Songs Of Hope And Faith - Mahalia Jackson

Advantages: Great melodic pop songs
Disadvantages: A few duff tracks

...Some Depeche Mode albums are very good and well worth a listen, whereas others are really quite ordinary. Songs of faith and Devotion definitely falls into the former camp, but it could have been even better. Songs on this album such as "Condemnation" and "Judas" somehow drag and plod their way along without ever really kicking in, but elsewhere there are some very good tracks indeed. The highlight of the album is "In Your Room", a swirling, thrilling pop song with a fantastic bass and groove to it, which ought to have been a blockbusting single. There are other songs which have a plaintive beauty to them, such as "Higher Love" which somehow still sends shivers down my spine. "Rush" also has a synthetic kick and groove to it which shows more clearly than any other song on the album how Depeche Mode influenced the new breed of electro... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: A good amount of quality songs.
Disadvantages: Not as good as her later releases.

.... It is an up beat, catchy song, and you can thelp tapping your feet along with the beat. (7/10) 7. I Cant Do That Anymore (Alan Jackson) This song was written by country superstar, and Faiths friend, Alan Jackson. It's about a woman who is married to a successful man, who let her dreams shatter, to wait on her husband hand and foot. 'Now your Mr Successful, and I'n Queen of the treadmill trying to stay the size you think that I should stay...I used to dream about what I would be, but last night I dreamed about the washing machine'. This woman feels trapped behind her husbands success and Faith portrays that fantastically with her voice. (9/10) 8. A Room In My Heart (Sunny Russ) Another of my favourites. This simple love song talks about a womans heart being like a house, with many rooms and open doors, but each time the woman is hurt she... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Greatest Debut Ever, Every Song is Fantastic, His Afro!
Disadvantages: How can there be any, it's Michael Jackson!

...voice could not carry this alone, he was overdubbed a few times to create a harmony and fill out the vocals. The video was also very advanced for it's time. It showed Jackson dancing in front of various funky backgrounds, with 3 images of Michael on the screen for a while. Finally it is the first song where he made lots of screams and squeals throughout the vocals. He had tremendous success with the same technique on much of the Thriller album. 2. Rock With You - Such a fantastic soulful song! It was the first song Rod Temperton wrote for Jackson. He would write many others for him, including "Off The Wall" and "Thriller." The original title was "I Want To Eat You Up," but it was quickly changed to fit Michael's image. 3. Working day and Night - The third song and the fastest on the album, it sounds similar to the old Jackson songs... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful