Mar 20

Top 100: #9 Live at First Baptist Atlanta (Greater Vision)

Release Year: 2002

Album Rank for Group: #2 of 13

Here’s a blurb: Live at First Baptist Atlanta is Greater Vision’s only live album of new songs to date.  To be sure, they are not the Kingsmen, whose live albums are driven by adrenaline and spontaneity.  The “live” aspect of this recording is just what you’d get at a normal Greater Vision concert, and is nothing fancy: jokes by Gerald about Rodney, and moving song set-ups.  The fact that this is a live recording only enhances its real strength: the songs.  With Greater Vision in the Rodney Griffin era, it’s always been about the songs.  Of the ten songs on the recording, seven of them are brand new Griffin compositions, and they are absolutely sensational.  They are put in the capable hands of producer Wayne Haun, who arranged them for the First Baptist Church’s orchestra.  Songs like this combined with Haun’s musical genius and a live orchestra make for one of the most thrilling listening experiences I own.  If I were introducing someone to Greater Vision, this is probably the recording I would give to them.  In addition to the seven new songs, there are two of the trio’s big hits and a convention style number, along with the typical banter, so it is an excellent representation of what the group is about.

Knock my socks off: They Should Have Cried Holy, A Pile of Crowns, Soon We Will See, With All the Many Miracles

Don’t skip that one: God’s Grace Is Sufficient, Just Wait ‘Til He Stands Up, At the Feet of Jesus, More Than Able

I could honestly do without: Well Done My Child (I love the song, the style, and Stan Whitmire, but I gotta have it a little faster!)

Mar 13

Top 100: #10 Renewed (Gold City)

Release Year: 1994

Album Rank for Group: #5 of 15

Here’s a blurb: The aptly named Renewed might be the greatest “comeback” album in the history of southern gospel music.  By that I don’t really mean that Gold City was “down” and had to rise back to the top.  But when you lose half of one of the most popular quartet configurations of all time, and come back with an album like this, I’d say that’s impressive.  With the wildly popular Brian Free and Ivan Parker departed, the shuffle began.  Steve Lacey moved to lead, veteran Mark Trammell left Greater Vision to take the baritone spot, and the young Jay Parrack was hired as tenor.  These two hires weren’t just home runs; they were bottom-of-the-9th grand slams.  Renewed is great even if these circumstances aren’t considered, however.  Two tremendous power ballads and four thrilling uptempo numbers highlight the recording.  This was not the same Gold City sound anchored by Free and Parker, but it was the birth of a new sound that would keep the quartet on top of the southern gospel world for the next decade.

Knock my socks off: Calvary Came Through, Born to Praise the Lord, Ever Since That Wonderful Day, God of All Gods

Don’t skip that one: Going Going Gone, I Have Passed Over Into Canaanland, Jesus Cares for You

I could honestly do without: Stand

 

Mar 07

The Cathedrals – “My Lord Will Send A Moses”

Had a rare, spare minute this morning and was flipping through the ‘tube and saw this old video by the Cats.  It sure brightened my day and thought I would share it with you, hoping you would have the same results.

 

Mar 07

Top 100: #11 Once Upon a Cross (Mark Trammell Trio)

Release Year: 2007

Album Rank for Group: #2 of 8

Here’s a blurb: For five or six years from their start, each successive album released by the Mark Trammell Trio showed signs of progress.  When Dustin Sweatman replaced Joseph Smith in the trio’s first personnel change in 2006, their vocal sound got a little boost.  When they released their first major studio recording in that configuration, Once Upon a Cross, their song quality and production quality got a huge boost.  This album was, in my opinion, the trio’s first major step toward getting to that elite tier of southern gospel groups, where they are today.  With Sweatman joining Mark Trammell and Eric Phillips, the great singing was a given, but strong contributions from the likes of Dianne Wilkinson, Kyla Rowland, Rodney Griffin, Chris Allman, and Joseph Habedank are what really made this album stand out above those previous.

Knock my socks off: Let Me Bring Your Children Home, Even Thomas Couldn’t Doubt It, Once Upon a Cross, However I Go, Moving the Hand of God

Don’t skip that one: I Still Believe, You Can’t Hold Back the Flood, Won’t It Be Wonderful There

I could honestly do without: Heaven Can’t Be Far Away

Mar 05

Top 100: #12 Standing in the Gap (Gold City)

Release Year: 1995

Album Rank for Group: #6 of 15

Here’s a blurb: Standing in the Gap was the only major studio recording of new songs that Gold City recorded with David Hill in the lead position.  They took full advantage of his talents, utilizing him to great effect on the now-classic “I’m Not Giving Up,” along with other strong numbers like “Be Not Afraid” and “All That I Am.”  This album is typical Gold City of this era, with several hard-driving uptempo numbers mixed with a power ballad or two (“It’s Not in Vain” is a stellar example) and one with an inspirational lean (“All That I Am”).  Take a powerful vocal lineup, match them with terrific songs like these, and you can’t help but produce an exciting listening experience.

Knock my socks off: I’m Not Giving Up, It’s Not in Vain, Be Not Afraid, Guilty of Loving Me

Don’t skip that one: Show Me the Cross, What a Great Homecoming Day, Surely

I could honestly do without: None…this one is well-balanced.

 

Feb 27

Top 100: #13 Far Beyond This Place (Greater Vision)

Release Year: 1999

Album Rank for Group: #3 of 13

Here’s a blurb: With nearly a decade of service in the books, Greater Vision was already one of the most established and popular groups on the road in 1999.  But their landmark album release that year propelled them “far beyond” what they had experienced before.  Their debut release for Daywind Records (whom they still record for today), it won them their first of five (and counting) Singing News Fan Awards for Album of the Year.  It also contained the first two of their four Songs of the Year (“My Name Is Lazarus” and “Just One More Soul”), and was released in the year that they won their first of eight Trio of the Year awards.  The sweeping arrangements were recorded a la Symphony of Praise by the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra and Hungarian Radio Symphony.  But to me personally, it’s all about the songs.  Including six Rodney Griffin compositions, this is one of my favorite projects in terms of songwriting.

Knock my socks off: My Name Is Lazarus, Redemption Draweth Nigh, He Washed My Feet, Far Beyond This Place

Don’t skip that one: Just One More Soul, Just Pray, Unworthy But Made Worthy

I could honestly do without: There’s No Place Like Home

Feb 23

Top 100: #14 Are You Ready? (Gold City)

Release Year: 2000

Album Rank for Group: #7 of 15

Here’s a blurb: My favorite Gold City lineup ushered in the 2000s with another strong recording.  At the time of this album’s release, with the Cathedrals just retired, Gold City was perhaps the strongest and most popular group on the road in southern gospel.  With the quartet reaching more ears than anyone not named Gaither, and with the uncertainty surrounding the new millennium, this album hit a home run with the title track.  Written by the late, great Doug Riley, it is one of the most powerful messages on the second coming I have heard.  That power ballad is the cornerstone of the recording, but it is surrounded by the usual,  strong, uptempo songs.  Notable among those is “Get Up, Get Ready,” which is still a big crowd-pleaser over a decade later.

Knock my socks off: Are You Ready, Since Jesus Touched Me, Get Up Get Ready

Don’t skip that one: Livin’ Forgiven, Saved, More Like Jesus, Touch This Child Again, God Will Provide

I could honestly do without: Keep Me on the Wheel