Pick one Greater Vision recording…
A friend mentioned the other day that she thought Everyday People, Greater Vision’s last A-list recording with Jason Waldroup, represented the peak or culimation of Greater Vision’s sound during Waldroup’s time with the group.
I didn’t say anything at the time, but that comment got me thinking. What was Greater Vision’s best recording during their Waldroup years? And (if the answer is any different), what recording would you point to as the culmination of that era?
It was easy for me to narrow it down to three finalists: Live at First Baptist Atlanta (2002), Quartets (2003), and Hymns of the Ages (2006).
Mainly since it’s the last of the three, I’d point to Hymns of the Ages as the culmination. Every track on the project is fully orchestrated and arranged perfectly for the three voices; the project really doesn’t have a single dud track.
It would be a harder call for me to say which I think is the best of the three.
What do you think? What was Greater Vision’s best recording during their Waldroup years? And what recording was the culmination of that era?
Comment by Chris Unthank (December 1, 2008, 11:25 am)
Easily Far Beyond This Place. That recording was the one that MADE Greater Vision the group they are. It was a landmark recording not just for the group – but for the Southern Gospel industry – setting a precedent for other recordings as well.
Other than that – I would say their best releases with Waldroup were Live at First Baptist Atlanta and Quartets.
Not Alone is a fantastic recording and a great introduction to this new era of GV.
Comment by Brad (December 1, 2008, 12:08 pm)
I will have to agree with Chris on this one. I was just a casual Greater Vision fan until “Far Beyond This Place” was released. “My Name Is Lazarus” put Greater Vision on the map.
I would say the culmination of the Waldroup era was “Faces”. I think it was the best recording over the last 5 years with Jason.
However, my personal favorite Greater Vision recording ever is “Quartets”, but that is due to the fact that I prefer quartets over trios.
Comment by David Mann (December 1, 2008, 12:12 pm)
I think that Live at First Baptist Atlanta is the project where Jason was at his best. I know that’s not exactly the answer that was asked for, but my opinion. I also always like Perfect Candidate with that group.
If I had to pick a recording that’s my personal favorite from their entire career so far, I would have to say “It’s Just Like Heaven” (Gerald, Mark and Chris). When you talk about “getting the ball rolling” in terms of giving Greater Vision a good start… they didn’t just do that – they shot the ball from a cannon. That group was the best.
Comment by Richie (December 1, 2008, 1:22 pm)
Funny that this topic has come up. I have been a GV fan since its inception. Mainly because I was a Gerald fan since his Cathedral days. Not long ago I rated each and every GV project in the order of my liking. I feel the bar was set, in terms of projects, for GV with 1993’s “The King Came Down”. That is to me the premier project for this group. Not far behind, though, is “Far Beyond This Place”. This project was the moment when GV went from being a “Cathedral” group to being its very own entity. They found what songs worked best for each voice and never strayed far from that working formula. “Everyday People” followed that formula, as well, and was a perfect farewell to that GV era.
Comment by Daniel J. Mount (December 1, 2008, 1:25 pm)
Interesting discussion here! Chris, I agree that Far Beyond This Place set the standard for GV’s projects and defined their sound. But by the same token, I think that would pull it out of the running for being the culmination of the sound they were building towards in their Jason era. If you had to pick one as a culmination, what would it be?
Comment by Quartet Fan (December 1, 2008, 1:35 pm)
Quartets was the peak and really the culmination. After that, they never reached that level again (IMHO).
Far Beyond This Place certainly was the beginning of their dominance and would probably be 2nd all-time behind Quartets, to me.
Comment by Chris Unthank (December 1, 2008, 3:55 pm)
I was just naming what I thought was their BEST.
As far as culmination – probably Quartets.
Comment by Daniel J. Mount (December 1, 2008, 3:55 pm)
OK, neat!
Comment by DJPhil (December 1, 2008, 6:01 pm)
No contest!!! ” QUARTETS”
Comment by Matt Baker (December 1, 2008, 7:19 pm)
Far Beyond This Place certainly made a big impact with Jason’s touch on a CD. Live at First Baptist Atlanta was where Jason got a lot of his features, so it’s a tough choice between the two. We all know they’re all great! Daniel, why do you put so much stress on us to make these kinds of choices????lol
Comment by Daniel J. Mount (December 1, 2008, 7:20 pm)
Matt, nobody’s making you comment!
I think it’s just fascinating to watch how people process and reply to a question like this one. And I’m always curious how my own personal opinions bear out in a wider setting.
Comment by Ron Fleshman (December 2, 2008, 1:59 am)
Quartets was such a wonderfu project with some wonderful “guests and the DVd that accompanied it was also just wonderful, so it is at the top of the list.
“Live at First Baptist Atlanta” was another strong point and should be considered along with “Quartets.” I find the latter albums to be more of the same thing. My hope is the new blood generated will give GV more inspiration.. At least I hope so.
Comment by Seaton (December 2, 2008, 7:09 am)
Culmination = Faces
Comment by GospelMusicFan (December 2, 2008, 8:21 am)
All of therm!
Daniel,
You doing a great job on this blog building up the His church with the focus on the positive things God has given us.
GospelMusicfan
Comment by J. Johnson (December 2, 2008, 10:09 am)
Probably due to it being my favorite CD overall, of all groups, I would say that “Quartets” is the high point. Not just because of the guests, but that fourth voice really shows the beautiful harmonies of all the voices.
Comment by Steve Krout (December 4, 2008, 4:29 pm)
I’d have to go w/ Live At First Baptist Atlanta