Click for a complete Susan Boyle Album Review [1] 

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Since she first raised her arms in what now seems like a blessing on the talent show "Britain's Got Talent," revealing herself as the new queen of pop's Island of Misfit Toys, Susan Boyle has come to mean several things to her fans: hope, the triumph of the ordinary, the reality-television embodiment of the Euro-American Dream. As a singer, though, she offers something else: relief.

Boyle's clear but warm tone and stolid phrasing turns everything it touches into a more songful version of New Age music. It's relaxing to listen to those drawn-out syllables, gradually building toward a gentle, wavelike climax. Boyle possesses neither an impulse to swing nor an ounce of the blues; whether she's covering the Monkees, the Rolling Stones or Madonna, Boyle sings like she's in a place of worship, surrounded by white walls and soft light, cooking up some chicken soup for the soul.