Tonéx - Pronounced Toe-Nay (1997/2000)

It peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums chart.

"My name is Prince and I am funky!" the purple one once sang. And with no less swagger, even some supernatural mojo, Tonex declares: "My name is pronounced Toe-nayyyyy...."

So opens this sprawling, controversial and much talked-about album, first released in 1997. San Diego's Tonex recorded it in his basement, sold it from his car trunk and apparently plumbed the depths of his soul to create this arresting modern gospel opus. He's earned famous fans, including Missy Elliott, and staked a claim for producing a work he calls "a classic of its time."

Does Pronounced hold up to its heavyweight rep (and self-styled hype) three years after its original indie release? To answer that question, one had better set aside a good swath of time. The CD holds 74 minutes of music, and Tonex uses every second on this record, divided into seven sections (including two remixes).

The opening three sections ("Hip-hop/Rap," "Retro/Funk," "The Future") show Tonex as an artist of piercing vision. "One Good Reason" sounds like Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up" given the funkadelic treatment. Anchored by a delightfully plodding synth bass, this party features the unforgettable line, "Hey boy, pull your pants up, this is a church!" The following cut, "The Good Song," recalls Stevie Wonder with its rubbery clavichord and message of high social conscience: "From everybody in the White House/To everybody in the crack house/ We've got to come together."

The momentum continues until the fourth section, "Jazz," which could well be renamed "Smooth Jazz." "Why?" has a campy cabaret feel and a Manhattan Transfer-style vocal out of character with the refrain ("Why oh why, did I make my Savior cry?"). It's the low point in a less-than-enthralling passage marked by seven straight mid-tempo songs. Fortunately, Tonex regains his footing in the "Soul/Gospel" section. "Restoration" opens with a digital grand piano and picks up steam on the jubilant chorus; it sets up "Untitled," a spooky altar call that slips straight through the valley of the shadow of death.

Trimmed by perhaps a third, Pronounced "Toe-nay" would be the classic Tonex claims it is. Unabridged, with its lapses into tedium, it is still a very good record with moments of brilliance but one that will tempt you to use the "skip" button now and then.