Stephanie Mills - Personal Inspirations

Sunday 1st October 1995
Stephanie Mills - Personal Inspirations
Stephanie Mills - Personal Inspirations

STYLE: Gospel
RATING 5 5 5 5 5
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 4081-5106
LABEL: Glorious GCD2123
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1
RRP: £10.20

Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Glorious is a pretty ambitious name for a record company but once again the Integrity Music gospel offshoot fails to deliver the top-notch goods. The problem isn't with the artist, Stephanie is a thrilling singer and I've been a fan of hers since the days I listened exclusively to R&B and Stephanie was signed to Motown (she didn't hit). Back then Stephanie's problem was that she didn't always get Grade A material nor production to lift her from the thousands of other church-raised singers pitching for a hit. Now she's returned to her roots but Stephanie's problem still haunts her. The best songs here are covers and though she shows compelling musical chops on James Cleveland's devotional ballad "I Had A Talk With God" (that Mitty Collier hit with back in the 60s by substituting "my man" for God) and does adequate versions of Tramaine Hawkins' funky "In The Morning Time" and the now seriously over-recorded Curtis Mayfield classic "People Get Ready", the confusion by Glorious as to whether to pitch Stephanie as a back-to-the-roots traditional artist or a fully-fledged R&B gospel singer, means this is a musically schizophrenic album despite all the fire and soul Stephanie strives to inject into the material.

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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