 NETQUOTEVAR:PRODUCTTHUMBNAILIMAGE
|
Parkes Stewart - Heart & Soul 429 |
| >>> REVIEW "Songwriter Parkes Stewart has made a name for himself in music circles through his many compositions that have been recorded by such artists as Yolanda Adams, Commissioned and David Hollister. He also recorded two Gospel albums in the early and mid 90s with more limited success. Stewart is now back with his newest release, Heart & Soul (Nexus), an ambitious attempt to create an album that merges gospel and contemporary r&b in a more architected way than artists such as Yolanda Adams and Mary Mary have attempted over the past few years. Here Parkes creates more of an identifiable line between gospel and R&B essentially creating two albums in one. The first is a spiritual album much in the mould of Marvin Gaye's legendary "What's Goin' On" but with a more obvious Christian theme. The other is a contemporary R&B album that musically sounds like late 90s Boyz II Men or even Dru Hill but lyrically attempts to provide a more traditional, respectful view of love and romance. The Marvin Gaye influence pervades the excellent "Soul" half of the disc, as Parkes effectively recalls the spirit of Marvin's most socially conscious work. Overall 'Heart and Soul (Nexus)' is an interesting experiment by Parkes Stewart that generally works, particularly on the inspired first half of the disc. It captures the spirit of some of the great Soul music of the 60s and early 70s and brings that spirit to the 21st century, acknowledging past failures to fulfill the "Gospel Vision" of theat earlier time but simultaneously expressing a continuing hope and faith for the future. A praiseworthy album." Review - copyright 2004 Soul Tracks - Chris Rizik www.soultracks.com |
|