Review by Andy Hawes for MPM
I first discovered Jaime Kyle back in 1992 when she released her debut album The Passionate Kind on Atco/Atlantic Records.
It was a brilliant and polished piece of Melodic Rock with an all-star session band and immediately showed the world that here was a young lady with bags of songwriting talent and a voice to match.
Sadly, the rock world was changing – Grunge was coming in and Jaime’s brand of Melodic Rock was out! Despite a second and equally superb album, Back To Hollywood, Jaime was unable to make much headway in the rock scene at the time.
However, this was at the time when ‘New Country’ was a genre on the rise and Jaime found herself submitting a track called ‘Wild One’ to then fledgling New Country artist Faith Hill for her debut album Take Me As I Am.
The album broke Faith Hill into Country music mega-stardom and the single ‘Wild One’ managed four weeks at number one on the Billboard Country chart in 1994, making her the first woman in 30 years to manage such a feat.
Fast forward 27 years and Jaime Kyle has finally released her own version of the song as a taster for her as yet untitled upcoming album (due in Spring 2022.) She has given the song the rock treatment it has always deserved and has managed to create a timeless sound that is both a throwback to the The Passionate Kind daysand a fully up-to-date contemporary Heartland Rock sound.
Chunky rock guitars drive the song along, and gospel-tinged backing vocals add vivid highlights to the mix.
Hearing the song fresh again after such a long time makes it quite obvious why it was such a colossal hit in the first place.
It really is a monster track with a hugely uplifting vibe, a singalong pop hook and a lyric that advocates following your dream and being yourself.
It’s so good that it’s easy to see why it has been covered by so many artists (in addition to Faith Hill, ‘Wild One’ has been covered by Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Maddie and Tae, Runaway June on the Academy of Country Music Awards, Lauren Alaina on American Idol, and recently by Rebecca Howell on the hit show “The Voice”) but honestly, great though those versions obviously are, there’s just something completely magical about hearing Jaime sing it herself.
Her voice is as good or even better now than it ever was and the track just rocks along with a powerfully uncluttered and pretty much perfect production.
It’s an absolutely perfect introduction to whatever Jaime Kyle has planned for her upcoming album. I for one await that with baited breath but in the meantime this, arguably the definitive version of ‘Wild One’, will reign supreme on my iPod!
Brilliant stuff!