::ALBUM REVIEW::
by J Matthew Cobb
Posted: August 26, 2009

With seven years of recording and four albums (minus the snubbed indie debut A Call to Worship) since their debut, Youthful Praise, fronted by choir master and worship leader J.J. Hairston, has presented a remarkable display of modern contemporary gospel coming from two particular angles. First, there’s the brash East Coast fires of edgy, vibrato-punchy harmonies and thick gospel melodies wrapped around Detroit gospel song writing. Then there’s the cool, congregational-friendly, choral-anchored worship that would excite any Judith Christie-McAllister album. Both identities, split in the middle of four album releases, reveal Youthful Praise’s metamorphic journey through a field of style-changing hurdles in modern gospel but it’s a story that Youthful Praise uses to support the media blitz behind their fifth consecutive project Resting On His Promise. Hairston hopes to bring both worlds together and enlist a strong cabinet of traditional (Shirley Caesar, Dorinda Clark-Cole) and contemporary gospel pioneers (Myron Butler, Stephen Hurd) to help even things out.

Of the meatier offerings, the title cut might be the most rewarding. It has a Jonathan Nelson pattern (familiar pop whistle, unison-laden verses, repetitive hook, got the point) and even bears a contemporary thump that cradles YP’s early hit “Spirit.” Lay out even more additions including Eric McDaniel’s cameo appearance and Mo’Horns’ accenting horn segments and the song gets better after a few listens. “Great Expectation” fires up an uptempo Kurt Carr-styled arrangement. Although Myron Butler’s ad-libs generate some attention, the wordiness of YP’s lines transforms the event into a juggler’s expedition. To be expected, worship songs like “Close to You,” a worship ballad that best illustrates Hairston’s strong worship leading and impressive vocal chops, give the album some Top 40 appeal. The song opens comfortably with its sweet adult-contemporary openings and closes with a climatic Hillsong pop finish. “Awesome Wonder” ought to generate some radio play. Opulent with string layers and stacked with soft rock ballad edges, the power ballad captures some of the melodramatics of Israel Houghton’s radio singles like “Another Breakthrough” and “If Not For Your Grace.” It works on YP, even though it’s a freshman move for the group.

Still the group I so dearly enjoyed since Awesome God makes a hard time connecting with their past. “Hear Me Lord" hones in on the Myron Butler aesthetic of “Set Me Free,” but is burdened by its glutenous spreadsheet of lyrics and long, drawn-out measures. “High Praise” tries to channel the spunk rhythms of “He’s Worthy,” but even Shirley Caesar’s guesting gusto and a ten-second intro from Pastor Jamal Bryant cannot salvage the uninspiring melodies. Dorinda Clark-Cole does her best to give “Still Mighty, Still Strong” a substantial backbone, so does Youthful Praise as they bring out punchy gospel harmonies towards the mid-section, but the overbearing usage of a repetitive melody that streams from beginning to end makes the song seem enirely predictable. There are some redeeming qualities taken from the Institutional Radio Choir tradition on the churchy up-tempo “You Can Make It,” but it’s just not enough to match with their stronger throwbacks. To add to some of the disappointment, most of the songs parade for far too long (clocking over seven minutes) and barely escape the subject matter of praise team-anchored dialogue.

There is an obvious attempt here to capture the spirit of an Israel & New Breed live performance. It’s a bold taking since the combination of pop-sizzle melodies, bold lyricism and high-energy adrenaline all make the New Breed brand so original to the game of gospel crossover. And it may be possible for YP to recreate the same results on a live stage, but memorable albums require much more than impressive executions. There also has to be a great deal of instant gratification using pop-accessible melodies. At one time, YP had their own unique sound. With added marketing interests, including pressures from both Light Records and Gospelflava’s Evidence Records (James Robinson is on staff with popular gospel e-zine Gospelflava and Light Records), YP constructs an album far from the thorough East Coast choir drives of Awesome God and the jumpy, sing-a-long traces of Live the Praise, the Worship. Now YP is left once again at a mid-life identity crisis; scathing to find what’s next for them. It’s obvious that turning back to the old YP sound would probably be disastrous for their career since Awesome God is so embedded in the canals of ‘90s contemporary gospel. But churning out lukewarm Hillsong-inspired, hard-to-connect compositions and a smidgen of low voltage gospel isn’t all that attractive on such a talented group. You can detect the aging signs of a youthful brand heading towards a challenging period of creative menopause. There is a comfortable deal of optimism that hardcore YP fans will find something to enjoy on Resting, but it probably won’t be much.