Reviewed by Ian Hayter

Under normal circumstances, we'd be calling Shari Addison a veteran. She's 45 years old and has appeared at a number of prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall, but this is her first album and it comes as a result of her being runner-up on a US Christian TV reality show called Sunday Best. Kevin Bond, no stranger to awards himself, having picked up several Grammies, is given the task of producing the large-lunged diva, which he does with a certain amount of aplomb but never manages to generate the vital spark that would set this album apart. Shari has a powerful voice, but at times even she seems over-stretched and her vocals, which have shades of Tina Turner about them on some tracks, turn into screaming on occasions. There's one song on which she shares writing credits ("He Does All Things Well"), the rest are by a selection of writers amongst whom Kevin Bond himself and Clarence Singleton seem to have most credits. The opening "Whateva" is not a teenage cry of angst but a great song of faith, and it seems to bode well for the rest of the set, but from then on there is little to mark this album off from any number of gospel vocal sets. The lyrics are undistinguished and the musical arrangements, although clearly performed with enthusiasm, are not particularly memorable. It's a competent album, but too much like many others to catch the imagination.

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