by Thom Owens
As the official sequel to Blue (Unchained Melody was a collection of early recordings), You Light Up My Life: Inspirational Songs carried a lot of expectations. It was a record that should have consolidated LeAnn Rimes' status as contemporary country's brightest new star, but instead it does a curious thing -- it positions her as an adult contemporary crossover artist. You Light Up My Life has as much pop as country, relying on such easy listening standards as the title track, &The Rose,& and &God Bless America.& As a result, the album has a bit of a bland, homogenous quality -- it certainly could have used a bit of country grit. Rimes sings well throughout You Light Up My Life, but she often doesn't seem to connect completely with the material -- it's telling that a remix of her previous hit &How Do I Live& stands out as one of the finest cuts here. You Light Up My Life is far from disastrous -- Rimes has too much natural talent to be sunk by poorly chosen material -- but it isn't the great leap forward it could have been.