When
Kim Boyce first signed with Myrrh Records in the mid-'80s the contemporary Christian music industry had hopes that the perky popstress would be
Madonna without the rampant sexuality or
Cyndi Lauper without the ugly neon outfits. To that end, they set her up with a large battalion of songwriting men including
Tom Hemby,
Tim Miner, Monroe James, Rick Altizer, Rhett Lawrence, George Cocchini, and James Houlihan and commissioned the crew to come up with a blockbuster self-titled debut. (
Boyce, like many other female CCM artists in that era, was entrusted only with the lyrics.) The result is a wildly uneven sugar puff of utterly white-bread synthesized lite pop. A few of the tunes here are catchy enough to obscure the grating qualities of
Boyce's frequently shrill vocals. The appealingly minor-key "Darkened Hearts," the effective formula ballad "Here," and -- especially -- the unexpected cover of
Alison Moyet's "Love Resurrection" get the album off to a promising start, thanks in large part to the immaculate synthesized sheen of Brian Tankersley's production. But the rest of the album (with the exception of the silly but engaging "Sing and Dance") is almost unbearably flabby. The hooks are blunt, the lyrics hackneyed, and the keyboards chirpy and unrelenting.
Boyce may have been a wholesome alternative to
Madonna and
Lauper, but she was not an improvement in any respect. ~ Evan Cater