Personnel includes: LeAnn Rimes, Elton John (vocals).
Producers include: Wilbur C. Rimes, LeAnn Rimes, Chuck Howard, Mike Curb, Trevor Horn.
With I NEED YOU, her first full-fledged pop album, former country child prodigy LeAnn Rimes makes the leap from Opryland to the bubble-gum strewn halls normally populated by the likes of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Among the guests helping Rimes out with her crossover journey are veteran tunesmiths Dianne Warren, who contributes three songs, and Sir Elton John. Both of Warren's ballads, "But I Do Love You" and "Soon," are the perfect platforms for Rimes and her soaring vocals. The remaining Warren cut, "Can't Fight the Moonlight," is a perfect slice of chugging mid-tempo dance pop reminiscent of teen queen Jessica Simpson. Elsewhere, "Written in the Stars" gives Rimes a chance to duet with Sir Elton on a sweeping number taken from the John and Tim Rice Broadway show "Aida."
Although cuts like the Rimes-penned "Together, Forever, Always," and upbeat "Love Must Be Telling Me Something" contain slight traces of pedal steel and mandolin, I NEED YOU falls squarely into the adult contemporary category dominated by fellow country refugee Faith Hill. Like Hill, LeAnn Rimes has mastered the intricacies of pop as ably as those of country music.
