Growing on me . . .
It's hard to imagine someone liking the GVB more than me, but their most recent project left me feeling a little ambivalent. (Perhaps because I'm resentful that I'm not the one singing baritone for the GVB!)
But seriously, it's hard to quantify the move the group has made from the previous project (Give It Away) to the present one. The previous project started the transition into the post-David Phelps era and rightly played to Wes Hampton's vocal strengths. The tight harmonies and the diversity of song styles (including a neat multi-cultural feel) made up for the absence of Phelps' high D's ... and E-flats ... and E's!!
(I should say though that I heard the GVB in concert in Wilkes-Barre, PA the week of the Canada videos taping (Fall 2005). Their closing song was "It Is Finished" and Hampton nearly blew a lung out on the high C solo part which made me less than impressed. Hampton totally redeemed himself however with his impressive showing on the "Live from Toronto" video on the Michael English feature of "I Bowed On My Knees." He nailed the high D-flat as good as any.)
The present project continues the move away from the David Phelps era of the GVB but perhaps goes too far in the other direction. While there are some tight harmony pieces (e.g., portions of "I'm Forgiven" and the remix of "Search Me Lord"), the harmonies overall are pretty straightforward and predictable. (I can tell because I have them pretty much all memorized after only a few weeks.) And too many of the songs fall into the same type/category of song (i.e., slow, reflective) which makes the album a little boring (e.g., "Home of Your Dreams"; "There's Always a Place at the Table"; "When I Cry"). This on top of the fact that many of the songs are re-mixes and re-records. For example, as good a song as "Go Ask" is, in the era of Gaither videos this song has pretty much been beat to death. Also, even though I like the new Latin twist given to "Build an Ark," it's pretty much just a re-record of the 1994 version. And same goes even more so for "Search Me Lord."
An absolute discard of a song is the Henry Slaughter tribute "Lonely Mile." I appreciate Bill Gaither's intentions to honor his long-time friend by including it, but the song just doesn't fit the GVB. Another song I just don't quite get is "The Diff'rence Is In Me." It's not a bad song, but the fact it is included in a GVB album (notwithstanding the fact that Bill and Gloria wrote it [in 1982]) just makes me feel like they're running out of material.
So a recap: Out of the 13 songs, three are re-records, three are slow and boring, two are out of place, which leaves five songs which in the end redeem the album.
1) The opening track, "I'm Forgiven," is a nice up-beat and rythmic song with some nice movements in the baritone part.
2) "Jesus and John Wayne" is WITHOUT DOUBT the highlight of the album. Guy Penrod is classic on this tune, and again the movements in the baritone part (the flirting with the sixth of the chord in the chorus) as well as the tenor part (the intentional dissonance in the final chorus) make it a joy to sing and listen to.
3) For some reason I'm never blown away by the GVB's title tracks, at least recently (e.g., Everything Good; I Do Believe; God is Good; Give It Away; an exception would be "Lovin' God, Lovin' Each Other"). That rule stands for "I'm Loving Life." Guy Penrod is strong as usual but it's not an indellible song. It's good but not great.
4) "Prisoner of Hope" is a nice song; definitely a keeper.
5) "Then He Bowed His Head and Died" is also a keeper. It is a powerful reflection on Christ's cruciform suffering which represented and embodied God's redemptive suffering in and with the world. Christ re-enacts and assumes on himself the brokenness of the world on the cross as a way of redeeming the world.
In sum, I think this project is something of a step down from the last project but because it's the GVB I love it anyway. I appreciate the overall theme and thrust of the current project as well (i.e., life as a journey with God, etc.) but another thing that made the last project even more powerful was its focus on the social implications of the gospel which challenged the individualism and materialism of especially American culture and certain expressions of American Christianity. We all need to hear the message of "Lovin' Life" but the message of "Give It Away" is what American Christians on the whole really need to hear (myself included).
This album is growing on me, but I'm already anxious for their next release which suggests the present album won't quite cut it for die-hard GVB fans like myself.
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