Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1995…

#2 – Relish – Joan Osborne

Almost every album on this list is by an artist I’ve stuck with, for at least several more releases if not an entire career. This one is different.

Singer-songwriter Joan Osborne has released 13 studio albums, one less than a year ago. I might have listened to one of them briefly when it came out, but otherwise my appreciation for her is based completely on the excellence of her debut album.

Relish is more than just a fine first record — I’d put it on a short list of the best debut albums by anybody, ever. It doesn’t take a wrong step, from songwriting to performance and production.

This is a confident, sexy album, one that finds Osborne using her soulful, gritty voice to seduce and destroy. You don’t just listen to these songs, you get wrapped up in them.

Soulful pop hit ‘One of Us’ reached #4 on the Hot 100, but it might be the worst thing on this album. Opener ‘St. Teresa’ is certainly in conversation for the best, along with several other deep cuts, but without question my favorite moment on Relish is ‘Pensacola.’

I wrote about that song — one of my all-time favorites — way back in 2009, and it hasn’t lost an ounce of its power since then (or since 1995, for that matter).

I can say the same about Relish as a whole — it sounds as fresh and exciting now as the first time I heard it. Maybe I should check out those other twelve albums.