3:1 Reviews offer three highlights of an album and one area that could have been improved.

1: Concept: Steve Hurst is one of Southern Gospel’s most-respected voice teachers. This CD/DVD set contains a live recording of one of his voice workshops. For those who are unable, whether logistically or financially, to attend one of his schools or workshops in person, this recording’s availability is a welcome resource.

2: CD/DVD availability: The case includes three DVDs, and three CDs that contain the same audio. Having an identical audio version also available is incredibly helpful for rehearsal.

3: Scope: There are extensive discussions on voice placement, vocal registers, proper breathing, power, and vocal warm-ups. But the presentation is wide-ranging; Hurst also covers posture, facial expressions, hand gestures, nerves, and the Biblical ministry objectives for speakers and singers. 

:1: Ads: Interspersed with the segments are ads for the Steve Hurst School of Music. Though mildly distracting, these aren’t a huge minus—certainly not enough to avoid purchasing this incredibly valuable resource.

3:1 Reviews offer three highlights of an album and one area that could have been improved.

1: Every Scar: This song is becoming increasingly familiar to Southern Gospel audiences. Darin & Brooke Aldridge and The Talleys have both recorded versions within the last two years; though the Aldridges are primarily known in Bluegrass, their rendition was sent to Southern Gospel radio and appeared on the Singing News charts.

Even if this is the third rendition that attentive listeners hear, the song is far from having worn out its welcome. The Aldridges’ original rendition was mellow, acoustic bluegrass; The Talleys’ rendition straight-ahead Southern Gospel. Christian Davis’ rendition is county, bearing resemblances to several Southern Gospel bass singers’ renditions of “Long Black Train.”

2: Raise Him Up: Much like “Every Scar,” this story-song starts in a place that you wouldn’t exactly expect would lend itself to a Gospel message—the challenges of raising step-children! The pivot to the Gospel comes at an unexpected juncture and packs a powerful impact.

3: Hittin’ the Road: This ode to the road is an introspective, autobiographical look at why a Christian singer makes the sacrifices necessary to tour the world and spread the Gospel through the song.

:1: Lyrical focus: Practically every song has at least a passing reference to the Christian faith. Viewing the project from a Southern Gospel perspective, it would have been nice to see faith-based lyrics more consistently. However, since Davis currently tours with Bluegrass mega-group Dailey & Vincent, the album is probably more accessible to their secular audience.

The Booth Brothers’ rise was so connected to their early appearances on the Gaither videos that this Homecoming compilation DVD is, for all intents and purposes, a greatest-hits collection.

The format of a best-of-Homecoming video is now familiar to most Southern Gospel fans: The video is structured around a narration where Bill Gaither interviews the group members, prompting comments to introduce the songs. The songs aren’t always the complete songs; the intros and encores are often dropped.

Though the conversation is biographical, it’s not exactly chronological. The focus is on the current lineup. Jim Brady has been with the group a decade now—he joined in 2002—so they’re hardly short on strong material. It is, however, slightly odd to see the group’s breakout moment, their Homecoming Appearance of “Still Feelin’ Fine,” not appear until halfway into the program. That song and “Castles in the Sand” are the only two featuring previous baritone singer Joseph Smith.

With footage pulled from over a decade of archives, there is naturally some inconsistency with more recent footage at a higher quality than the two older songs from the Joseph Smith era. Of course, the camera work is consistently strong from beginning to end.

Longtime Homecoming aficionados will already have most of these songs. (“Above the Moon” was filmed around a piano, with Bill Gaither playing piano and adding a bass part. There are also a cappella choruses of “Through it All” and “He Saw it All.”) But this video is an excellent introduction to the group for newcomers, while long-time fans will enjoy the narration and conversations.

3:1 Reviews offer three highlights of an album and one area that could have been improved.

1: Engineering Quality: Naming engineering quality as the lead-off highlight of Feels Like Christmas might seem odd and certainly need explanation.

The arranging team is largely familiar: Wayne Haun led most orchestral arrangements, while David Clydesdale, Roy Agee, and Cliff Duren all played a role on specific tracks.

The team of musicians is also largely familiar: Jason Webb and Kim Collingsworth on piano, John Hammond on drums and percussion, Craig Nelson on bass, Kelly Back on acoustic and electric guitars, and the Nashville String Machine on orchestrations.

With these familiar ingredients, you might expect a result similar to other projects with a similar production team. You would be mistaken. Feels Like Christmas, in one respect, is like no other Southern Gospel Christmas project (and, for that matter, no previous Collingsworth Family project). That area would be audio engineering.

Melissa Mattey was the lead engineer for the orchestral recording session. Mattey, who has studied orchestral conducting, brings classical sensibilities to the sound quality. There were over forty players in the session; she miked each individually and also had room microphones to capture the ambient sound. (This gives the orchestrations a live feel.) Since she also mixed the album, the final product has a vivid depth and richness that you typically only hear on a recording featuring one classical music’s leading conductors and orchestras.

Feels Like Christmas raises the bar for orchestral recording quality in our genre.

2: Overture (Silent Night / What Child is This): Philip Collingsworth Jr., already a strong vocalist, continues to improve with every album the family releases. His solo on “Silent Night” is exquisite.

This has freed up his father to spend more of his time in the lower portions of his baritone range. The rich tone in Phil Sr.’s solo on on “What Child is This” shows how much this has added to the family’s ensemble sound.

3: Who is He in Yonder Stall: Through the years, several Southern Gospel artists have turned in show-stopping renditions of this hymn. This rendition stands head-and-shoulders above the rest as the song’s definitive version.

Words can’t really do this rendition justice. The dynamic vocal performance brings the intensity down to almost a whisper at the crucifixion, but  soars to glorious heights when the resurrection comes. Meanwhile, from tight unison lines to dramatic power harmonies, the vocal arrangement brings a rich nuance. Finally, as discussed above, the matchless orchestral recording quality shines on this song more than any other. There has probably never been another single Southern Gospel track with better orchestral engineering.

:1: Song Selection: SouthernGospelBlog.com has a policy of only reviewing all-Gospel albums, Christmas or otherwise. Had the album contained ten or twelve Gospel songs recorded to this level of excellence, it would have been the best Southern Gospel Christmas album ever recorded. So, naturally, its technical superiority called for an exception to the rule.

3:1 Reviews offer three highlights of an album and one area that could have been improved.

1: But For the Cross: This 6/8 song is bursting with power and energy. It’s one of those rare songs that combines the better elements of an anthem and an uptempo toe-tapper. Though “I’m So Saved” (see below) was the album’s lead-off single, this is likely the album’s big hit.

2: Come and See: Speaking of hits, this song’s writer, Rodney Birch is on a winning streak. He earned his first #1 recently, with Old Paths’ “Battle Stand” on the December 2012 charting song. Though an entirely different sort of song—this one’s a tenderly touching story-song—it’s  another hit waiting to happen.

3: I’m So Saved: Mere weeks after the album released, Paul Harkey left to join Ernie Haase & Signature Sound. This song shows the potential he could have had with the group if he’d stayed. The song requires a bass comfortable with incredibly low notes; here’s hoping the LeFevre Quartet can find replacement who can pull off this challenging arrangement with aplomb.

:1: More strong songs: If the Mike LeFevre Quartet had been able to pack an album full of songs as strong as their opening three, the album would easily have been a 4.5-star album, perhaps even a five-star album. Now granted, if you’re not the Booth Brothers, you may have a hard time finding songs as incredible as the Booth Brothers find in their inboxes. The song selection for this album is actually pretty strong for a group that’s up-and-coming. If they can kick it up a gear in the future, they aren’t far from being able to pull off a top-tier quartet album.

3:1 Reviews offer three highlights of an album and one area that could have been improved.

1: Song and group lineup: The lineup of groups appearing at this live tribute to legendary producer Lari Goss is basically a who’s who of Gospel Music: The Booth Brothers, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, Babbie Mason, The Hoppers, The Mark Trammell Quartet, Greater Vision, Legacy Five, TaRanda Greene, The Martins, The Nelons, Karen Peck, Charlotte Ritchie, Reggie & Ladye Love Smith, Melissa Brady, Geron Davis, and the Christ Church Choir. 

Imagine each of these groups performing their greatest songs, with a…

2: Live orchestra: Lari Goss’s orchestrations are magnificent, but that magnificence just isn’t fully appreciated when they are delivered by three or four singers on stage with a soundtrack machine. The orchestra here wasn’t just any orchestra—it was the Nashville String Machine, the studio performers who are on so many of the original versions of these songs.

It doesn’t hurt that the house band includes Kevin Williams on guitar, Wesley Pritchard on bass guitar, Mike Hopper on drums, and, on many songs, the man himself, Lari Goss, on piano!

3: Video image quality: Thanks to the filming taking place at TBN’s studios, the cinematography—image quality, lighting, and resolution—is magnificent.  

:1: Nothing: This DVD doesn’t have a single flaw.

Here’s a case in point: Narrations. For those of you who enjoy them, they’re often pleasant, subdued moments. But many of you, on the other hand, skip the narrations. When was the last time you heard a narration get a standing ovation? That’s exactly what happens with Gerald Wolfe’s narration on “Statement of Faith.”

You can give this DVD to someone new to the genre, and comment “This is what Southern Gospel is all about.” If this doesn’t get someone hooked on Southern Gospel, there’s a fairly strong chance nothing will.

3:1 Reviews offer three highlights of an album and one area that could have been improved.

1: Amazing Grace: The concept for this album was to take twenty hymns and deliver simple piano-and-voices-only arrangements. By and large, arrangements stayed within well-trodden territory (see below). There were several exceptions, and this song was one of them. Each member had a solo on a verse, and in a pleasantly surprising twist, baritone Scotty Inman sang the first half of his verse in a minor key. This set up a dramatic build tenor David Sutton’s soaring closing verse.

(The DVD performance is a harmonica-and-piano duet by David Sutton and Jeff Stice, not a vocal performance.)

2: All Hail the Power: After an album filled with largely familiar arrangements, this acapella album closer came as a welcome surprise. Descant harmonies and a big modulation make the arrangement equal parts exquisite and show-stopping.

3: DVD: The video image quality is strong; the group members are well-lit, and the camera work is professional. Overall, the arrangements come across well in a live setting—in a number of cases, even better than on the CD. 

There was no live audience; the group sat around a piano on a live concert stage while pianist Jeff Stice played piano. The group wasn’t going for an in-the-studio feel; it appeared to be a concert stage, with live concert lighting effects. These factors combined to leave the performances overall more subdued than you would find at a typical Triumphant Quartet live concert.

There were exceptions, though, most notably “Because He Lives.” Scotty Inman’s heartfelt introduction to and vocal delivery of “Because He Lives” made the song a stand-out.

In an unexpected twist, after the main program concludes, the DVD contains footage of their first Gaither Homecoming Tour performance, “The Old White Flag” from the Tent Revival taping. Fans were shocked when word came out that the performance had been cut from the final Homecoming DVD release. It gets a new lease on life with its inclusion here. 

:1: Familiar arrangements: By and large, the arrangements differed little from preceding quartets’ arrangements of these hymns. However, piano-driven performances can still have creative vocal arrangements—as several of the exceptions illustrate.

3:1 Reviews offer three highlights of an album and one area that could have been improved.

1: Not Anymore: This anthem, anchored by the vocals of Andy Tharp, easily makes a top-three list of the strongest songs the Ball Brothers have introduced (and/or introduced to our genre). It’s on par with “Mercy Said No” and “It’s About the Cross”; depending on your stylistic preferences, this track may even head your list.

The lyrics are thoughtfully crafted. The first verse discusses the waiting for the Messiah, “but not anymore.” The second chorus is from the perspective of the disciples right after the crucifixion, how they had hoped He would save them, “but not anymore.” Then, naturally, a bridge discusses the Resurrection, how the disciples witness that He “once was in the grave / but not anymore.” It’s obvious that a Southern Gospel song won’t quit with Jesus in the grave, but the story twists the lyric takes on its way to that conclusion are fresh and delightful.

2: All I Have To Be: New bass singer Chad McCloskey proves that the Ball Brothers haven’t slipped any with their new vocal lineup. This song features his upper baritone register, and is both one of the strongest songs and the strongest vocal performances on the album.

3: Over the Horizon: This fun, up-tempo song was introduced by 4HIM on their 1991 Face the Nation record. Brian Free & Assurance brought it into the Southern Gospel genre as the stellar opening track to their 2009 Acapella album; bass singer Jeremy Lile shone with a memorable walking bass part. While it would have been cool to hear how new Ball Brothers bass singer Chad McCloskey did with a walking bass part, the Ball Brothers’ rendition here sticks closer to the original 4HIM version. That’s not entirely a bad thing, as it works well for the group’s current sound and style and is the project’s strongest fast song.

:1: ?: It’s hard to pinpoint any specific weakness of the album. The group’s taste in arrangements and song selection tends to fall out of the mainstream of the groups currently dominating the charts. This, of course, gives them one of the most distinctive and easily recognizable sounds in our genre—a sound that remains consistent despite the lower half the group changing since their previous mainline album.

If you haven’t liked their previous albums, you probably won’t care for this one, either. But, on the flip side, if their previous albums have been your cup of tea, there is a good chance you will view this album as their strongest to date. Most of the songs and arrangements are in their wheelhouse, while tracks like “Not Anymore” transcend sub-genre and should appeal to virtually any Southern Gospel fan.

Is it possible for truly great songs from truly great songwriters to be overdone?

If such a thing is possible, then our genre has probably never seen songs more overdone then those that have left the pens of Bill and Gloria Gaither. There’s no question that the songs themselves bear a timeless greatness. However, after hundreds of renditions, it is a nearly impossible task to offer a creative new arrangement that doesn’t traverse all-too-familiar ground.

That’s not all. The artist here has recorded projects so innovative that they have raised the bar for themselves as much as for the genre. It doesn’t matter if you are a newcomer or the genre’s most popular artist; it’s nearly impossible to top projects like The Blind Man Saw It All and Declaration.

Let it suffice to say that fans come to a Booth Brothers project with incredibly high expectations. Does A Tribute to the Songs of Bill and Gloria Gaither meet or surpass those expectations?

It all depends on how you look at it. This project does not have the exuberant progressive energy of The Blind Man Saw it All or the orchestrated majesty of Declaration. If you come to the project hoping for either direction—Gaither songs given a cutting-edge progressive treatment or a majestic orchestral treatment—you will walk away disappointed.

It seems they were aiming for an entirely different target. Yes, there are moments of brilliance, but it is brilliance of an completely different variety. The strongest moments on the album are both relatively subdued—”Through” and “Tell Me.” Both tracks are likely to go down in the annals of Southern Gospel lore as the definitive renditions, surpassing the previous benchmarks of the respective Gaither Vocal Band versions.”Through” is a lush masterpiece, a perfect capstone to the recording. The only moment on the album more exquisite than Melissa Brady’s guest solo on “Tell Me” is her duet with tenor Michael Booth on the “Like eagle’s wings” verse.

The two new songs are also worthy of mention; “I Played in the Band and Sang in the Choir” is a fun toe-tapper, while “Let the Healing Begin” is the strongest new Gaither composition since “A Picture of Grace.”

On first listen, the remaining eleven tracks may strike you as unremarkable. In point of fact, they do bear a surface resemblance to previous renditions. But dig a little deeper; it’s the subtle unison line here and the changed chord there that evince an understated (but very real) creativity.

This album isn’t the one you play during your morning workout. (That would be The Blind Man Saw it All.) It’s also not the one you play when you’re in the mood for a triumphant proclamation of the majesties of our God. (That would be Declaration.) If you’re looking for the next Declaration or Blind Man, you’re bound to walk away disappointed. This is the album you play in the quiet times—in the still of the night, in the valley, or at the close of a long day.

This, it seems, is the target for which the Booth Brothers were aiming. Many of the tracks are subdued, relaxing, and calming. The arrangements are so consistent that even the faster songs don’t seem out of place. Take one arrangement by itself, and it might not seem all that remarkable. But take each as a puzzle piece, and the bigger picture emerges. The arrangements share a sonic consistency that makes the project something to be experienced in its entirety.

Depending on what you’re looking for, this album is either an utter disappointment or a stroke of sheer genius. We think there is a place for albums for the quiet times in life, and we think this is the finest recorded in recent years. So we’ll take the latter interpretation and assign it five stars. 

3:1 Reviews offer three highlights of an album and one area that could have been improved.

1: Through the Night: The Perrys are at their best when they have a lyric that captures the stark contrast of the pain of the valleys of this life with the joy of deliverance—and a melody that leaves room for Joseph Habedank or (as here) Libbi Perry Stuffle to mix pathos and power. Whether or not you purchase the rest of the album, definitely get this song. 

2: When He Spoke: Joseph Habedank, a powerhouse lead singer, turns in his strongest performance of the album on “When He Spoke.” Bryan Walker also offers a strong powerhouse vocal before Libbi Perry Stuffle brings it home.

3: One Of These Mornings: Perhaps it’s not a monumental achievement on par with a “I Wish I Could’ve Been There” or even a “Damascus Road.” But it’s a solid, fun up-tempo song, the best on the project. It’s very sonically reminiscent of “Blue Skies Coming,” but with that song’s success, that’s far from a bad thing. 

:1: Song Selection: The vocal performances are spectacular. The arrangements are majestic. And the songs are . . . good. The only reason this wasn’t a five-star project, on par with a This is the Day, Look No Further, or Blue Skies Coming is that it could have used a few more spectacular songs.

Make no mistake, there’s not really a bad song on the whole project. The project is filled with good songs, and will not disappoint fans looking for a new dose of the encouragement and enthusiasm that always highlight a Perrys project.