Reviewed by Tony Cummings

I am continually telling anyone who'll listen that Kelly Willard is "one of the great voices of Christian music". And she is, her magical tone and silky swoops and swerves making it a perfect instrument to caress every nuance out of a melody. As a session singer she's sung on literally hundreds of Christian music albums and not just backups - she's done many a moving lead vocal on anonymous praise albums. So her inability to deliver a truly Grade A album of her own is one of the continuing frustrations of the Christian music counter culture. The problem here is the same as before, a lumpen production (if Brown Bannister is CCM's production Manchester United, Kelly's husband is its Tranmere Rovers) with oh-so-predictable DX-7 intros and with no discernable dynamics in the arrangements, even when Kelly's often-lovely melodies are crying out for an arranger's skill. With a breathtaking voice like hers, 'Garden' isn't completely without merit but it's definitely not the album we were hoping for.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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