Album Review

There‘s an endemic quality to this album that pervades a lot of the releases to this market: absolute formula. Female vocals(ranging from not-so-great to decent to truly enjoyable), soft, floating guitars, a little rock rhythm here and there just to make sure everyone knows this isn‘t just another praise and worship release, some well-known session players(in this case, producer/drummer Steve Hindalong on a few numbers), and rather samey-sounding songs from beginning to end. As in a lot of cases where this kind of stuff is concerned, this isn‘t bad music, it‘s just more of the same. Miner‘s Floodgate label has released several of these female singer/songwriters (Holly Nelson‘s pure pop and Rita Springer‘s raw, earnest worship) with hit-and-miss consistency, and Prodigal Martha sticks with the trend. The rockier moments inspire some toe-tapping and perhaps some discreet humming, while for this writer at least the slower elegies merely induce folded hands and straining to reach the skip button. Clichéd lyrics abound - but well-meaning, as they always are. The production ranges from good to superior(á la the title track). Overall, recommended to the same crowd that gobbles up every album released by Matt Redman, Darlene Zschech, etc etc. Miner has her distinct qualities, but not enough to elevate her above the masses.

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