Kudos to Israel Houghton for not staying in his comfort zone and giving listeners another standard, albeit solid, praise and worship album with those funky guitars that he and his band mates play so well. On his latest album, The Power of One, Houghton finds inspiration from pop stars past and present, including Gnarls Barkley (“Just Want to Say” is similar to Barkley’s mega-hit “Crazy”). He also incorporates some New Orleans jazz music (“UR Loved”), a ballad with restrained keyboards that sounds like Phil Collins (“I Receive”), a reggae tune on which he shouts “Jamaica” (“Surely Goodness”) and finally, “You Found Me,” a song that Houghton does, somewhat curiously, as an alternative-rock number. In between all that, there’s a fairly straightforward gospel song (“Every Prayer”) and an innocuous title track that sounds like the distant cousin of Eric Clapton’s “Change the World.” It all makes for an interesting album that will probably be well-received by Houghton’s fans. But from a critical perspective, this album is something akin to a five-course dessert after Thanksgiving dinner. Now that Houghton knows he can pull off just about anything, perhaps next time listeners will be treated to lighter fare with fewer trimmings. Click here to purchase The Power of One, which released March 24.
