Men Of Standard has gotta be one of the greatest contemporary gospel groups, but they definitely don’t get their due, in my opinion.  They’re my modern-day Winans!

Anyway, their most recent offering, Surrounded, was an awesome album that I think some of you may have Slept On.  The project featured production from Warryn Campbell, Nisan Stewart and Gerald Haddon.  It also had some great guest spots– Kirk Franklin (“Latter Rain”) and Tye Tribbett (“Yours”).

Stand-out tracks also included “Power,” “Cover Me,” “I Need You,”… actually, the WHOLE PROJECT is a stand-out!

Here’s the title track, “Surrounded” for your listenin’ pleasure:

Did anyone else love the album like I did?  Anyone wanna come clean and admit that they were snoozin’ a little bit?  Holla at me!

Oh, and shout-out to DCov for suggesting that I cover this album. ‘Preciate ya!

[Editor's Note:  Most of you know her as Joann Rosario, but I'm using her new name, as she recently wed Atlanta-based gospel DJ (and host of BET's Lift Every Voice) Cory "Coco Brother" Condrey.]

I’d actually like to do a post on each one of Joann Condrey’s albums, because I think the industry and consumers have kinda Slept On all of her stuff to date.  But, for now, I’ll stick with the most recent.

Her latest album, Joyous Salvation, was a great collection of some incredible music, featuring background vocals from some of the greatest in the industry (i.e., Darwin Hobbs, Blanche McAllister, Jerard and Jovaun Woods, LeAnne Palmore) and masterful production from giants like Aaron Lindsey, Fred Jerkins and Donald Lawrence.  This year, the project garnered her a Stellar Award nod for Contemporary Female Vocalist of the Year.

For your listening pleasure, here’s a snippet of one of my favorite tracks from Joann Condrey’s Joyous Salvation– “You Are Holy,” written/produced by Aaron Lindsey, with some bgvocal production by Donald Lawrence (you can hear it!).  Following it is a YouTube video (but it’s just audio) of another hit from that album–”Restore To Me.”

Who else has it?  You love it?  Who Slept On it?  Why?  Talk to me!

Yeah, people Slept On it.  BIG TIME.

I had been eager to buy Andraé Crouch’s Mighty Wind for a while before it came out cuz I heard that it would feature guest spots from some of the industry’s greatest artists.

Well, the treats simply TUMBLE out of this project, as almost every song features a powerhouse vocalist.  The first track, “I Was Glad,” featured Tata Vega on lead (if you don’t know her name, you definitely know her voice– she is the recorded singing voice of Shug Avery in The Color Purple) and you can hear Melonie Daniels doing some riffs in the bgv’s.

Then, the album moves to “All Because Of Jesus,” with Marvin Winans DEMOLISHING the lead.  Next is “Jesus Is Lord” with Karen Clark-Sheard… oh man!  Then Fred Hammond takes lead on “Oh, Give Thanks.”  Other notable guest spots include Marcus Cole (“Come Home”) and Crystal Lewis (“We Give You Glory”)… y’all don’t OWN this?!

In short, this whole project was BANANAS and I think a lot of people don’t own it, which is a sin and a shame.  I couldn’t find full-length streaming audio, but here are TWO snippets for ya– Marvin Winans on “All Because Of Jesus,” and Karen Clark-Sheard on “Jesus Is Lord”:

Somebody, PLEASE tell me you have this project!

New series. I had a chat with a good friend the other day about an album that we thought was severely overlooked by folks– Marvin Winans’ Alone But Not Alone.  And that convo was the impetus for this new series on GospelPundit.com– Slept On.

It’s gonna feature artists and albums that were underrated or overlooked by consumers and the gospel industry.  Hopefully, we can talk about good music ministries that should’ve gotten more attention than they received.  If you’ve got some ideas for folks that should be featured, email me at ej@gospelpundit.com.

In the meantime, back to Marvin Winans.  It was his loooooooooong-awaited debut solo album, he was singing like nobody’s business AND it featured some great guest artists– Carvin Winans, Deshondra Rideout, the late Ron Winans, Kim Burrell with Take 6 on bgv’s… Tommy Sims writing on it and what not… what more could you WANT?!

Listen here to one of my faves, “I Still Believe.”  The lyrics, bgvs, the VAMP…

Anybody have it and LOVE it like I do?  Anybody decided to pass on it and care to explain why?  Anybody wanna tell me why folks Slept On it?!

Talk to me!