Sounds like … timeless hymns (and a few originals) performed in Amy Grant's style of acoustic country/pop.
At a Glance … as one would expect of an Amy Grant album, this is a thoughtfully produced and skillfully performed recording that's sure to inspire many.
If there's one artist who needs little-if-any introduction here, it's Amy Grant, Christian music's most popular and successful pop artist. In an industry where many hope to sell at least 200,000 copies of a given album, 12 of Amy's albums have gone gold (sold in excess of 500,000). Among those, 9 have gone platinum (selling more than 1 million units). Three of those have gone on to sell more than 2 million — House of Love (1994), Home for Christmas (1992), and Heart in Motion (1991). 2002 marks the 25th anniversary of Amy Grant as a recording artist, so it certainly seems appropriate to call her new album Legacy. However, this isn't a retrospective of Amy's career thus far (a box set will serve that purpose later this year), nor is it a new pop album (which you also can expect within the next year). Instead, Legacy … Hymns & Faith serves as a musical expression of Amy's Christian upbringing — the songs that shaped her faith and her career as a Christian artist.
Legacy was co-produced by Amy, her friend and long-time producer Brown Bannister, and her husband, country artist Vince Gill, who offered a fresh set of ears to the creative process having not grown up listening to church music himself. This is a very Nashville-sounding album, blending together the two musical genres for which the city is best known — country and pop. The trio of producers assembled a team of top-notch studio musicians from the Nashville area to perform on Legacy, and as you would expect, the album sounds great. Rather than creating a simple album of straightforward hymn arrangements, Amy and company did a fine job of adding their own style to the project.
The opening cut, "This Is My Father's World," is acoustic pop with country undertones, highlighted by piano, B-3 organ, and a terrific acoustic guitar solo. It's a bit like Eric Clapton's "Change the World." The guitar work shines throughout album, especially the electric guitar solo in the country interpretation of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing." An instrumental acoustic guitar rendition of "Fields of Plenty" sets the stage for Amy's simple and sparse cover of "Be Still My Soul," and rhythmic acoustic guitars propel "Fairest Lord Jesus" beyond its typical lullaby feel. Amy begins "I Need Thee Every Hour" with gentle guitar accompaniment that suits the hymn's intimate plea, only to segue into bluesy southern gospel for "Nothing but the Blood," complete with a Memphis horn section and Vince singing a duet with her.
Not all of Legacy dwells in the country-pop genre. "Softly and Tenderly" is ethereal sounding, blending steel guitars with breathy keyboards and a tribal percussion line that brings to mind the modern worship song "Better Is One Day." Amy also pulls off a short but clever medley of three hymns ("What a Friend We Have in Jesus," "The Old Rugged Cross," and "How Great Thou Art"), seamlessly transitioning from one to another to create a single piece and a unifying message. Celtic fans will enjoy the lively version of "My Jesus I Love Thee," highlighted by whistle, fiddle, and mandolin. The album closes like the end of a grand worship service, with a closing prayer followed by a joyous Irish version of "Marching to Zion," complete with bagpipes....
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