Reviewed by Stephen Luff

Sandi's musical influence on the US CCM scene is immense, with a list of awards including Grammys and Doves. Naturally people queue up to sing with such an artist and the results are shown on 'Duets 1' and '2'. The first album did receive some criticism in some circles over its lack of remastering, (many of the tracks would have benefited from new technology), but here this appears to have been addressed. The other criticism that can be laid at similar albums is the lack of dramatic flow, as tracks are taken where Sandi was a guest, and yes it is present here, but not as much as I expected, and, although the pace is gentle throughout, the songs have retained an identity of their own without becoming background noise. Most of the tracks are from albums from the '90s. Christmas is a common theme, three come from the 1996 album 'Emmanuel' where Sandi duets with Susan Ashton on "Is This Not The Carpenter", BeBe Winans on "Behold A King Shall Reign" and Larnelle Harris on "The Emmanuel Medley". For me "If I Were You" is an excellent song (duetting with Daryl Coley) and "Always Deeper Still" from the excellent 'Sisters' album (where Sandi is joined by Maria Amada and Veronica Petrucci), is well worth checking out. What I was not prepared for was "Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again" (with Kathy Troccoli), made famous by Judy Garland!

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