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Released: 15th July 2002.

Mary Mary are the US gospel duo who received unprecedented success in 2000, their debut single, "Shackles (Praise You)", being hugely successful in mainstream music charts around the world.  Two years on, and here's the new album with even more gospel-orientated R&B numbers.  But does "Incredible" live up to the standards set by their debut album, "Thankful"?

The answer is, on the whole, >yes. "Incredible" kicks off with the upbeat title track, an instantly catchy R&B number and, as any fans of the duo's last album will expect, the theme of this track, as indeed of the whole album, centres around Christianity.

The debut single from this album, "In The Morning", is another of the stand-out tracks, though is maybe too much of a weaker version of "Shackles (Praise You)".  Similarly, other songs, such as "Little Girl", "So Close" and "Ordinary People", sound distinctly similar to those from Mary Mary's debut.  Perhaps one reason for this is the fact that Warryn Campbell, who had a great input into "Thankful", also produced much of this follow-up.  When the girls allow someone else to produce a track, however, as in the case of the stunning "He Said", produced by Darkchild, the result is a much fresher, livelier sound.

A personal favourite from this disc is "Hold On", a track reminiscent of Brandy's recent "Full Moon" album, while "I Try" is one of the album's best slower tracks.  Meanwhile, "Trouble Ain't" is another definite stand-out number on the album, combining strong vocals with a great song and excellent production.  The collection finally draws to a close with the distinctly gospel-sounding "Thankyou", followed by the upbeat bonus track "Happy".

Despite there being some tracks not dissimilar to those on the previous Mary Mary album, the duo are showing definite signs of having grown musically since their debut record hit the shops two years ago.  In fact, the only thing that has remained truly constant since then is their uncompromising message, and I suspect you'll have to wait a whole lot longer for that to change.

(DS)

This release uses copy protection, and might not play on all current or future equipment.

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