Artist Info:Discography Album length: 12 tracks Street Date: March 25, 2003
After years of success within both the Christian and Latin mainstream
markets, appearing in Chasing Papi in one of its major roles, and tying
the knot to husband, Darren Potuck, soon to be twenty-five-year-old Jaci
Velasquez releases Unspoken, her most recent Christian album. This time
around, Velasquez takes a bigger hand in co-writing most of the record
and also does some producing. Jaci's heart really comes through in this
album and is probably her most transparent work to date.
Jaci sticks to her popped-up sound that started with Crystal Clear,
kicking things off with the bubbly bright "You're My God." The song is
pretty much a declaration of her amazement at life and how God must be
behind it all. "Jesus Is" follows, a slow-pop track outlining exactly
who Jesus is to Jaci, making it one of the highlights on the album. The
edgy pop sounds of "Lost Without You" reminds us all of how we need
Jesus just to get through this life; there isn't another way to get
along than with Jesus at our side.
Continuing the themes of identity in Christ running throughout this
record, "Where I Belong" is a slightly Latin-influenced track bringing
back memories of Heavenly Place. More of those drum loops find their way
onto "The Real Me," a blatantly honest song about who Jaci really is.
"This is the real me/ am I the girl that you want me to be/ this is the
real me/ with flaws and fears of intimacy/ this is the real me." Jaci
really rolls out the "R's" on "He," a Latin-laced track reminding
listeners of previous songs on Crystal Clear like "You Don't Miss A
Thing" or "Center of Your Love."
"Glass House," a song that seems to be thematically close in heart to
"The Real Me," brings back that synthesized pop sound. "Your Friend"
follows, a kind of medicre song with a weak chorus that doesn't
make you want to come back for more. "Something," a tender love song of
sorts about saying goodbye to a lover, falls flat on its face, and again
like "Your Friend" sounds somewhat 'blah'.
Finally after nine songs, the title track, "Unspoken," hits home with a
great upbeat sound, an awesome hook in the chorus, and excellent
songwriting all-around. This is the highlight of the album, right
alongside "Jesus Is." Speaking about prayer and not leaving anything
unspoken to Him, this song reminds us all to keep the 'phone-lines' open
to the Lord and never feel anything is too small for Him to know about.
"I'm Alive," co-written by Cindy Morgan, comes next, featuring a pretty
signature Morgan sound to it. Of course, Velasquez uses her talents to
make it heartfelt praise to the One who makes us alive. The album closes
out with "Shine," an interesting ending, with something that pulls you
into the song. "Shine" tells us to keep shining for Christ, and at first
the song might seem like a strange end, but after a while, it really
becomes one of the album favorites.
Overall, Unspoken is a pretty solid record with a couple dead endings
here and there, but a decent must-have for any Jaci fan, and also for
newcomers. I'm sure with future albums we'll see more of Jaci's hand in
the songwriting, and the maturity we can expect from an artist like
Jaci Velasquez.
- Review date: 09/21/04, written by Shaun Stevenson
Artist Info:Discography Record Label: Word Records
Album length: 12 tracks
Street Date: March 25, 2003
Artist Info: 
