Music Review: I Surrender All by Clay Crosse

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Clay's radio hits (and best songs) all in one place

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

The radio hits

Which also are his best songs

Timeless collection

Short Career, Many Hits

It seems everyone gets a greatest hits release these days. Even though he was dropped from his label after three almost successful CD's, Clay Crosse still released I Surrender All, a collection of 11 hits and two new songs.

Now I will be perfectly upfront. Even though I have bought all of Clay's releases (including his independent releases), I've never been a huge fan. As a result, I wasn't convinced he had enough material for this collection. I was proved wrong.

Of course, the disc starts with two new tracks to suck his long term fans into buying the disc. The first of these is "I Will Follow Christ," a duet with Bebe Winans and Bob Carlisle, two popular Christian artists 10 years ago. At the time, both men were big names in Christian music, now they aren't nearly as well know. Anyway, this is a powerful anthem. In fact, my church choir has done it numerous times. It uses the commitment of the disciples to challenge us to live every moment for Christ. It's a keyboard heavy song with some nice strings thrown in.

The other new song is "When in Rome." This is a fun, upbeat, pop track with plenty of guitar, keyboard, and percussion. This time, the challenge is from the life of Paul, as we are encouraged to stand up for our beliefs.

I always appreciate it when collections like this include songs that were previously released, just not on an artist's official releases. In this case, they included "The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power" which Clay recorded for an Andrae Crouch tribute project. I've got to be honest. I don't know if I have every heard Andrae sing this song. I was familiar with it from other covers and singing it from the hymnal in church. Clay does a great job with it. He starts out rather slow with a piano behind him, but when he gets to the chorus he speeds it up a smidge and brings in some other instruments. With the inclusion of a choir behind him, it has a nice Gospel feel without truly being Gospel.

The rest of the CD includes his hits from the 90's. Clay was an Adult Contemporary artist, and his music never got too fast. As a result, this is a mostly mellow CD highlighting ballads like "Midnight Cry" and "My Place is with You." He even blends in a hint of R&B with songs like "The Rock" and "Time to Believe."

Now that's not to say that there aren't some upbeat moments here. The pop "I Call Your Name" is a personal favorite from his debut. It's got a fun beat while reminding us to call on God for everything. "His Love is Strong" is a mid tempo pop song. Then there's "Saving the World." This song is soft rock, which not only stands out here, but also stands out in his career in general. But you know what, Clay truly handles all these style changes without any problems.

No collection of Clay's music would be complete without including his signature song, "I Surrender All." This isn't a reworking of the old hymn but a fresh song with the same theme. Even all these years later, it's still a powerful ballad that I love listening to.

To be honest, I almost didn't buy this CD, but I'm glad I did. I find that this CD gets more play time then all his others combined. While I enjoy some of the songs left out, these are the songs I truly love. So this is the disc I keep pulling out to listen to time after time.

So if you enjoyed Clay's radio hits of the 90's, track down I Surrender All. You'll find these songs are still great.

CD Length: 58:09

Tracks:

1. I Will Follow Christ (with Bebe Winans & Bob Carlisle)

2. When in Rome

3. I Surrender All

4. He Walked a Mile

5. His Love is Strong

6. The Blood Will Never Lose its Power

7. I Call Your Name

8. The Rock

9. Saving the World

10. His Love's Comin' Over Me

11. My Place is with You

12. Time to Believe

13. Midnight Cry