Carstairs Considers....: Music Review: Greatest Hits by Amy Grant

Monday, April 1, 2013

Music Review: Greatest Hits by Amy Grant

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: 19 classic songs

Cons: Nothing new for long term fans, one release missing

The Bottom Line:

Not all my choices

Still these songs deserve their place

Solid collection

Three Decades of Classics

Amy Grant has had an impressive career. Starting out as a Christian artist in the 70's, she became quite popular in CCM before becoming a huge hit in the mainstream market in the early 90's.

As you'd expect from a career that long, she's already released two collections. Each one pretty much focused on half her career. With her recent record label switch, she decided it was time to release a retrospective that covers her entire career. And Greatest Hits, a nineteen song collection, is the result.

Frankly, I do have to wonder about the timing. Her last studio release was in 2003. Since then, we've gotten her second collection and an in concert release. I would have preferred to see a studio release before this one. But I wasn't consulted.

Starting with her most recent single "Simple Things," the title track from her last studio project, the disc goes back in chronological order to "Old Man's Rubble" from her self title debut. Along the way we get such classics as "Baby Baby," "Stay for Awhile," "That's what Love is for," "Saved by Love," "Find a Way," "Thy Word," El Shaddai," and "Father's Eyes."

Every one of Amy's pop studio releases is represented here except one. There's nothing from her third release Never Alone. It would have been nice to see something from it, however none of those songs have stood the test of time the way most of these others have. There is nothing from her two hymns projects or three Christmas releases either. The hymns projects never really produced any hits, so their exclusion doesn't surprise me either. And Christmas songs rarely show up on greatest hits projects.

Looking over the list of songs, I quickly noticed that five of the nineteen tracks are from Heart in Motion. I know it was her biggest release by far and these are the songs that will sell the disc. But it's not my favorite. And it seems to me that one of the songs could have been cut to make room for something to represent Never Alone or to include the noticeably absent "Sing Your Praise to the Lord."

Now when they say "Greatest Hits" that is truly what they mean. There are no new songs. So fans will have to decide if they want this because it is a place to get all their favorites of if they can pass.

Now all these complaints may make it sound like I don't like the disc. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just listening to these songs brings back all kinds of wonderful memories. Amy's music has been a part of my life for way too many years, and I absolutely love so many of these songs.

As I mentioned earlier, the disc goes in reverse chronological order. As a result, we get a chance to watch how her style has changed over the years. The one thing that has stayed consistent is her use of piano and guitar for most songs. From the polished modern pop of "Simple Things" we devolve to the late 80's pop/rock of "Lead Me On" and "Saved by Love." "Stay for Awhile" and "Find a Way" have a mid 80's rock flavor that is unmistakable. From there, we move once again to solid pop for the rest of the disc.

Even with pop, there's still some room for variety. "Every Heartbeat" and "Good for Me" are solid, upbeat pop tracks. "House of Love," a beautiful duet with her current husband Vince Gill is a slower pseudo ballad. "Thy Word" is a piano heavy ballad that is still a popular praise chorus in churches.

And as long as we are discussing ballads, I can't leave out "Father's Eye," which was the first single to really put her on the map. This one features guitar. And the prayer to look at the world as God does is still powerful today. Like "Old Man's Rubble," it has an unmistakable 70's folk feel to it that betrays its age. But it isn't so bad that it will turn anyone off to the disc.

Since there is really nothing new here for long time fans, they will need to decide if having all these songs in one place is worth the cost of the disc. For me, personally, I will never get tired of these songs. No matter whether on this disc or with their original neighbors, I will be listening to these Greatest Hits for years to come.

CD Length: 1:19:57

Tracks:

1. Simple Things

2. Takes a Little Time

3. Lucky One

4. House of Love

5. Baby Baby

6. Every Heartbeat

7. That's what Love is for

8. Good for Me

9. I Will Remember You

10. Lead Me on