Album Review: Greater Vision – Our Most Requested Songs – Live

The one word from the CD cover that should catch your eye is “Live!” Far too few live projects are being recorded anymore. Thankfully there is occasionally one released to give those of us who long for live recordings something to keep us going .  Greater Vision has really never sounded better than they do right now, so a live project from this powerhouse trio is certainly a breath of fresh air.

When Chris Allman made his return to Southern Gospel music in April of 2010, Greater Vision stepped back into contention for the top trio in all of Gospel music.  His incredible vocals along with the powerful singing from Gerald Wolfe and Rodney Griffin give the listener an awesome vocal experience no matter who is taking the lead lines.

Since the title of this project is ‘Our Most Requested’, we could assume going into this CD that only older material would be on the project.  From that perspective, we can listen to and enjoy the old familiar GV tunes without pausing to listen closely to new lyrics or melodies.  We can just sit back and sing along with the best that Greater Vision has to offer.

The best part of the project for me was getting to hear the guys bring back to life some old songs from the archives of the Greater Vision library, such as “With All The Many Miracles”, “Common Garments”, “He’s Still Waiting By The Well” and “I Could Never Praise Him Enough”.

One of the things that really made this ‘Live’ projects stand out, was the lack of talking and song introductions.  Typically, there are several breaks on a live CD for talking, testimonies or comedy relief, but after the brief introduction by Dr. Stanley, you get your earful of nothing but good, gospel music.  No need to ever skip a track after you’ve heard the same lines over and over after listening through the project several times.

There honestly isn’t a weak spot on this CD and by far, it is my favorite project of 2012.  I would have loved to hear more songs with just the live piano and bass, but the songs included on this project just wouldn’t have been the same without their usual soundtracks.  The only live music recorded on this CD was “Hallelujah Square”, which I suppose can be viewed as the icing on an already scrumptious cake.  WOW!!!

Album rating: 5 stars

Song list:

1. Dr. Stanley Introduction
2. I Could Never Praise Him Enough
3. He’d Still Been God
4. Common Garments
5. With All The Many Miracles
6. He’ll Carry Me
7. He’s Still Waiting By The Well
8. Faces
9. Just One More Soul
10. A Pile Of Crowns
11. Hallelujah Square
12. ‘Til The Storm Passes By
13. My Name Is Lazarus

Official Release date: October 2, 2012

Currently available at: Greater Vision website (Will ship after September 10)