听Janis Joplin唱歌,你永远也不会感到沉闷,你可以在每一个小小的细节里都听到她热情洋溢而且显得连自己也难以控制的充沛活力。她总是在每次演出都尽全力演唱,有人劝过她如果这么唱下去的话,会大大缩减她的演唱生涯,可是她并不在乎。听她的歌唱你会感觉到两个字---热爱---对音乐的热爱,对摇滚的热爱,尽管这种热爱到最后为我们留下来的东西着实不多,但这些东西的确感动了我们,感动着我们。
实际上Janis Joplin在自己的个人事业生涯中,只正正式式出过一张专辑,就是《I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Aga》,却并非让人太满意,反而是这张Janis Joplin去世之后留下来的一些还未完成后期工作的作品和一些现场的录音所结合在一起的专辑《Pearl》成为了经典。尽管Janis Joplin的歌唱比起很多黑人灵歌女歌手来,会显得更象嚎叫而不象演唱,但是历史选择把她的名字留下来,而抹去其他的人走过痕迹。Janis Joplin的唱法深受Blues音乐的影响,自由奔放,不拘一格。
除了专辑本身成为了榜首专辑之外,当中的单曲《Me and Bobby McGee》也是冠军歌曲,始终给人很惬意很舒服的感觉;《Move Over》会让你情不自禁的随着节奏摇摆并且肆意的陶醉其中;全情投入,时而声嘶力竭的,时而柔声低吟的《Cry Baby》;最后一首值得一提的就是没有任何伴奏的清唱歌《Mercedes Benz》,Joplin放松自然的演唱方式给我极深刻的印象。听Janis Joplin的歌就是有一个特点,即使不懂英语的人,也会深深被其不凡的魅力所吸引。
这张专辑在滚石杂志选出的500张历代最强专辑中排名第位122。
Janis Joplin's second masterpiece (after Cheap Thrills), Pearl was designed as a showcase for her powerhouse vocals, stripping down the arrangements that had often previously cluttered her music or threatened to drown her out. Thanks also to a more consistent set of songs, the results are magnificent -- given room to breathe, Joplin's trademark rasp conveys an aching, desperate passion on funked-up, bluesy rockers, ballads both dramatic and tender, and her signature song, the posthumous number one hit "Me and Bobby McGee." The unfinished "Buried Alive in the Blues" features no Joplin vocals -- she was scheduled to record them on the day after she was found dead. Its incompleteness mirrors Joplin's career; Pearl's power leaves the listener to wonder what else Joplin could have accomplished, but few artists could ask for a better final statement. [The 1999 CD reissue adds four previously unreleased live July 1970 recordings: "Tell Mama," "Little Girl Blue," "Try," and "Cry Baby."]