::ALBUM REVIEW::
by J Matthew Cobb
Posted: September 24, 2009

Plain and simple: this is the kind of album Kierra Sheard should use as a template. Awkward to even phantom such an epiphany after discovering People Get Ready as an album release from a reality- TV contestant. In its third season, Melinda Watts became the champion of the Gospel Music Channel’s Gospel Dream. Knotting up with New York-based Razor & Tie, Watts is now the gospel posterchild for a label sporting pop/rock music veterans like Michael McDonald, Neil Sedaka, Simply Red and Brain McKnight. Apparently, the label has done their homework on finding gospel that works - whether it’s working with household names or finding impressive newborns. The album gets a production boost from industry heavyweights Aaron Lindsey and PAJAM (Paul Allen, James Moss), but is extraordinarily supported with comparable productions from emerging songwriter/musician Freddy Washington, Jr. and Bernie Herms (Natalie Grant, CeCe Winans, Casting Crowns).

People Get Ready wastes no time in painting good impressions. “Say Yes” opens the set with its big dancefloor string, occasional bass thrusts and fine lyricism. Immediately following, “So Good” bridges funky reggae rhythms with urban hip-hop bumps and does what Yolanda Adams failed to achieve on “Victory;" that is ride the coattails of a pop-friendly melody. “Happy,” with its buoyant ‘80s colors, and the dreamy “There Will Come a Day” are also pleasant surprises for the album. Above all, “Come Boldly” is the album’s biggest triumph - opening with a slow R. Kelly-esque glow but slyly creeping into a killer gospel vamp that conjures enough imagery of classic Yolanda Adams power ballads (i.e., “In the Midst of It All,” “Thank You”). It will probably be the agenda of most listeners to quickly compare Watts’ vocals with the likes of Kierra Sheard, even Coko, and when in her higher register and while phrasing certain lines even Yolanda Adams. The best place to spot this is on the big gospel drive of “Come Boldly.” Still, being compared to a fine set of gospel divas is a divine honor.

Some of the productions are so polished and safely executed that it does bear that familiar Nashville CCM brand. But it isn’t so white-washed that it feels like a Mandisa’s early works. On the cover of the Milton Brunson 1988 classic “Available to You,” the gospel chorus is pretty much removed and layered out in generic duet style. Watts, along with special guest J Moss, take turns on individual verses and even exchange a few lines afterwards. Some of the parts are showy, but the creamy production and sweet R&B swaying effects shine some extra light on the beloved gospel hymn.

Certainly, the AC-draining efforts on “Faith That Conquers” (lifted from the VBA catalog) and Smokie Norful/Myron Butler’s Hallmark-natured “Purpose Driven Life” snaps out some of the voltage from the album’s aggressiveness. Still Watts’ voice - clearly the glue to any of the album’s broken parts - is an angelic presence on her satisfying soundtrack. She even pulls off a better album than most reality-TV alums (even when compared to the AI camp). Nothing smells like a novice learning the ropes and even the scent of safe, connect-the-dot selections here are minute irritations after factoring in the heavy radio-ready cuts, the high-definition production and Watts’s superb pipes. It all adds up into being one of the better debuts this year thus far.