::ALBUM REVIEW::

The music ministries of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Nashville, TN, have enlightened many with their "In His Presence" popular urban worship series; ultimately proving that their church walls are echoing the excitement of joyful praises and breathtaking musicianship. Well, their latest musical offering continues to reflect their heritage for quality music. But this time, the effort comes from their enormous youth mass choir; Judah Generation. With an impressive list of special guests, key production guidance from Take 6 member Mark Kibble and a versatile set of traditional and urban-styled cuts, Judah Generation's self-entitled debut is bound to draw some serious attention from tough critics and pumped-up supporters of their ministry.

There are some good moments and catchy tracks to look into. Focus on the album opener, "We Come To Worship", which features the uncanny, churchy/jazzy lead vocals of the Shammond Scales on top of a rocking contemporary choir praise. There are a few odd transitions towards the middle portions of the song, but once the vamp kicks in, the song goes into a funk-driven powerhouse featuring the breakdown of choral parts and serious phrase repeats. "Dance Dance Dance", penned by Marva Green and Sharon Queen Campbell, is all about crunk hip-hop and actually possesses an overall dazzling effect that proves to be rewarding for the choir. Usually it's a daunting task to have an edgy urban track to feature a large mass choir sound rendering background vocals and getting away with it. But the song is pulled off with strong deliveries and is pumped up with the masculine narrative ad-libs of Archie Davis. "Until", a power ballad written in memory of the late Lady Di Walker, also shines, even with the added strength of Kim Mont, Joey Kibble, Kendra Carr and a host of others on background vocals. The studio cuts towards the end, suspiciously sounds as if Judah Generation is substituted for professional background voices on several offerings, have a likeable factor that comes from cleaner production, fancy sound enhancements and rich keyboard contributions from Roger Ryan. "We Say Yes" opens up with a subtle boring entrance, but the song grows into a melodic worship swan song and is highly accented by Aija Penix's sweet and innocent vocals and Mark Kibble's solo deliveries. Integrity Gospel artist Lisa McClendon appears on the midtempo contemporary grooves of "Joy", with its summertime cool music effects, infectious drum programming and the dazzling sprinkles of organ pumps from Virgil Straford. McClendon, of course, does what comes natural; delivering soulful, relaxed vocal work.

Those who like youthful voices rendering their interpretations on classic gospel gems may find O'landa Draper's "His Blood Washes Me" appealing. The cut is mostly driven on country-guitar licks and simple drum pacing, with Shaniqua Chisom pouring out her heart on the lead vocals. Of course, this version pales in comparison to Draper's original, but it was definitely a cool idea to see the song reappear from the jukebox vaults. "The Blood Medley (Oh How Precious)", a fast-paced arrangement of blood-themed standards created by Virgil Straford, does a better job than the Draper revisit. While smart musicians may attempt to think of how the song flows from one moment to the next, Straford arranges the song with such unpredictability and even tosses in a few new ideas. Adrian Wells does a good job opening things up, but Gospel Dream winner Benita Washington literally changes the mood into a sanctified holy revival in a matter of seconds. Only serious problem on this cut dwells upon the very dark bass towards the end. There's even an old school medley of two classics created by Frederick L. Vaughn; using Rev. James Cleveland's inspiring "There's A Bright Side Somewhere" and Percy Gray's "There's No Way". The song, of course, switches from a third-person perspective to first-person when "There's No Way" kicks in. And with the plenty recent renditions of this tune already in the ears of most gospel collectors, this one may also pale in size to what we have already experienced.

Within the live segment of the project, Bishop Walker tosses in a few spiritual appetizers, almost like careful introductions; leaving a heavier importance to the message of the songs. These add-ins can sometimes be distracting and usually prove to bothersome since most narrators can become long-winded, but Walker is careful and uses these moments wisely.

Not many youth choirs are recording these days, even though we have heard the entrances of some groups like Joshua's Troop and Youth For Christ during the last couple of years. But Judah Generation, on this their debut, offers more than what's expected. They dig into comfortable church music, they deliver on worship songs, they go into comfortable hip-hop in a matter of minutes and also play around with contemporary pop with the aid of crossover and popular icons. You can only imagine, with this much versatility, if this is just a practical attempt to appeal to everyone. If so, some may be quite disappointed. Rather than trying to deliver something for everyone, artists should find their niche' and stick with it - unless they are extra-qualified to do just that. Judah Generation lacks the power they need to deliver traditional gospel (probably because of their lack of experience in this style of music because of their ages) and some of the choral arrangements are too extravagant for their harmonies. And on some of the live cuts, the band almost feels too "local"; especially when compared to the previous "In His Presence" contributions. It's wonderful to see this group take on such an extreme task, but it's one that comes with a heavy price. Fans and members of Mt. Zion will definitely be excited to add this into their music collections.