Music Review: Songs for the Journey by Sandi Patty

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: I love 6 of the songs.

Cons: I want to skip past the other 5.

The Bottom Line:

A half and half disc

The parts I love are so great

The rest just okay

A Journey of Two Parts

After how much I enjoyed Sandi Patty's release from last year, I bought Songs for the Journey without hesitation. When I popped it into my CD player, I was initially impressed. The disc starts out strong. But then it began to go downhill. Really, it is a tale of two parts.

This disc is essentially a collection of covers. It's got a mix of hymns, pop songs, classical pieces, and even a Broadway hit.

Part One: The Good

The disc starts out strong with four hymns in a row. "Praise to the Lord the Almighty" is the perfect opener. It's a little more upbeat than I usually sing it in church, and it works well. The familiar lyrics flow quickly and the song builds to an added chorus at the climax. It never quite sheds its hymn background, partially because of the orchestra, but it could almost pass as a pop song.

Sandi takes "Be Thou My Vision" back to its Irish Roots with the use of Uileann Pipes. In fact, they start the song. But even as the orchestra adds for each verse, you can still hear them plainly. The result is a haunting take on the familiar hymn.

Two of Andrae Crouch's songs turned hymns are included here. "Through it All" has just a hint of the gospel original in it, making for a fun arrangement. "My Tribute" can be a hard song to sing, but Sandi covers it exceptionally. She starts out quiet and reflective, but is belting out the words by the end.

When Shelia Walsh first approached Sandi about doing a duet of "For Good," she loved the idea so much they put it on both their projects. While I have yet to see Wicked, I recognized it immediately. They do a wonderful job with it, keeping it the quiet and reflective ballad it is in the Broadway musical.

I was thrilled to see "Were it Not for Grace" on here. I love the song, but I didn't previously have any recordings of it. The emphasis here is on piano and cello, which befits this quiet, reflective song.

Part Two: The Bad

Unfortunately, I dislike the remaining songs almost as much as I love the songs I've already talked about.

Let's start with the most upbeat song on the disc. Yep, I'm dissing the fastest song here. "Operator" is a Southern Gospel song. Which is pretty much my problem with it. I'm not a fan of that genre, and this song does nothing to change my mind. Sandi is backed here by a gospel choir as she keeps trying to get a prayer through to Jesus. I actually have a feeling I could have liked this song better with different lyrics because the tune is catchy and the beat is fun. But these lyrics don't work for me.

If Sandi has one downfall, in my opinion, it's trying to sing classical songs on her adult contemporary/pop CDs, mainly since I'm not a fan of that style of music. "Joyful, Joyful" falls into that trap. It starts out fine, but as each verse progresses, the orchestra gets louder and the arrangement gets more dramatic. By the time it ends, it's become almost operatic, which goes too far for me.

And if that last paragraph weren't enough, I'm going to go completely over the top now. I realize it makes me uncultured, but I don't like listening to music in foreign languages. True, "Panis Angelicus" starts out in English, a break from tradition, but it soon reverts back to its traditional Latin. The duet with her current husband, Don Peslis, and the orchestra are fine to listen to for a little while, but I tire of it after a minute or so.

Okay, now comes my soap box. This disc also includes "You Call Me Yours." Don't get me wrong, I love this song. In fact, I fell in love with it on Sandi's last CD. And this is the exact same recording. Why do we need it again a year later?

All this means that by the time we get to "Savior Medley," the final track, I'm ready to be done. This combination of three hymns is fine. I might even grow to like it if it were included earlier in the disc. But there isn't much to make it stand out, and my ears have tuned out.

Songs for the Journey makes me glad for the skip button on CD players. I know I'll want to listen to some of these songs quite regularly, so it's nice I can listen to my favorites and skip the rest when I pull it out.

CD Length: 49:39

Tracks:

1. Praise to the Lord the Almighty

2. Through it All

3. Be Thou My Vision

4. My Tribute

5. Operator

6. For Good

7. Were it Not for Grace

8. Joyful, Joyful

9. Panis Angelicus

10. You Call Me Yours

11. Savior Medley: Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, 'Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus