Reviewed by Matthew Cordle

Toni Rackard is the praise and worship leader of Jesus People Family Worship Center in Tampa, Florida. Intimacy with God is very important to her and "she is consumed with the zeal of God, passionate to see God's face and continually strives to glorify him by ministering to his people in song." With that in mind we have here Toni's first full length CD, consisting of 13 tracks either written or co-written by the lady. Her style is best described as an urban gospel praise and worship hybrid and her lyrics are strong; a confident declaration of God's faithfulness in the opening "You Pulled Me Through", featuring Marvin Winans Jr, spiritual warfare in "Cry Of War", thankfulness in "Sing Of Your Great Love", co-written with Darlene Zschech, and submission in "I Give My Life To You". Toni has a powerful, flexible voice and she's just at home singing lead or layered backing vocals, but her intonation is not always consistent and it seems to me that she needs to develop more control in the upper register of her range to give her more finesse. Production quality is okay but somewhat spoiled by a number of cheesy keyboard sounds, which let down the more full-sounding bottom end; for example, why does anyone use thin, reedy synth brass anymore with all the sample libraries now available, or the likes of organisations like StudioPros who will give you real LA brass players on your track for $125 per player? More dynamic variation and less repetitiveness on some tracks would also enhance. The highlight is the cover of Bill Withers' "Lovely Day" which has an interesting jazzy instrumentation.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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Toni Rackard is the praise & worship leader of Jesus People Family Worship Center located in Tampa, FL.

She has toured with the Harlem Gospel Choir gaining exposure from coast to coast!

Unconditional Love is more than just a music project it is a testimony full of warmth and sincerity set to an urban-flavoured gospel tapestry for all to see and hear.