Reviewed by Karl Allison

Troy Johnson is a man with an impressive history. Once signed to Motown, he's also been with RCA before committing his music to the CCM scene. He's clearly a major talent, but here offers an album that is not quite as good as the sum of its parts. He's gone some way towards stepping beyond his R&B roots by recruiting an interesting variety of producers. The Gotee Brothers (including Toby McKeehan) have kicked in some strong dance rhythms and more surprisingly, John and Dino Elefante have given several tracks a rocky edge. The result is an album that's good in places. On the up side is the opener, the old Marvin Gaye song "What's Going On" and the one truly successful rock track "(In The) Garden Of My Father's Heart", an Elefante-penned power track. On the down side is a voice not particularly suited to the sustained straining of rock ballads, too many sugary lyrics and a heavy-handed swipe at mainstream Christian popsters in crossover, where Troy exhorts them to "crossover from compromise to commitment." All in all, this sounds like an imperfect vehicle for a very talented man.

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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