Kathy Troccoli

Description

The self-titled, fifth album by the American singer Kathy Troccoli was released on Reunion Records in 1994, distributed by Word. The album was produced by five different producers – Keith Thomas; Peter Bunetta and Rick Chudacoff; Ric Wake; as well as Michael Omartian (the latter producing half of the tracks).

Fans of straight-ahead pop music in the vein of Celine Dion, Vanessa Williams and Mariah Carey will find quite a bit to entertain them in the latest release of Kathy Troccoli. Her deep and dusky vocals carry a uniqueness all their own though, as she belts out ballads of love and devotion and boldly sings forth on uptempo tunes. But Troccoli also includes three of her favorite kinds of tunes, messages of faith, that will certainly find homes in adult contemporary Christian radio.

With five different producers contributing to this self-titled fifth release from Troccoli, it would be easy to expect a certain amount of inconsistency in production and style. But for the most part, this project remains remarkably unified. Perhaps that can be attributed to the similar backgrounds of the producers as each has worked in this genre before: Keith Thomas (Vanessa Williams, Amy Grant); Michael Omartian (Rod Stewart, Gary Chapman, Amy Grant); Peter Bunetta and Rick Chudacoff (Michael Bolton, Clay Crosse) and Ric Wake (Mariah Carey, Celine Dion). With impressive names like that, it’s easy to understand the mainstream appeal this album will more than likely find, as catchy synthesized tunes like «Just You» and «Takin’ a Chance» (the latter written by Whitney Houston, BeBe Winans and Thomas) hook the listener’s ear. But it’s the ballads where Troccoli truly shines with her powerful voice and passionate style, a trait that is all the more highlighted when she cuts loose over some great background vocal sets.

Lyrically, the album contains three songs which will be released to Christian radio – «Mission of Love», «I’ll Be There (for You)», and the current and fast-rising single at press time, «My Life is in Your Hands». Troccoli contributed to six of the 10 songs on this album, and her influences are good even though some of the songs lack depth. For example, the current mainstream pop single, «Tell Me Where it Hurts» borders on being trite: “Tell me where it hurts now baby/ And I’ll do my best to make it better/ …And if you let me stay/ I’ll love all of the hurt away.” Regardless of that perceived glitch, fans of top 40 ballads and mainstream pop will find plenty to love in K.T.’s latest. [April Hefner, CCM, July 1994]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/kathy-troccoli/304780736)

CD tracklist:

01. Just You – 4:32
02. Tell Me Where It Hurts – 4:00
03. If I’m Not In Love – 3:46
04. I’ll Be There (For You) – 4:34
05. All Of My Life – 4:29
06. Takin’ A Chance – 3:37
07. Mission Of Love – 4:34
08. Never My Love – 4:12
09. Fallin’ – 4:09
10. My Life Is In Your Hands – 4:34

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