Carstairs Considers....: Music Review: Rock of Ages...Hymns & Faith by Amy Grant

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Music Review: Rock of Ages...Hymns & Faith by Amy Grant

Stars: 2 out of 5
Pros: A couple tracks are good
Cons: Too much country
The Bottom Line:

Amy does Country

Hymn choices aren't all that great

Most of it is bad

Amy Grant Goes Full Country for Her Second Hymns Release

There seems to be some unwritten rule that contemporary and pop artists who decide to release a hymns project must go country to do it. Amy Grant fell into that trap slightly with her first hymns release, but she runs into it with arms wide open for Rock of Ages...Hymns & Faith. The result is not good.

This disc is a co-production with long time producer Brown Bannister and second husband Vince Gill. I figure she must have given Vince free reign with the production because his love of Country and Bluegrass are way too prominent.

Another strike against this disc is the song selection. Some of these hymns are familiar and well loved. But most of them are rather obscure. That hurts the disc as well because the songs aren't worth putting up with the style to hear.

The problems start right from track one. We get some waling guitar before the full instruments come in. It's an upbeat rendition of "Anywhere with Jesus." The Bluegrass feel is definitely on the edge of my taste, and if this were the worst the disc got, I'd be okay with it.

Want to hear Beethoven done Country? You've come to the right place for "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee." I would swear they start this one with a banjo, although I can't find the credit in the notes. The fiddle only makes it worse.

The low point of the disc is the title track, unfortunately. "Rock of Ages" is a favorite hymn. It probably would have been okay if Amy had done her usual solo. The instruments play it mostly straight in the guitar and piano sounding nice. But this song is a duet with Vince, and as he starts to wail those notes, it gets out of hand in a hurry.

Not that all the Country effects are bad. "O Master Let Me Walk with Thee" works quite well with the penny whistle adding some fun to the track.

And some of the tracks are geared more for a contemporary audience. "I Surrender All" has definitely been sped up, but it mostly works. The keyboard heavy "Abide with Me" sounds nice. Unfortunately, I've never been a fan of that hymn.

Interestingly, the disc includes two covers of Amy's older songs. "El Shaddai" is undeniably one of her best known songs. This is a beautiful new take on the song with a new piano background. It's not quite perfect since she changes the words around slightly. I'm not quite sure why, and it messes me up every time through. "Helping Hand" shows up as the main part of a medley with "Jesus Loves Me" and "They'll Know We are Christians." Somehow, these three songs just don't fit together for me. Plus there's the Bluegrass feel creeping in again.

A couple of the tracks feel just a little too much like family projects. "Sweet Will of God" starts with an old recording Amy did for her family twenty years ago. It plays for about a quarter of the track length. It's much too quiet and hard to hear. Amy is joined by a choir of family members of "Turn your Eyes Upon Jesus." Aside from the heavy Bluegrass feel, it is mostly okay until Amy's dad recites the chorus. He's off from the music, and it feels strange. Both these tracks feel like something made for a family and not something meant for the rest of us to hear.

However, I did find one great track on here. "Carry You" is a previously unrecorded song by Amy. It's a song of encouragement written from God to encourage us to lean on Him when trials come. It's a beautiful upbeat ballad.

That one song is worth getting, but the rest of Rock of Ages...Hymns & Faith can easily be forgotten by all but the most loyal Amy Grant fans.

CD Length: 45:37

Tracks:

1. Anywhere with Jesus

2. Carry You

3. Sweet Will of God

4. Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee

5. Jesus Loves Me/They'll Know We are Christians/Helping Hand

6. Rock of Ages

7. O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee

8. Abide with me

9. God Moves in a Mysterious Way/The Lord is in His Holy Temple