The Bottom Line

Description

The Bottom Line is the sophomore album by the American singer and songwriter Angie Alan, released on Frontline Records in 1991. The album was produced by Tim Miner.

There is a distinct sound coming out of Dallas. Thank Tim Miner and his Knightlight Studio posse for fashioning a light soul/dance pop sound now as immediately recognizable as those of L.A. & Babyface or Jam & Lewis. Latest to carry the torch of Knightlight is Angie Alan on her second album.

No matter how great a production team or studio’s sound is, it relies on the strength of the vocalist in front of the music. Alan and her husband, David Ebensberger, have the songs down: simple affirmations of faith and reliance in Jesus, peppered with calls to Christian action and social conscience. The trouble is that in the upbeat numbers, supposedly her selling point, she lacks the kind of authoritative tone to carry them over the top.

To accentuate the positive, Alan has a penchant for picking hook-filled numbers to relate uncomplicated truths and encouragement. Numbers like «Never Giving Up» and «Bless This Mess» could stand their melodic ground on crossover/CHR radio, but again, that quality is more attributable to the Knightlight meld of swingbeat, quiet storm and mainstream dance influences.

Even with that power behind her, words can falter. «S.O.S.» is a welcome acknowledgement in Christian music that our environment isn’t the healthiest, but a more metaphorical approach would have suited the subject better. For this she compensates by calling Rent-a-Rapper to hire the fledgling talents of Teddy T (on the title cut) and M.C. Ge Gee (on «The Biggest Lie») for some rhyming alongside the singing.

Speaking of Ge Gee, her late brother D-Boy gets a lovely a cappella tribute in the album’s closer and best track, «Until We Meet Again». If only she could push similar emotive depth from the dance tunes that she does here and on her other ballads, she could be in serious jam competition with any good production. [Jamie Lee Rake, CCM, June 1991]

> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-bottom-line/384493188)

CD tracklist:

01. Bless This Mess – 3:55
02. The Bottom Line – 3:49
03. Heaven Sent – 4:09
04. Never Givin’ Up – 3:47
05. You Never Sleep – 3:41
06. S.O.S. – 3:41
07. Let’s Get Busy – 3:48
08. The Biggest Lie – (feat. M.C. Ge Gee) 3:29
09. In My Own Words – 4:12
10. Until We Meet Again – 3:18

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Frontline Records.

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