::ALBUM REVIEW::

After her explosive independent release The Best Is Yet To Come, Martha Munizzi gained ground as one of the surging worship leaders in urban worship. She gained dominance on the gospel charts and even took home the prestigious New Artist of the Year Award at the Stellar Awards in 2005. The project, along with a follow-up holiday project, was picked up by Integrity Music due to an exclusive major distribution deal and even included the recording of the double-disc No Limits: Live in 2006. Unfortunately, the double-disc collection -produced by Fred Hammond’s Noel Hall - was greeted with mixed reactions . Some called it a watered-down version of her breakthrough album, some thought it could have been condensed into one disc, but it still sold favorably well. Even though most accredited the bulk of Munizzi’s success around her collaborations with super producers Israel Houghton and Aaron Lindsey, her big soulful vocals and songwriting credits with modern worship classics like “Because Of Who You Are” and “Glorious” speak volumes of her musical wealth. On her fifth project, Change The World, Munizzi fastens once again to the production of the Houghton/Lindsey duo and conjures up the energy of The Best Is Yet To Come. This time around, she is now shopping the project independently and without Integrity’s support, but it’s all good since the project’s production is as glossy and crisp as any of Houghton’s releases, if not, better.

Recorded live at the Gathering Place Worship Center in Orlando, Munizzi is supported by the cream of the crop of musicians and singers, including background support from Agee Smith, Daniel Johnson (New Breed), Melonie Daniels (Kim Burrell, Mariah Carey), Nikki Ross (Ricky Dillard, Kirk Franklin), Candi West (Myron Butler) and Micah Stampley. Add in Calvin Rodgers’ capable drum skills, Aaron Lindsey’s musical direction and stirring string and horn placements and the album is energized with the finest of contemporary gospel.

All the big up-tempo firecrackers are placed towards the front of the disc. “Invincible God” opens the album with its likable funky layout and colossally-arranged vamp. It is matched with the uniquely-arranged “Nothing Can Separate Me,” which uses rock elements and a hearty funky groove to keep the song afloat. But things really heat up on “Dance” - a serious follow-up to Munizzi’s “Glorious.” Its Latin-tinged percussion and Earth, Wind & Fire blazing horn arrangements give sing-a-long worship a spicy advanced challenge that modern worshipers look forward to engaging in. While “Glorious” comes to mind for listeners, Munizzi isn’t afraid to pull a short chorus from her famed hit into “Dance.” The injection actually works to Munizzi’s advantage. Richardo Sanchez leaps into the song’s reprise to give the song a spicy, organic Spanish interpretation as they explode with declarations of “balia.”

Of all the juicy fast tracks, Lindsey pens an energetic funky masterpiece with “Favor Of God” - exploding with fun funk reminiscent of Prince’s party group The Time. Munizzi’s vocals - bursting with immediate joy and jazzy R&B vocal aerobics - are quite spunky and are convincible enough to win the favor of any tough funk critic. The funk does fade a bit on the reprise as Munizzi enters into her prophetic exhortations, but the song is full and complete with one of the funkiest celebrations in Munizzi’s entire catalog.

Towards the middle, things start to fade into the ballads. While uptempo cuts may very well be the attention-getters of the disc, Munizzi always know how to add that extra beauty to a slow jam or any other bubbling worship ballad. “More Than Enough” uses a California breezy groove, set to a light calypso rhythm and a swaying “la-la-la” chant, that churns up the sweetness of Munizzi’s slow cookers. “I Receive Your Love” walks on the terrains of Richard Smallwood poetic gospel-tinged worship. Munizzi and the band pulls all the stops with this heartfelt track as it pulsates with soulful compassion. Another winner is the Kirk Franklin-esque “Habitation,” jointly penned by Lindsey, Munizzi and Houghton. With the intensity of “God Is Here” - yet with Jim Gray’s boasting strings - the eight-minute song glows with the beauty and grace of most poignant contemporary gospel pieces. It might be a tad bit long that it should be, but Munizzi loves to create the mood of a highly engaging live worship experience and does her best to translate it to disc. Still, the track is quite musical and brilliantly performed with its sparkling background harmonies. Appearances from Micah Stampley on Israel Houghton on the pop-flavored Michael Gungor “Wrap Me In Your Arms” are also well received.

Only irritable hurdles to quiver through are tucked in Munizzi’s occasional drawn-out sermonettes and some of the more ambiguous tracks like the rock/pop title cut, but Munizzi and the album’s key characters deliver one of the most refreshing worship albums to ever hit the gospel charts thus far in 2008. It does a great job in shuffling away from conventional, assembly-line worship projects and boldly lingers around strong multi-cultural, diverse grooves and even stronger melodies - laced together by big R&B and contemporary gospel traits. It’s the kind of stuff that we enjoyed about The Best Is Yet To Come, and this finds the worship leader returning back home where she so belongs.