As I Am introduces the Christian music world to Kristin Chenoweth, who has made her mark performing in Broadway musicals and appearing on various NBC shows, including The West Wing. She is also the "special guest performer" for this year's Women in Faith conferences.
With that type of resume, one would have high hopes for As I Am, her CCM debut. Unfortunately, the album falls flat as Chenoweth has essentially released an album of cover tunes. The only new song is "Borrowed Angels," written by Diane Warren. MercyMe's "Word of God Speak" pales in magnitude to the original, while "Upon This Rock" (Sandi Patty) reveals Chenoweth straining to reach the high notes, coming as strident rather than emphatic.
Kristin Chenoweth is a very talented actress and singer. She has upcoming roles in the remakes of Bewitched and The Pink Panther, has appeared in The Music Man, and Wicked, and had an NBC sitcom for a short time. But, with the exception of "Power," As I Am is a well-intentioned disc that will ultimately be unmemorable.
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Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2005Reviewed by Jamie Lee RakeBack when Sandi Patty released her kind-of divorce catharsis concept album Le Voyage, a brainstorm of mine was that her label should take out ads in magazines such as The Advocate and Out! to pre-evangelize and market her to homosexual men. Patty envisioned the album as the closest she would come to being in a Broadway production, and with the general love for big-voiced divas and showtunes among…The Phantom Tollbooth 2005Reviewed by Kevin MathewsChristian Contemporary Music personified. That is about as descriptive as I can get with the music on this album. Nope, that's not a put-down, merely a fact. The production is slick, high quality and filled with songs that do not stray far from the CCM formula. A smattering of standards -- "Because He Lives", "Joyful, Joyful" and the title track -- sit nicely with the newer material. Chenoweth…Similar sounding releases
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