Reviewed by Stephen Luff

Tramaine Hawkins is a legend in gospel music, winner of two Grammy Awards. The singer caused some controversy when she recorded the hard funk "Fall Down" in the mid '80s, when her music was seen to compromise with the musical trends of the time. The song topped Billboard's Dance Chart. Unfortunately, this is where this compilation falls as Tramaine was signed to A&M at the time, and this disc from EMI therefore misses a chunk of her musical history (in my mind much of her best work was contained in the album 'The Search Is Over', all absent here). What we have here then is a fairly safe collection of live gospel with five studio tracks such as "I Got Joy" and "You Are My Life", mainly from the '80s. As introduction it serves a purpose highlighting her powerful voice. As a quintessential compilation demonstrating the lady's full impact in gospel music, it falls short.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.