Anointed has truly made an impact on the Christian music industry. Their 1995 album, The Call, sold a quarter-million copies, and they received three Doves at the 1996 Dove Awards. Their vocal harmonies excel above and beyond many other gospel/soul artists out there. But there's just something missing from this album.
Her name is Mary Tiller.
Tiller, the source of the gorgeous female vocal in the hit single from The Call, "Send Out A Prayer," left the group to pursue other interests. (I'm still trying to figure out what could be better than singing with Anointed, but that's beside the point.) Besides her solos, which had the ability to lift practically anyone to a different plane of existence, her presence in the harmonies is missed as well.
If you can accept the fact that Tiller's left, though, Under The Influence is an excellent project.
The album opens with an acoustic remix of the title cut. This version isn't as good as the radio version, but it still is a great song. One thing noticeable about this album-and Anointed in general-is their frequent use of guitars, particularly acoustic. In my humble opinion, this is an excellent move. More gospel music should sound like this. The guitar trend continues on "Waiting In The Wings," and is scattered throughout the rest of the album.
"Adore" and "Do" are great bass-heavy soul tunes that don't proclaim awesome lyrical messages, but are very fun to listen to. Anointed reaches heights of funkiness on the awesome "Get Ready," and some great brass spices up "Walking In The Light."
But perhaps Anointed reaches their greatest heights when they're singing inspirational ballads reminiscent of the beautiful "Not The I But The You In Me" (from their last album). "Take Me Back" is one of the most beautiful songs I've heard this year, and "Answer To My Prayer" is another beautiful song. The album closes with the radio version of "Under the Influence." This funky tune is the best song on the album-kudos to Mark Heimermann for his excellent songwriting job on this one.
Even with all these great songs, though, Anointed suffers from the loss of Mary Tiller. She will be sorely missed. Despite that fact, this is a much recommended album. Anointed is here to stay.
Other coverage for this album
The Lighthouse February 1997Reviewed by Beau BlackAfter the success of Anointed's last, pop-leaning record, I'd hoped they would return to the more soulful approach of their largely ignored-but really good-first album, Spiritual Love Affair. No such luck. Though Under The Influence offers a number of radio-ready songs, it's a step backward for this too-talented group. Don't get me wrong-there are a couple of great songs here. But if you're…Similar sounding releases
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