Relish is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Joan Osborne, released on March 21, 1995. It was nominated for Album of the Year at the 38th Grammy Awards, and also earned nominations for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for Osborne. In addition, the track "One of Us" was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

Background

Relish contains songs performed in a mixture of styles: contemporary folk, rock, and pop. Its biggest hit single, "One of Us", was used as the theme to the 2003–2005 television series Joan of Arcadia, although the show used a re-recorded version. The album and the song were both nominated for multiple Grammy Awards in 1996. The song was written by Eric Bazilian of the Hooters. "Man in the Long Black Coat" is a cover of the Bob Dylan song from his 1989 album Oh Mercy. The music for "Right Hand Man" is said to have been inspired by Captain Beefheart's 1982 song "Clear Spot," although the two are in different time signatures and have completely different lyrics and subject matter. The final track, "Lumina", was used on the first episode of the HBO hit show The Sopranos. It was also used in an episode in the fourth season of the CBS hit show The Good Wife in 2013.

Critical reception

The New York Times wrote: "Osborne clearly loves blues and soul, and on Relish she finds a way to use their vocabulary for the here and now. Superficially she's like [Bonnie] Raitt, applying past masters' lessons to current material, but Osborne is never far from urban grit."

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from CD liner notes. Additional personnel

Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales