Carstairs Considers....: Music Review: Greatest Hits 1986-2004 by Amy Grant

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Music Review: Greatest Hits 1986-2004 by Amy Grant

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Lots of fun pop songs

Cons: None of her Christian hits from this time are included

The Bottom Line:

Pops hits collection

With plenty of fun music

But not all her hits

20 Years of Amy's Pop Hits

In the late 80's and 90's, Amy Grant became a controversial figure in Christian circles. Her cross over success to secular pop was unprecedented at the time, and many people were not happy about it. Her divorce didn't help matter, either. And yet, those years also provided her best success to date. And the best of those years are collected in Greatest Hits: 1986-2004.

Now the producers of this compilation had much to live up to. Amy first compilation, The Collection, is considered a classic in its own right. Right or wrongly, my expectations were rather high when this release came out. And I'll admit to feeling slightly disappointed with the results.

Why the disappointment? Because this collection is a slap in the face to her Christian fans. Oh, I know she had huge hits in the secular market during these years. And I expected many of them here. But they are all we get. If you look in the linear notes, you'll see the position the song topped on the Adult Contemporary and Pop charts. So, if any song was only a hit at Christian radio, it isn't here. Since my personal favorite song from Amy's 90's releases, "Children of the World" falls victim to this fate, you can understand why I am disappointed. Equally mystifying by it's absence is "Hope Set High" from Heart in Motion. It does explain why there is nothing here from her first hymns CD, but since I'm not a huge fan of that one, that isn't that big a disappointment.

Despite the rant, I do enjoy this CD. Why? Because I do like most of the songs here. I just wish the sampling had been slightly more even.

The CD starts off with the requisite new songs to get long term fans to buy the disc. In this case, we get two of them. "The Water" is the best song she's released in the last few years. Amy has started to add a Southern element to her pop, and it is evident here as well with the emphasis on guitar. But it really fits this song about repentance. And I just love the beat. The other new song is "Come Be with Me," a duet with Keb' Mo'. It's got a more acoustic feel that fits this love song perfectly.

From there we get treated to a walk down memory lane, starting with 1986. The big emphasis is Heart in Motion, which should be a surprise to no one. For better or worse, that will be remembered as Amy's biggest career disc. (Personally, I think Lead Me On was better, but the world didn't ask me.) There are five tracks from Heart in Motion here. Even though we are talking early 90's pop, these songs really don't seem dated.

But the memories. Just hearing these songs takes me back to high school when the songs were played everyone on the radio no matter which station you listened to. I can still sing every word and warble perfectly. There's the upbeat "Baby Baby" and "Good for Me" and the more contemplative "That's what Love is For" and the sad "I Will Remember You."

Now here's what seems funny to me. The back of the CD claims that the version of "Every Heartbeat" here is an edited version. If it is edited, they must have cut out a millionth of a second or something because I don't notice a thing. Since that was my favorite song from the disc, it's the one I know the best. Trust me on this, it isn't edited.

Another oddity. The disc closes with a bonus track - a remix of "Baby Baby." Considering all the great songs left off this disc, why do we need a second version of this song? Even if it is the biggest hit of her career, isn't the original release enough?

By listening to these songs in order, we can hear the progression in her music, from the late 80's soft rock of "Lead Me On" through the pure pop of "Lucky One" and the simpler, honest acoustic of "Like I Love You."

There were two songs on here I hadn't heard before. The first is a duet with Peter Cetera from one of his releases. "The Next Time I Fall" was a huge hit in 1986. It is easily the most dated song on here with it's 80's pop vibe. There's just no mistaking that synthesizer. But it's a fun song, which is weird since the lyrics are rather depressing. "The next time I fall in love, it will be with you."

In 1996, Amy recorded a cover of 10cc's "The Things We Do for Love" for the Ellen DeGeneres flop Mr. Wrong. She sped it up slightly, giving it an upbeat pop feel heavy on the piano. Again, I'm glad this little gem was included because I enjoy it.

Speaking of covers, I must mention the other one here. Yes, her version of Joni Mitchell's 70's hit "Big Yellow Taxi" also made the cut. Even after all these years, I have a love/ hate relationship with the song. I enjoy listening to it (and laugh at their adjustment for inflation, making the line "Charged all the people 25 bucks just to see them"). But every time I hear it, I get it stuck in my head for the next few days. Most of the time, that goes away after a few months. But there's something about this tune that is still catchy after all these years.

I will probably always be an Amy Grant fan. And I do enjoy the songs on this disc. It would have been stronger if they had tried to incorporate more of her Christian hits because that would have more accurately reflected her career. Still, Greatest Hits: 1986-2004 doesn't suffer from false advertising because these are truly great songs.

CD Length: 1:19:55

Tracks:

1. The Water

2. Come Be With Me (featuring Keb' Mo')

3. The Next Time I Fall (duet with Peter Cetera)

4. Saved by Love

5. Lead Me on

6. Baby Baby

7. Every Heartbeat

8. That's What Love is For

9. Good for Me

10. I Will Remember You