One of the great all-time albums but then so was her last one
343993
One of the great all-time albums but then so was her last one.  She continues to astound all of us.
3210585
I love many of today's big female pop stars including Britney, Christina, and Pink, but my all-time favorite is Mariah. All though I haven't cared for her last two albums (Glitter and Rainbow), I'm still a huge fan mostly because of her her early albums including this one. Her debut album was perhaps the bigget album of 1990. All 4 of its singles hit #1 which is an amazing accomplishment. Her first single "Vision of Love" displayed her baffling vocal range and became an instant classic. The 2nd single "Love Takes Time" is an adult contemporary classic (listen to that last chorus reprise and the emotion she displays.) The 3rd single "Someday" was the only umptempo of the 4 and she staggered our minds (and ears) with that last note she hits in the song. And finally "I Don't Wanna Cry" was the 4th single which is another gorgeous ballad. Although the singles are the stand-outs, there are other great songs. The meaningful "There's Got To Be A Way" is a decent song. Then there is the beautiful and haunting "Vanishing" and the fantastic "All In Your Mind" (which kinda reminds me of Michael Jackson's "Human Nature) but is still a great Mariah song.
So before she decided to be the liberated hip-hop collaborating diva, she was the beautiful and talented vocalist *and still is if she'd drop the rappers* After "Glitter", I'm really hoping she decides to return to her roots. This album makes a great blueprint.
3932048
This album represented a changing point in Stevie's career, in that it wasn't as successful as her previous two, but it was still able to stand on its own. It ended up becoming a quintessential 80s album, which drew ire, considering the incongruence of rock and 80s style music, which is dance oriented. I think that's unfair. Stevie really is an 80s rocker, because she poured her heart and soul out between 1980 and 1989: she released 4 solo albums, which is over half of her solo career, she did 2 albums with FM, and she did a few duets.
Once again, there were two hit singles, which allowed most of the album to be listened to without prejudice. The title track is quite a cool slow rock track, Talk To Me and Imperial Hotel are great rock tracks, I Sing For The Things is a simple, yet poignant, love song, and Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You is a beautiful ode to someone with one of the most ethereal endings ever. I mean, it really just surrounds you and lifts you up. Songs like Some Become Strangers, No Spoken Word, The Nightmare, and If I Were You are just Stevie Nicks mythical and majestic songs. I Can't Wait and Sister Honey are great 80s dance tracks, which could give Madonna a run for her money. Hey, I got love for the both of them; I'm just saying.
Still, many would criticize the album because it was laced with 80s style music. She's a rock goddess, there's no question. However, it makes her a great artist BECAUSE she can do many genres so well; it makes her universal.
1179889
This was one of my first CDs that I got for Christmas back in '96. The issue of mine doesn't have the bonus tracks or remastered sound, though. Tapestry is the album that made Carole King a household name and it also made her more famous. It's quite obvious that most people had this title in their record collections back in the day, and it was a must have for many folks. She had released an album in 1970 called Writer, but that title was largely overlooked. However, things got a lot better for Carole King when Tapestry hit the stores in 1971. This is obviously her signature album that a lot of people would immediately identify her with. Upon its initial release, it was such a success that it was at the top of the charts for at least fifteen weeks and stayed on top of the charts for most of the rest of the 70s. This is without any doubt one of the most famous and most well known albums in the history of American music entertainment. A lot of these songs I like, especially I Feel the Earth Move and It's Too Late. She had released a few more albums in the '70s after Tapestry, but has kept a low profile in recent years. This is also the kind of album that will go on for many, many more years to come. Carole is one of my favorite singers and she has a beautiful voice.
814751
This album, released when the EWF style was at its peak, is one of those albums you listen to after 20 years and still enjoy. Perfect production, great compositions, impeccable singing, and globally a masterpiece. She  could not do any better with her later albums, although an album such as  "As good as it gets" should have had much more impact.
If you  like the style of voice of Minnie Ripperton and the classy and softer side  of EWF, this album is for you !
1452716
I believe and will always believe that Sandi Patty has a timeless voice and she has inspired and moved many of us throughout the years of her career. Her writers and arrangers love her and it is apparent in every project.

 With that being said, I can only guess that she is so comfortable now being a mom and growing older that she does not seem to care when an unflattering picture of her is allowed to be included in the liner notes or a song already recorded in her last project fills the current project.

She sounds glorious, but I have to say that the only cuts I really care for are WERE IT NOT FOR GRACE, FOR GOOD and maybe JOYFUL JOYFUL since I find it interesting that she still hits her last note with such clarity and ease after all these years. Maybe she chooses songs that she can easily do live and at her Women in Faith concerts?

I question her choice of 2 Crouch songs. Do we really need to hear those recorded again....even by her? I know they are personal, but we grew up with them and most of us can't stand to hear them anymore. I also question the arrangement and song choice of Panis Angelicus. Though I have taught and enjoyed that sacred classic in the vocal studio, I hardly think it belongs on a contemporary album. The songs do not relate to one another very well. The arrangement on PANIS is too loud and Sandy drowns her husband out in many places. WHy do we buy a Sandy album to hear Don Peslis? ( no offense Don...we love you too). If you listen carefully, OPERATOR has vocal arrangement problems. It never rocks like it should and the background vocals on the front end of the track are not fully realized. I skip that cut always!

I got the feeling that she struggled to fill an entire album here. What happenned to cd's like ARTIST OF MY SOUL? OR LE VOYAGE, FIND IT ON THE WINGS  or even  the cd she put out in 2003 was far superior( can't remember the name). I liked FALLING FORWARD, but was also dissapointed on some tracks because they seemed too Praise and Worship oriented.

I will always love Sandy, but I wish she would really scour her past writers and approach some new writers to bring fresh material to her that would challenger her and the listener. I understand she has nothing to prove, but I would love for that 39th Dove Award to become 40 before she decides to retire....not because of the award, but that I know she has so much more left to give.

I would even be open to an album of Classical songs or Love Songs or an album of non sacred songs by artists that she loved growing up hearing like Streisand or Karen Carpenter. Or better yet, an album of songs that are not expressly christian, but that you could relate to as a christian. How about a Duets album?-----new duets please....not with Trocolli, but a new one with Harris or Steve Green or a famous singer who is a believer?

 The choices are unlimited here. Keep recording Sandi........thought this might be helpful since you love your fans. Love, C
2228097
This is very special because it was her last album.  It is like having her right in the room with you.  I like all of the songs, especially Roll away because it is so much related to her last struggle here.  There are only 2 songs that I am not as fond of.  But I am delighted with it.
1711963
The best thing from this album is the the song "You Are My Friend" that's a song that didn't age like Patti doesn't age. The rest of the songs sound like left over Labelle material that Patti did by herself but need Sarah and Nona to add the magic to it. It was clearly a major transition and it shows in the body of work.
3034349
It sounded so good to hear her again.  Her music was in the air every day, all day long the year I lived in Cairo and I got used to hearing her voice as "background".  She is still the best after all these years.
1669611
Perhaps that's not a fair title, because I still love Mary's stuff, she's wonderful. But this was recorded at a time in her life when she was at her very best. The tone and range of her voice could only be matched by a handful of people world wide. Anyone that enjoys German Pop Music from the 1970/80s must have this in their collection. Put it on, lay back, close your eyes, and let her music just flow. And if you do like her work, I would also suggest her album "Die Grossen Erfolge". From that same time period and wonderful too.
103685
Though I didn't think so the first time that I heard it, LONG STRETCH OF LONESOME is quite possibly Patty Loveless' crowning achievement.  Though nearly devoid of her usual spat of uptempo rockers-here, but in short supply-she nonetheless delivers a stunning set of soul-searching ballads.  Though every track is a solid classic-literally-I must point out a few that rank to this day among her greatest recordings, chiefly the sobering 'Too Many Memories' and the revelatory loneliness of the title track.  The real injustice here is that her misfortunes at country radio began with this album, something from which she has yet to fully recover(last year's slightly half-baked STRONG HEART didn't seem to help her cause).  Highly recommended--easily one of the top ten country albums to come out in the last decade.
2652796
It seems like she's gotten alot of flack for doing an album of covers, but I say "All the Better".  These are a some tremendous versions of some great songs.  Her last studio disc had what I think is the definitive version of "Don't think Twice, It's Alright" and this one matches that with "Lord, Protect My Child".  Other great standouts are "Evidence", "Sweet Forgiveness", and "Soul of a Man".  If your a fan of her previous work you won't be disappointed.
1241975
This is a truly great album, similar in greatness to her prior albums.
4189283
Don't get me wrong: I really like Emmylou Harris. Or what she used to be, 15 years ago and before that. Her strives for being a big artist in the history of music have, in my opinion, led her to broaden her music to new fields, and fields she's not very good at. Accordingly, her four last albums have been albums I have only played  a few times trying to convince myself there must be a hook that I have simply missed. Until this day, I haven't found it. Having heard Themsong Hard Bargain before the release of this album I thoght Emmylou was taking steps back qin the direction of ehat she used to be. And I really thibk this album is ab ettempt to do thst. Unfortunately, I don't think it has a material strong enough to lift it upmamongst her great album. Indeed, she sounds better than for long, but only three pretty good songs (the Road, Hard Bargain and, if I'm polite, Cross Yourself) cannot beat ten weak ones. After a few listenings again a CD that will only take up space  in my CD shelf.
1479115
I bought this album upon its release in the early seventies and, although I still have it in great condition (I still have my turntable), I wanted to have a cd backup. Everybody was on this album: Aretha, Billy Preston, King Curtis (and the Kingpins), what probably was her best group of backup singers, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, Billy Preston, Cornell Dupree, and THEN she has the nerve to bring out RAY CHARLES!!! Most of the time, I have difficulty getting past the "jumped up," high-powered version of Respect, then Dr. Feelgood has to be replayed a couple of times, all the other "covers" are absolutely "Aretha's own," and Spirit In The Dark is the finale for me. I've seen Aretha in person a couple of times, but that's one concert I wish I had attended!
3252491
Sorry such a great artist is no longer with us but her classic songs will always live forever.
1589088
By the time this album came out in 1987, entitled "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism",
the long anticipated follow-up to the fantastic and iconic 1972 gospel double album
"Amazing Grace", Aretha's once unparalleled vocal instrument was weathered from
years of hard singing, weight fluctuations, age, and a 20 year smoking habit
which left it raspy and not as clear in it's higher register as it once had been.
Not to say that The Queen still couldn't work her mid and lower registers well enough
to upset the church as she always had when she took to the mike at her home church
of New Bethel Baptist, but you could still hear that her best days were behind her by then.

There are some great moments on here, like the arrangement of "Ave Maria",
which Aretha gives a baptist gospel singer meets metropolitan opera diva treatment!
She also does "The Lord's Prayer" with a pretty good measure of finesse, but again...
the raspy highs wear on the ears after awhile.
Then there's the Clara Ward tribute of "Surely God Is Able" and
"Jesus Hears Every Prayer", where she muses in tone about the good old days of
her childhood growing up in her father's old church (New Bethel had an old church down
on Hastings & Willett which had been rebuilt by the time this album was recorded,
just three years after her father's tragic death.) and seeing all of the old gospel
greats like Clara & The Ward Singers, The Swan Silvertones, The Gospel Harmonettes,
The Dixie Hummingbirds, etc., and she is joined onstage by her cousin Brenda,
baby sister Carolyn, who wrote some of her most soul-stirring soul ballads
and who would succumb to cancer just a year after this album was released,
and also her older sister Erma (now deceased) for some good old time gospel harmony!

Other highlights are a few of the sermon's given by her late brother/manager and
ordained minister, Cecil Franklin, who would also succumb to cancer two years
after this album was released, as well as a few of the other guest ministers
who were asked to speak during the three day gospel program which served as the
recording sessions for this album. The duets between her and the legendary Joe Ligon
of the fabled Mighty Clouds Of Joy, who Aretha herself hails as "One of the most soul-stirring
voices of the 20th Century!" are particularly rousing as well!
"I've Been In The Storm Too Long" and the later released on this digitally remastered
20th anniversary commerative of this album as a bonus track, "Beams From Heaven",
which is an old black gospel staple, are both "raise the rafters" quality in the
vein of the "Amazing Grace" album. But there again, Aretha's voice, though effective
for the occassion, is not at it's clearest. Overall, I give this album 3 stars because
with exception of the songs I mentioned, the rest of the album is just okay, and even
some of the keys of the songs seem weird to me.
I guess it was just hard for The Queen of Soul to even live up to the high standard
that she set on "Amazing Grace"....but even a slightly off her game Aretha is better
than a whole lot of today's so-called singer's at their best!
For her, I know this album is special because it is the first album she produced herself
as well as a time capsule of her and her siblings, all of who are deceased now,
singing, shouting and praising GOD in the way they had done since childhood.