Reviewed by Andy Cooper

Yolanda Adams undoubtedly has one of the finest and most revered voices in modern gospel music. This double album charts her rise through the '90s, with recordings taken from each of her albums between 1991 and 1998. It's interesting to compare her earlier performances with her later ones: during this time you can tell how her voice matured and became richer. Some of her earlier songs have a slight shrillness in the high notes, while the newer recordings reveal a deeper and more confident vocal delivery. So the more recent the recording, the more essential it is. Yolanda has a range to rival Whitney Houston, a jazziness influenced by Nancy Wilson and a funkiness gleaned from Stevie Wonder. Also, throughout these years the production values and performances from her band have been pretty faultless, capturing the fire and energy of the up-tempo songs such as "Only Believe" and. . . oh, perhaps that's the only one here? And the smoothness and power from the ballads such as "What About The Children?", "The Battle Is The Lord's" and "Still I Rise". So if you're happy with the slower (yet highly dynamic) tracks full of faith-building lyrics and soaring lead vocals and didn't get the chance to discover Yolanda during the last decade, this is the right lotion for your itching ears.

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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