Walt Whitman and the Soul Children of Chicago
We Are One (CGI 51416)

Imagine my surprise at getting this CD home … the cover screamed "1972" at the absolute latest … and putting it on to reveal a slick 1992 gospel album instead of what I had assumed would be a soulful, old school mass choir album. I don't quite know how to review it. I mean, it looks like it's from 1972, right down to the obsolete fonts and black-and-white group photo.

If they were aiming for a retro look, they succeeded in blindsiding me completely. But while I might appreciate a contemporary gospel album if I know what it is in advance, I must say I was not very pleased with the synths and heavy drums all over this album. Yet who am I to say this is crap? It may well be a shining example of 90's mass choir albums.

The trouble is, I stumbled into the wrong room, and had to stand there for a few minutes trying not to look awkward before exiting and never going back.

The child soloists and very pop-production values lead me to think that this would not be my favorite album even if I had anticipated what it would have been like before I opened it.

Okay, I've given the album nine minutes, that's all it's getting. This is going the hell back to the store. Sorry God, but you should package your CDs a bit more accurately.

Loud Bassoon rating scale

Review by B.S. Bullshit