The Book of David: Vol. 1 The Transition

On bended knee, and with a trembling voice, Dave Hollister sounds more fervently full of remorse than ever before. That's saying a lot, given his past work with Force One Network and Blackstreet, as well as his previous four solo albums. In this case, he's looking for forgiveness from his Lord, not his woman. His first album for Gospo Centric (the logo is very, very small on its packaging, as if he and his label don't want to scare off the nonbelieving and gospel-music-phobic members of his fan base), The Book of David, Vol. 1: The Transition really isn't that much different from the singer's past releases. Hollister has a newfound focus (which you can see in his eyes, unless you can't get past the fact that he now might pass as a dead ringer for actor Chi McBride), and the subject matter often takes on a slightly more pronounced turn for the spiritual, but the tracks bump and sway as much as any other set he has released. Besides, the detectable changes shouldn't shock anyone who has followed him — he came up in the church, and both of his parents were preachers. The album lacks the beneficial brevity of 2003's Real Talk and meanders during the second half. Beyond that, it is just as appealing as anything else in the man's catalog and should not be disregarded by virtue of its label of release.