Freedom
Posted March 30, 2009
By Nathan,
Mandisa has quickly grown in popularity since her days on American Idol, and the fact that fans are still coming back for more after her debut best selling project True Beauty proves that her early days simply wasn’t a brief craze. Her sophomore album Freedom, centers on that theme; whether freedom from sin, fredom from fear, or, on the more personal note for Mandisa, freedom of weightless.
The album plunges into a pop sound quickly with “my deliverer” with some gospel rolled in to preserve expectations of an inspirational pop/urban sounding CD. And Freedom rarely strays from that genre as it puts up anthems like “freedom song” which is an upbeat hip-hop dance tune that utilizes the choir to give it a southern style. Mandisa’s biggest weapon is putting inspirational music into any style of music; for example “he is with you” is piano fueled adult contemporary/inspirational pop song which tries to be an epic track early and does a fair job. The ballad “Not guilty” secures plenty of emotion for the four and a half minute song.
Freedom doesn’t take musical falls, which is to say that there are no obviously weak songs (except for the upbeat hip hop dance tune, “dance dance dance” which was originally done by MaryMary). Except for “The Definition of Me”, which has the most aggressive urban pop music on the disc along with a daring stanza with Blanca from Group 1 Crew, the album takes no risks which may disappoint some fans as the music is somewhat predictable. Mandisa does take a different approach with “victorious” with its light adult contemporary/hip hop/pop tune but the execution is flawed. The inspirational finale “you wouldn’t cry”, is good if not just a little unsurprising.
Although no one excepts Mandisa to give listeners deep looks into theology she does a fine job of giving fans everlasting truths, even when they have already been covered. Even though “victorious” may not be a new concept, its one that never grows old (‘I want the one that you can't see…Jesus, I want You to be/Living inside of me’) and “The Definition of Me” condemns the fading gems in this world for inward beauty and ‘the truth’. Matthew West’s song writing on “how much” echoes his own song about God’s love: “more” Strong moments arise but there are a few low lyrical spots such as the repetitive worship cover of “dance dance dance” and an originality lacking “freedom song” which borrows from “my chains are gone”. The most disappointing song is “not guilty” where Mandisa awes at forgiveness but fumbles the ball as she makes no mention of those who are guilty.
It’s the lack of risk taking on Freedom which ultimately holds back the album from greatness as both the musical and lyrical sides of the CD rarely emerge from safe territory. But Mandisa’s sophomore project will likely not disappoint fans and will, in fact, probably increase respect for this Christian artist whose American Idol roots grow more obsolete each year.
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