Vanessa Williams: Silver And Gold : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Vanessa Williams' second holiday album has its fair share of wan arrangements -- the opening "Silver and Gold" elicits groans -- and one wonders why she redoes "Little Drummer Boy" after turning in a fine performance on 1996's Star Bright. Other tracks offer little moments, only to have them dashed: Brian McKnight sounds strained on the duet "Joy to the World"; and "Merry Christmas, Darling" falls flat on its George Benson-wannabe guitar solo. Yet Williams' pleasing vocals are as confident as ever, as she relishes working within unlikely contexts -- Gaelic flutes fill the sweet "The Holly and the Ivy" and she's downright gleeful on the jazzy "Winter Weather" and the gospel-tinged "Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow." Ultimately, Williams saves Silver & Gold by leaving Ossie Davis alone to read from Langston Hughes' moving poem "I Dream a World." Amen.