It was clear that Ms. Eder is aiming at a natural constituency, and thus the It's Time album contains an obligatory anthem, "Over the Rainbow." But the song doesn't sound very obligatory—it sounds ecstatic and Ms. Eder delivers it on such heights—having a range that bewitches—that the familiar anthem becomes—for a few moments-- her own.

But it wasn't the Rainbow song that caught my attention. It was a song I'd never heard before, "I'm Afraid This Must Be Love". I halted in mid-aisle. I blamed my liking for this piece immediately—as I discovered what the title was—on that teenaged part of me that still exists, an undying romance with romanticism— flaring up every so often when a smiling man enters the room. He's devastatingly handsome. He looks invitingly into my face.

My more realistic self comes to my rescue, though, heavily armed with experience and protected by a still small voice that says "Don't jump" as I teeter about, dizzy due to my projecting of qualities on a face I hardly yet know, yet do know.

Linda Eder's It's Time is a rich voyage (16 cuts) across such a chasm that separates hard-core realists from those who simply want the mere feeling--the high-- that an emotional involvement soaring, lifted aloft by personally-perpetuated illusions, can effect. Linda Eder flies over the rainbow to her own melodious place where falling in love is imperative.

Perhaps I won't choose every cut on this album when I make the tape, though I may change my mind later about this. Out of as many cuts as there are, however, a surprising number sound damn good to me, including the title song, It's Time. Atlantic Recording Corporation has produced it.

But if you can't get over the nasty habit of making comparisons between people, say Eder and Streisand, this album isn't for you. You'll hear too much Streisand, maybe, and if you're not into Streisand you'll probably say "Who Needs IT?"

But it isn't Barbra, Blanche. It isn't. It's Linda Eder. And by the time she's half way through and is singing song number 7, When Autumn Comes, you'll agree she's an independent and that she doesn't deserve to be compared to anybody. This gal can fly high on those scales, and she's all by herself up there.

I Want More's lyrics long for the great extremes:

Equal billing in the relationship. That's a great mantra for anybody to sing. That thought will return from within the melody and make sure some day that a listener avoids getting stepped on for the sake of a attaining romantic high. Linda Eder has a right-on face. I'm glad she sits in the CD rack in the living room, awaiting me to let her be heard once again—her tones reaching all the way to the end of the hall.