No Rules

iTunes Review

No Rules signals Rebecca Lynn Howard’s desire to break down the boundaries separating country, R&B, and rock. At once accessible and a little edgy, the album reintroduces Howard as a gutsy, risk-taking performer. Recorded at Muscle Shoals, the tracks smolder in a convincing Southern Soul mode. Howard digs into “Shaky Ground” and “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” with gospel-fueled fervor; she delivers “New Twist on an Old Groove” and “Just Let It Burn” with hip-grinding abandon. She turns down the burners on the delicately-rendered “What Dying Feels Like” and gets into some breezy jazz/pop with a cover of Al Jarreau’s “We’re in This Love Together.” Several tracks — most notably the party anthem “Throw It Down” and the socially-conscious “The Life of a Dollar” — are candidates for country radio airplay. In fact, “Sing ‘Cause I Love To” could become a Grand Ole Opry favorite. But really, such commercial calculations are probably far from Howard’s mind — this album is more about stretching wings than going platinum. With exuberance and honesty, Howard uses No Rules to declare her artistic independence.