Wearing her heart on her sleeve, Kimberley knows her fans will be able to relate to this album because music is the universal language. In her first attempts at songwriting, the product is a collection of songs highlighting the good and bad points of love and friendship. Taking calculated risks and exercising her faith has proven to be the key to unlocking the music that lives within Kimberley Locke.Whether she has to put on a cowboy hat, kick it at the club, or cake on rock-chick quantities of black eyeliner, Kimberley Locke is going to see to it that you like her. Based on a True Story, the 2003 American Idol finalist's second CD, wanders through a dressing room of genres, wiggling into rock ("Trust Myself"), strutting around in R&B and dance ("Supawoman" and "Doin' It Tonite"), and unbuttoning contemporary country ("Fall"). Locke, an artist who otherwise exhibits a Queen Latifah-like gift for keeping it real, probably should have stuck to what fits best: pop (see the excellent first single "Changes"). That she doesn't--that she instead chooses to make an Idol-style show of her versatility--is a little bit of a letdown. But not much. Because she pumps personality and warmheartedness into every song, effectively if not ingeniously carrying off a boatload of styles, she'll still have a lock on a lot of mental lists of all-time-favorite female AI contestants, and deservedly. -Tammy La Gorce
