Album Review: Janet Manyowa - Grateful
Finally Grateful is here, have been waiting for this follow up to King Of Glory for two years now, its finally here. Janet Manyowa won me over from my first listen of her music and over the years she has gone to become my favourite gospel artist in the country. She has had a lot of success in these past couple of years, topping the charts for most weeks compared to any other gospel artist in the past 3 years, in fact no other artist secular artists included has had more weeks top of the charts compared to her in the past 3 years.
With the new album the major question is will she carry on her industry dominance, will she be able to improve from her beautiful debut album. The singles released prior to the album all performed very very well; Zadzisa, Tomutenda Nei & Muchengeti,which was a good sign to everyone waiting for the album. Now we already know three tracks from the album, lets see how the rest of the album fares.
The album contains 11 tracks and will be doing a track by track review as usual.
1. Nothing
The first track on the album is a declaration of the Lords mightiness, Janet is saying nothing can stand in the way of the Lord. He is the Almighty King, He brings life to all the earth, He wins battles, He heals the sick, gives power to the weak, when He arises the enemies scatter, He is the King of Kings. The productions is done very well, the track is well arranged from the instrumentals to the vocals.
The first track on the album is a declaration of the Lords mightiness, Janet is saying nothing can stand in the way of the Lord. He is the Almighty King, He brings life to all the earth, He wins battles, He heals the sick, gives power to the weak, when He arises the enemies scatter, He is the King of Kings. The productions is done very well, the track is well arranged from the instrumentals to the vocals.
2. Inyasha
Once in a while Janet switches it up to a more uptempo praise sound and this is one of the two uptempo praise songs on the album. The track is on a modern urban structure, which will not feel out of place on today's praise music. The production in overall is done well. On the track Janet is saying it's because of the Lord's grace that we are where we are. Despite the track being uptempo it does not feet out of place on the album.
3. Tomutenda Nei?
Have already done a review for this track, you can read the review here : Tomutenda Nei? Track Review
This was the last single released prior to the album. On this track Janet teams up with legendary artist Mai Shingisai Suluma for this lovely track. On this track they are asking who do you trust in your life???, they go on to say you should trust in Jesus Christ, he should be your rock, he should be your protector, for he has never failed us. The production is done quite well, they played it safe on both the vocal and instrumental arrangements. The artists both performed well, their voices complemented each other very well. This for me is a dream collaboration and although its not explosive it's a good song which you can listen to and sing along to, hope we get more collaborations between the two in the future.
5. Nyasha Nengoni
This is Janet's own version of the popular Psalms 23. She goes on to celebrate how God's goodness and mercy follows her all the days of her life. The goodness and mercy follows everything she does and touches, her family, her work, her friends, she is immersed in God's grace and mercy. The arrangement is superbly done, love the feel of the track, every instrument is on point. Janet also delivered a fitting and strong performance on the track. The backing vocals are also done very well. This is a beautiful song, am loving it.
6. Zadzisa
This is the first single that was released and it went on to become the top gospel song of 2017. The track is produced beautifully, Janet was very good on the vocals and the theme is on point. On the track Janet is saying The Lord is faithful and fulfills his word, he will complete the work that he has began in you. This is the track that introduced many people to Janet's music, its a very powerful and beautiful track.
7. You Are More feat Nqubeko Mbatha
This is the second collaboration of the album and this time Janet features South African singer Nqubeko Mbatha. They are saying unto the Lord " You Are More that we could imagine, you are excellent and amazing". For the bible says " Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or...". The song is produced very well, it has this dreamy vibe to it which transports you into a different mode when the song starts. Janet & Nqubeko complimented each other very well on the vocals delivering solid performances.
8. Muri Mwari
This is my early favourite from the album, it's a very beautiful and powerful worship song. Janet's vocals shine the most on such tracks, her vocals are clear and she strikes the right chords. On this song she is exalting the King of Kings, telling the Him that he is the one and only God, the Alpha and Omega who deserves all the power and praise. The production is done superbly well, the arrangement is done superbly well, love the bass, superb work by Andrew Baird. The track makes use of a familiar hymn structure with some additional elements which makes the track easier to follow and the familiarity makes it reach deep down inside your soul. This track leaves you in worship, you feel like stopping whatever you are doing and start telling the Lord how awesome and magnificent he is.
9. How Holy
This track somehow reminds me on Amazing God from her debut album, they all have a similar feel. As the title implies, Janet is exalting the Lord, telling Him that he is Holy, he is awesome, he is amazing and magnificent. This is one of those tracks you sing when you are grateful, when you soul feels like worshiping Him who has done a good thing for you. The production is done well, its soulful which fits the theme well. The vocals are also done equally well, Janet and the backing vocals complemented each other well.
10. Garai Pano
On this beautiful jam Janet is saying my heart thirsts for you Lord, do not pass by me but dwell in me. She is inviting the Lord in her life, to be a permanent resident in her life. If you have the Lord in your life you will lack nothing the Bible says. The production is beautifully done, the instrumental arrangement is well done, love the keyboard work in the first part. Janet was very good on the vocals, showcasing very good vocal control and mastery. The backing vocals are also at par, they are well done.
The track that seals the album is also the title track. Grateful is a prayer unto the Lord, Janet is saying how grateful she is unto the Lord, she is thankful for all the things the Lord has and is doing in her life, she goes on to declare that she will not stop worshiping, she will not stop exalting his holy name. The production is done well, love the keyboard work. The structure of the backing vocals is on point and they shined throughout the track, complementing the instrumental very well.
Stream the album: Grateful on Spotify
So ya thats it for Janet Manyowa's second album Grateful. By now you can clearly see how impressed I am with this album. Truthfully I a bit anxious going into the album because I had a lot of expectations about the project so did not want to be disappointed. Also given she was following up on a superb debut album, there was high chance that the album would fail to live up to the standard she had set for herself. Having listened to the album I can safely say the album definitely lives up to my expectations, and I can also safely say this album is better than her debut album!!.
The production is done superbly well, from the first track to the last track I have no complains about the production both in terms of instrumental arrangement and overall quality of all the tracks. The production is definitely a step up from the last production, the tracks are more full and well mastered, it sounds better in all aspects compared to the last album.
Janet as also improved when it comes to the vocals, she still maintained her distinct voice and style but it's more polished. The backing vocals are one aspect that has greatly improved, they are more pronounced and more fitting, they shine on a lot of tracks when called upon.
In terms of themes i'm happy to say the album as expected is more to the worship side than praise. In this era where topping the charts is a priority for many artists leading to most of them releasing tracks and albums that lack substance but are catchy so as to dominate the charts, so it's a very bold move for her to continue pursuing the worship, more deep side of gospel music. Janet proved that she is good when it comes to worship songs with her first album but on this project she took that a step further delivering some very beautiful and powerful worship songs such as : How Holy, Garai Pano, Grateful, You Are More, Zadzisa and my favourite Muri Mwari.
In conclusion this is a very solid and beautiful project, it just flows so smoothly from the first track to the last track. The tracks are also arranged well, it leads you into a praise mode early on and then usher you deep into worship as the album goes. I have enjoyed listening to the album, its awesome and I highly recommend it. Definitely the best gospel album I have listened to this year, however it falls a bit short from my favourite album of 2018, Mbeu & The Mhodzi Tribe's Hatizvimirire, but its beautiful nonetheless.
My Overall Rating: 8.5/10
The production is done superbly well, from the first track to the last track I have no complains about the production both in terms of instrumental arrangement and overall quality of all the tracks. The production is definitely a step up from the last production, the tracks are more full and well mastered, it sounds better in all aspects compared to the last album.
Janet as also improved when it comes to the vocals, she still maintained her distinct voice and style but it's more polished. The backing vocals are one aspect that has greatly improved, they are more pronounced and more fitting, they shine on a lot of tracks when called upon.
In terms of themes i'm happy to say the album as expected is more to the worship side than praise. In this era where topping the charts is a priority for many artists leading to most of them releasing tracks and albums that lack substance but are catchy so as to dominate the charts, so it's a very bold move for her to continue pursuing the worship, more deep side of gospel music. Janet proved that she is good when it comes to worship songs with her first album but on this project she took that a step further delivering some very beautiful and powerful worship songs such as : How Holy, Garai Pano, Grateful, You Are More, Zadzisa and my favourite Muri Mwari.
In conclusion this is a very solid and beautiful project, it just flows so smoothly from the first track to the last track. The tracks are also arranged well, it leads you into a praise mode early on and then usher you deep into worship as the album goes. I have enjoyed listening to the album, its awesome and I highly recommend it. Definitely the best gospel album I have listened to this year, however it falls a bit short from my favourite album of 2018, Mbeu & The Mhodzi Tribe's Hatizvimirire, but its beautiful nonetheless.
My Overall Rating: 8.5/10
What are your thoughts on the album???
Proud_Zimbo
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