn and burst at the seams in my redemption dream." --Geoffrey Himes