Fred Hammond: Love Unstoppable

[Dr. Cheese]

This is the new one from Fred Hammond, and it is smokin'! Fred only plays on two cuts, but Alan "Snoop" Evans is unreal!

Nobody does Urban Gospel better than Fred Hammond, and this does not disappoint.

[Dr. Cheese]

I noticed that there is no slap bass on this album. That is a real change for Fred Hammond.

[jeremyr]

I'm not a fan of the Album. I personally feel (others have expressed the same feeling to me) that he's doesn't sound like "Fred Hammond".

[DWBass]

Originally Posted by jeremyr

I'm not a fan of the Album. I personally feel (others have expressed the same feeling to me) that he's doesn't sound like "Fred Hammond".

Not a fan of the music as a whole or just the bass playin'??

[jeremyr]

Originally Posted by DWBass

Not a fan of the music as a whole or just the bass playin'??

I think all the musicians are great, but the music just doens't work for me. I like classic P&W fred, not CCM-esque fred.

[T-MOST]

I have only heard one track (not the one you mentioned) from the new CD and I don't like it. But it's not uncommon for me to not like every track on a CD (even Fred's). I plan to give the CD a good listen this weekend. I'll let ya know what I think!

[Dr. Cheese]

I agree the music is a big stylistic shift for Hammond, and I do miss the old fire, however, when an artist has been around as long as FH, changing is important because there are already millions of classic Fred Hammond CDs and downloads circulating, so he can just keep doing the same thing.

[jeremyr]

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

when an artist has been around as long as FH, changing is important because there are already millions of classic Fred Hammond CDs and downloads circulating, so he can just keep doing the same thing.

I'll have to disagree with that. We listen to them because we like their sound. When they go chaning that up and your expecting a certain sound (even though the new sound just might be great) it's a big let down.

I think once you have a niche and you do it GREAT, then keep it rolling. I think this same problem has affected ALOT of artist (not just gospel).

Some that come to mind.

1. Stevie Wonder (I was ok with his updating until the "a time to love" Cd came out..that killed stevie for me)
2. Lionel Ritchie ( really bro.....either go back or let it go...akon does you no justice )
3. Charlie Wilson (i'm sorry "uncle charlie", but the Gap band sound was for you none of this fake r&b stuff)
4. Michael Jackson (his last albumn before he died was a BUST and wack)
5. Fred Hammond (just a dramatic style change)

Most of the people that listen to the above want to hear the OLD stuff, not the new stuff they put out.

I say it's ok to change a little bit with the times, but to dump what you were successful at just never makes any sense.

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by jeremyr

I'll have to disagree with that. We listen to them because we like their sound. When they go chaning that up and your expecting a certain sound (even though the new sound just might be great) it's a big let down.

I think once you have a niche and you do it GREAT, then keep it rolling. I think this same problem has affected ALOT of artist (not just gospel).

Some that come to mind.

1. Stevie Wonder (I was ok with his updating until the "a time to love" Cd came out..that killed stevie for me)
2. Lionel Ritchie ( really bro.....either go back or let it go...akon does you no justice )
3. Charlie Wilson (i'm sorry "uncle charlie", but the Gap band sound was for you none of this fake r&b stuff)
4. Michael Jackson (his last albumn before he died was a BUST and wack)
5. Fred Hammond (just a dramatic style change)

Most of the people that listen to the above want to hear the OLD stuff, not the new stuff they put out.

I say it's ok to change a little bit with the times, but to dump what you were successful at just never makes any sense.

The flipside is that people who keep doing the same thing end up with dwindling sales of music because they rarely improve on their old stuff that made them big. A good example of this is Larry Graham. After Ain't No Doubt About it, his sales declined until he switched up and crooned " One in a Million You." Groups like Slave kept pumping the funk until nobody wanted it.

You hit the nail on the head, once an artist really gets big, everybody wants to hear the old stuff, the problem is that the artist usually has a recoding contract, and is trying to sell new stuff.

[DWBass]

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

Groups like Slave kept pumping the funk until nobody wanted it.

Well I gotta say, their funk started to suck towards the end! Plus radio stopped supporting funk music back then!

I see both points. I have many conversations about The Rippingtons (smooth jazz band) about how I miss Russ Freeman's songwriting from the 90's and how I feel he's just mailing in the songs these days. Some folks embrace the NEW stuff while I don't! It just means....move on to the next artist that floats your boat! I prefer my gospel (as well as all my favorite music) old school and simple.

[carlii]

I have been a Fred Hammond fan since the Commisioned days. If you take an honest look at Fred's music, he is always doing something new. He changes his band, he changes his singers, he changes the feel of his music. I have found over time that Fred's CDs take time to grow on me. I didn't like Something About Love until a year and a half after it's release. Now it sounds incredilble. I discover that the CDs took longer to grow because they were so different than the previous one.

I think that you just have to appreciate his music as a whole. Artists like John P Kee get stuck in one particular sound. Can you actually define the Fred Hammond sound? His musical pallate is so diverse you will be challenged to place him in a box. Does one particular song define him like other artists?

Now that is true musical art!!