Reviewed by Shireen Qureshi

-'Dedicated is surprisingly gospel in its ministry properties. The second track, "Tell Some­body" is nothing short of 'wicked'. It is a collection of powerful testimonies in good-old gospel funk. Elsewhere though the album is decidedly languid. "The Invitation" is a monologue by Phil which describes being before God on His throne during The Judgement. Phil makes it clear that "Hell ain't gonna be no party" then graphically describes the consequence of not giving in to Christ. It healthily uses music and the imagination, and leads to an actual appeal and then to a crescendo which unfortunately loses the whole effect where Brenda breaks outs out into an operatic Kiri Te Karawa 'sound-a-like' and the string arrange­ment is decidedly 'over-the-top'. After the big sales sucess of 'Dedicated' there had to be another celebration of Phil and Brenda's "lurve" for one another.

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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