Customer Reviews

Woman to Woman: Songs of Life

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I pre-ordered this cd first of all I am a Vickie Winans fan. I found this cd upbeat and moving. Such songs as Go Go Praise is something that you can move your feet to. Try Christ is an old gospel song that reminds you that Christ is THE only way and God of Comfort, let's you know that no matter what you are facing that God is a Comforter and the mender of hearts. I Need a Man expresses feeling that if we as women are honest about, we wineto our friends and pray to God about our men or how we want a good man. I know that when I am blessed to have a godly man there are some requirments that I am looking for. Because anything can look, smell and sound good for a while. And we as Christian women tend to settle and we need to set our standards that we receive the best from God. If we really believe "that no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly."

Vickie Winans has returned to the forefront in a marvelous way! A double cd packed with soulful, jazzy, heartfelt tunes that makes a listener want to pull the car to the side of the road, as I did to thank the Lord for blessing me throughout my life. I can already envision many in the traditional gospel community being conflicted about this project because there is little that would lead you to an overall churchy feel. And while I can appreciate that sentiment, I am certainly not disappointed in Vickie's effort right about now in the least. Mario's tribute to his mom with 30 reasons, literally had me in tears. I can only hope that my son can see the same in me! The only thing that left me with a question of "why" was her photo collage insert. Vickie is by no doubt a beautiful sister, as is her mother but I didn't quite understand the necessity of such.

I think that Vickie Winan's latest album entitled,"Woman to Woman: Songs of Life" should be aptly titled,"Vanity to Vanity: Songs of Excess". While the overall production is good, the album is lacking what so many gospel records lack today and that is true ministry. A lot of money went into the packaging as evident from the glossy photo journal of Vickie that is included with the CD booklet. The real questions are why and was it necessary? What are we promoting here? I am not dogging Vickie Winans. I like her. She is the best dressed female in gospel music. Her business acumen and her tenacity for business is second to none. I applaud the way she took control of her career and has re-vented herself into the Princess of Gospel. Vocally, she disappointed me. I'm not saying that Ms. Vickie can't sing. What I mean is that it seems as if Vickie's voice and personality gets lost some where between the glossy production and the other first rate singers that do her background vocals. She is the STAR and she should be front and center. Not just visually through the album's beautiful photography and packaging, but also through her vocal performance on every song. I am a fan and I have many of her recordings and I went out and bought this record on the day it was released. I even bought an extra copy for a friend to truly support the record. When I played it initially, I just didn't feel anything behind it. Now it is starting to grow on me somewhat. Perhaps the presentation was a distraction. However, the album cover is da bomb. Vickie looks like she's at a photo shoot for Vogue Magazine. There are some promising selections. Songs like the introspective "Try Christ" (a re-working of a Walter Hawkins Classic) and the uplifting, poignant "Stand Up and Carry On" (written by her son, Mario Winans) were stand out cuts. They are my favorites on the album. I scratched my head over her decision to remake "Joyful, Joyful" from Sister Act 2. Vickie should be making original, definitive songs that have her own personal stamp on them. Kayla Parker-Tolbert, another gifted singer and songwriter, does most of the background vocals on all of the studio cuts. So much so that it sounds like it's her album. Even the songs produced by heavy hitters Rodney"DarkChild" Jerkins and Warren "BabyDub" Campbell fell flat. Campbell surrounds Winans and son, Marvin, with a catchy, urban flavored dance groove but lyrically the song doesn't do much more. Jerkins offers a headbanging beat as well but again lyrically the song does not offer much. Winans offers two beautiful ballads perfectly flavored for contemporary christian radio entitled, "Watch the Wind" and "A Thousand Pains", the latter featuring Prezence, a female gospel group signed to Winans' Destiny Joy Records. On "You're Still My Sister" Vickie seems to channel the old school smoky vocal stylings and street wise conviction of R&B singer Syleena Johnson. This song if marketed properly could have a life on urban and secular radio with it's timely message about reconciliation. Fitting tributes by sons Mario and Marvin, Jr. make this album a true family affair. Marvin's vocals on "You're More than A Mom" make us crave a solo debut from this gifted young singer and producer. His voice sounds so much like his father, Marvin, Sr. that it's spine-chilling when he sings. The album is rounded out with other contributions from Vickie's family: "Shake Yourself Loose Remix" featuring nephew Tim Bowman II; Her brother, Tim Bowman, is featured on guitar on several cuts; Daniel Winans, Marvin Winans, Sr., Carvin Winans, Sr. and Angie Winans (former in-laws)contribute their songwriting talents and Cedric and Victor Caldwell, prominent fixtures on the albums of Cece Winans, produce a great many cuts on this project. This is being tauted as a career record. And in many ways, I guess it could be. It's a Double CD, which is a first for her. The creative marketing and the whole "One In A Million" campaign to get the project into the hands of a million fans was a promotional strategy I've never seen in gospel music. Getting T.D. Jakes to host the live recording was no small feat either. Before it's over I am sure that the record will be "career-defining" for Ms. Vickie. However, I think that the best record she ever recorded was the "Vickie" album for Intersound that featured the hits--"Work It Out" (the jam); Precious Lord (Vickie at her most vulnerable); "Stand Up & Praise Him" (pure church) and the sassy "The Only One" (gospel meets contemporary R&B). Part of her latest album is a live recording from May 2006. The problem is the ambience, the vibe, and the anointing that comes from recording live has been overdubbed and mixed out of the recording. We have Bishop T.D. Jakes who gives her a soul stirring introduction followed by Vickie's heartfelt rendition of "A Change Is Gonna Come". How we know that the rest of the album is live is because of the hand claps before and after the songs. There is no "You better sing Vickie!" being shouted out! There is no praise or worship heard at all. No feeling of the audience vibing with the songs. She should have just cut a studio album. Her song "We Need Your Love" with new husband Joe is cute at best but no match for the balladry displayed on the song "Just When" from "The Lady" album that featured Vickie in duet with then husband, Pastor Marvin Winans. The melody and structure of "Angel of Mine" is reminiscent of Lashell Griffin's "Get Away" from the "Free" album. Overall the album is good. Die hard Vickie Winans fans will appreciate Vickie's efforts to offer a versatile album that speaks to the joys, sorrows, pain, and loves of women. For new fans wanting to see the true dimensions and many layers of this talented, beautiful singer, I suggest the "Vickie" album from Intersound that I referenced earlier. With this album's themes of womanhood, sisterhood, and resilency, I was surprised that Ms. Winans did not include the heartfelt, tear-jerking "Who Knows" which is only on the video from the first "Live In Detroit" album. This is truly Vickie in her element captured "live" giving the most moving performance by her of any song that I've ever heard her sing. I wish that it had been included on this set. It would be interesting to see Vickie Winans come out from the comforts of working with her family and team up with some other hitmaking producers in the gospel industry such as Fred Hammond, Donald Lawrence, and Richard Smallwood.

The only song i like on this CD is: "Shake Yourself Loose" Feat. Tim Bowman. I have this on my I-pod and i kept hitting the rewind button all day.

This product Came in the time frame stated and in better condition than it was listed as. Thank you!

It really is a song for every season of my life. I love Vickie Winans!
She is anointed!

I really enjoyed the CD. I truly believe that if you purchase the CD you will definitely love it. I also liked the CD, since it seemed like Vickie Winans has a song for every special occassion. I really liked the songs. God Bless You.

`Winans', `Hawkins' and `Crouch' are like brand names - with gospel heritage and guaranteed quality attached to whatever they produce. And Vickie Winans is as seasoned a singer and minister as the more popular Winans or BeBe and CeCe. W2WSoL is a double CD (1½ studio, ½ live) appearing to be aimed at a wide Christian audience; the artwork oozes class with Mrs Winans in a Cinderella frock unsuitable for rush-hour commuting! More importantly there's a range of music styles so there's something for everyone, so to speak.

Positives; CD1 carries the product. `Madly In Love', `God Of Comfort', `Watch The Wind' stand out. The best track is `Dance With Me' - stick it on repeat and eat motorway miles (or freeway kilometers) with a smile.

Negatives; two tributes to mom on one CD! Great for mom but not for us. I don't think that `Go Go Praise' goes with the flow of the album. Also there's no real need to hear another rendition of `Joyful Joyful' or `Jesus Loves Me'.

Double albums face the challenge of maintaining a high level of quality and cohesion for twice as many tracks. I'm not sure W2WSoL does so; the songs do not sit well together as it aims to satisfy seasoned gospel heads and contemporary Christian followers together. W2WSoL is a bit of a pick'n'mix - fine as a whole but most will find themselves pressing the `skip' button to head for their favourite tracks.

I just picked up this one mainly because I love "It's Alright". I didnt much like the video though when I saw it. It featured a marching band which I understood the concept since the song has a very heavy drum/bassline to it. But I did wonder where the direction towards God was. If you listen to the song...God is there, dont know why she left Him out of the video though. But, then again it seems like a lot of Gospel artists are doing this in their videos. Overall, I loved the album. It was 100 times better than her last effort. I had a problem with that one since it was about 50 remixes of about 5 songs. This one is a double CD and has something for everyone. It has upbeat tempos for those who love the R&B sound, some with Jazzy tempos (which I loved), some with slower more churchy like feels. I believe it is a very good CD. I was quite frankly surprised that I would like it this much...especially after the last one. Glad I stepped out on faith and got it.