Regina Belle – Love Forever Shines (Review)

Love Forever Shines
Regina Belle
Pendulum Records 2008
www.myspace.com/reginab17

The first time I heard Regina Belle sing was in a duet with Peabo Bryson, but her musical resume extends well beyond that. Whether duetting with male balladeers, studying opera, or performing jazz or RnB, the Rutgers graduate and New Jersey native never really strayed from gospel. Nevertheless, Love Forever Shines represents her first full-length album dedicated to the music with which she grew up.

And a fine project it is. It reminds me of RnB singer Kelly Price’s equally compelling CD, This Is Who I Am from 2006. On Love Forever Shines, Regina, like Kelly, demonstrates that the musical divide between secular and sacred has never been so wide that you can’t get over it. In fact, on the hypnotic “God Is Good” and driving choir workout “Can’t Nobody,” the award-winning singer gives a traditional gospel performance. Offering further provenance, Regina’s brother, Bernard Belle, introduces “God is Good” (reviewed previously on TBGB) by saying she dedicated it to their father, a Baptist from Kershaw, South Carolina who thought “gospel should sound like gospel.”
And it does.

In addition to the two traditional cuts, other noteworthy songs on Love Forever Shines include the effective title track, the neo-soul influenced “Coming Out of This” and “Good to be Loved” (featuring the quartet legend Melvin Williams), and the jazz-flavored “I’ll Never Leave You Alone.” Like a box of chocolates – to use a thoroughly Gumped analogy – the CD constantly surprises with new sounds, whether soul, rap, Mediterranean licks, or smoky jazz piano.

Throughout, the lyrics are a call for shelter in a time of storm. As Regina commented, “They come from my own life experiences. So I had to be very active in the writing part of the project. One day I was sitting in a hotel room in Detroit. I was feeling completely alone. So I asked the Lord to show me that He was with me. It seemed that in an instant He began to say, ‘I’ll Never Leave You Alone.’ From that moment He began to give me the song so quickly that I couldn’t keep up with writing it as fast as He was giving it to me. My inspiration for this project is simply gratefulness.”

Regina Belle is more pop songstress than gospel shouter, but it doesn’t matter: the obvious musical training and flexibility in her voice simply provide an alternative, and no less effective, conduit for the genuine spiritual conviction she feels. And with songs such as “God is Good” and the gospel recitative “Come Into This Place” on the track list, Love Forever Shines will move more than a few worshippers into fits.

Four of Four Stars