Carstairs Considers....: Music Review: Legacy...Hymns and Faith by Amy Grant

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Music Review: Legacy...Hymns and Faith by Amy Grant

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Decent arrangements of classic songs

Cons: The country flavor to most of the disc

The Bottom Line:

Little bit country

As Amy returns to roots

With many great hymns

Hey Amy Grant, Your Roots are Showing

Amy Grant has had quite a career. She started out as a Christian singer in the late 70's, then transition to pop star by the 90's. In 2002, she celebrated the 25th year of her career by releasing Legacy...Hymns & Faith, a collection of hymns with a few new songs thrown in. Despite some serious flaws, I do enjoy it when I am in the mood for some hymns.

(As a side note before I begin, the disc was originally released as a single disc version or a limited edition with a bonus DVD. That limited edition is long out of print. That was 7 years and a different record company ago, after all. So I will be sticking with what I know best, the one disc version.)

Amy's second husband Vince Gill was co-producer on this disc, and it shows. There is a definite Country flavor to all the songs. In fact, one or two of them are full on Country tracks. Since I'm not a Country fan, that's not my favorite part of the disc, but I can overlook it most of the time since I do love these songs so much.

I was actually surprised to see she opens the disc with one of my favorite, lesser known hymns, "This is My Father's World." This is a mid tempo pop number, which is quite a fun arrangement. It's strong on acoustic guitar, highlighting the simple arrangements we will get on most of the tracks.

Things turn County on the next track. "My Jesus, I Love Thee" is heavy on the guitar again, but it adds in the mandolin, accordion, fiddle, and pennywhistle. Again, they keep the tempo upbeat. They do really slow things down, appropriately enough, for the piano driven "Softly and Tenderly."

Vince Gill provides the background vocals on many of the songs, but they officially duet on "I Need Thee Every Hour/Nothing but the Blood." The track is almost entirely devoted to the second song, which picks up with a faster tempo and a gospel feel to it. The horn section and background choir really help give it that feel.

As I mentioned, there are several original songs on here. "What You Already Own" was written by Amy Grant. It's a quiet song of surrender to God despite the weaknesses of our human nature. Of course, I do find it funny that she is still speaking in her wink, wink this is a Christian song mode. After all, she never once mentions God in the song. But I quickly get over that because it truly is a good song.

The next track starts out with the familiar first verse to "It is Well with My Soul." But it quickly switches to a song written by Vince Gill, "The River's Gonna Keep on Rolling." This song is pure Country from sound to lyrics. The point? Life keeps moving.

The two teamed with Keith Thomas to write "Do You Remember the Time." This may be a new song, but it feels like an old hymn. In fact, the harmonica makes me feel like I'm sitting in a big tent revival during the early 1900's. This is a song about first coming to repentance in Christ.

And in the great tradition of Amy slightly changing someone else's song, she presents "Imagine," a slightly different arrangement of MercyMe's smash "I Can Only Imagine" which was still high on the charts on Christian radio at the time. It's a more mellow version of the pop song heavy on the acoustic guitar again. At the time I first heard it, I hadn't jumped on the MercyMe bandwagon yet. Now that I have, I still like this one. She couples it with "Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus."

Speaking of medleys, one of the biggest disappointments is the next to the last track. She combines "What a Friend We Have in Jesus," "The Old Rugged Cross," and "How Great Thou Art." I know they are old familiar and worn out hymns. But I still absolutely love them. In the three and a half minute track, she only manages to sing the choruses. I would have loved to hear each of these songs for that long.

"Marching to Zion" is a definite different sound. Here, Amy and a choir are backed by bagpipes. It doesn't quite fit with the rest of the disc, but I do love the track.

I've found with Amy's more recent CD's, she seems to lack the passion she had in older recordings. This holds true at times here. She seems to really connect with "This is My Father's World" and "Imagine" while "Come Thou Fount" and the hymn medley I mentioned earlier seem flat. The vocals are fine, but there's just no life behind them.

I don't pull this disc out quite often enough. The Country flavor can be a turn off at times, but when I am willing to look past that, Legacy...Hymns & Faith offers some good arrangements of classics.

CD Length: 53:09

Tracks:

1. This is My Father's World

2. My Jesus, I Love Thee

3. Softly and Tenderly

4. I Need Thee Every Hour/Nothing but the Blood

5. What You Already Own

6. It is Well with My Soul/The River's Gonna Keep on Rolling

7. Do You Remember the Time

8. Fields of Plenty/Be Still My Soul

9. Imagine/Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus

10. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing