Gary Oliver's Closer to You is a collection of contemporary gospel with positive themes and Oliver's occasionally over-evocative singing. The album's marked by great vocal harmonies, despite the skeletal production and a pronounced lack of songwriting imagination. "Turning It Over" and "I Saw the Lord," two tracks produced by Fred Hammond, couldn't be more different in sound and execution; the former sounds like a piece of early-'80s studio sap, while the latter pumps up the energy with mechanistic percussion, synthesized ...
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Gary Oliver's Closer to You is a collection of contemporary gospel with positive themes and Oliver's occasionally over-evocative singing. The album's marked by great vocal harmonies, despite the skeletal production and a pronounced lack of songwriting imagination. "Turning It Over" and "I Saw the Lord," two tracks produced by Fred Hammond, couldn't be more different in sound and execution; the former sounds like a piece of early-'80s studio sap, while the latter pumps up the energy with mechanistic percussion, synthesized horns, and a large backing chorus. Though it's clear his heart is in the right place, Oliver doesn't contribute much to the contemporary gospel community on this release. ~ John Bush, Rovi
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