Anointed

Item: Under The Influence
Author: Beau Black

Under The Influence

(1996)

Reviewed by Beau Black

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Label MyrrhThe LighthouseFebruary 1997

gospel r&b soul

After the success of Anointed's last, pop-leaning record, I'd hoped they would return to the more soulful approach of their largely ignored-but really good-first album, Spiritual Love Affair. No such luck. Though Under The Influence offers a number of radio-ready songs, it's a step backward for this too-talented group.

Don't get me wrong-there are a couple of great songs here. But if you're listening to the radio, you will have heard most of them by the time you read this. The first three songs are the album's best, and also its first three singles: "Under The Influence," the disc's most soulful song, "Waiting In The Wings," an encouraging mid-tempo tune, and "Adore," my favorite of the bunch, which cuts a groove similar to dc Talk's "Just Between You And Me." The remaining tracks are pretty much standard fare musically and pretty predictable lyrically, as a perusal of the song list suggests. I also hear little, except the title track, that could follow up on the crossover success of "It's In God's Hands Now." Too bad.

The choice of musical backing is a little surprising-guitars (acoustic and rhythm) dominate the slick, but nearly synth-free, mix. While that could have pointed the group in a retro-soul direction that's hot at R&B radio right now, it doesn't. On songs like "Adore" the guitars seem particularly effective; on most of the others, this instead makes Anointed sound more like other pop acts in the Christian scene, taking them even farther into AC/pop territory. I imagine Myrrh wanted to play it safe, and maybe the group did too, following a turbulent year that saw them lose member Mary Tiller. But they've played it too safe here-and it shows.

Though I found the song selection and production on this project merely average, the vocals are super-their smooth phrasing (especially on the title cut) and tight harmonies are tough to beat. Each vocalist is also given room to do their thang-D'adra Crawford-Greathouse on "Get Ready" and "Do," Steve Crawford on "Adore," Nee-C Walls on "Waiting," and all three on "Influence." That said, I can't help but think they can do better than just play along with current Christian music trends. A group as talented (both as singers and songwriters) as Anointed deserves attention outside the Christian market. That seems to have been forgotten in the making of this disc. I encourage you to find a copy of Spiritual Love Affair; give "The Other Side" a spin, and you'll see what I mean.