(I had started another blog to review books and CDs on, and have never done much with it. I am transporting those to here, so the most of the posts posted today have are old. I want to close the other blog, but wanted to keep the posts.)
I would say Jim & Melissa Brady have been busy lately. It wasn't all that long ago that there was a new Booth Brothers CD, then Jim's solo CD and this CD just came out this month. Appropriately titled, Hymns & Spiritual Songs, the CD has 5 songs I would classify as hymns, and 6 that would fall into the spiritual songs category. The song selection is great for this CD, most of them being favorites of mine, and Jim & Melissa do a tremendous job on the songs. All back-up vocals are done by them, and the end result is a CD of mostly famliar songs that is worth listening to.
"Wondferful Words of Life" starts out. Melissa takes the lead on this hymn. The arrangement is beautiful and simple, and a great way to start out the CD.
The Andrae Crouch song "My Tribute (To God Be The Glory" seems a little slower than I remember, but they pull it off well. I don't think I have this song anywhere on a CD, so it was a nice addition to my music library.
Jim takes the lead on "I'll Fly Away", and they really get up and go with it, especially on the last verse. Lots of guitars on this, and a very rousing version of a great Gospel song.
"The Greatest Wonder" is one of the two new songs on the CD, and is from the pen of Jim & Melissa. This slow song, done without any drums, is a beautiful song that talks about the greatest wonder is a sinner being redeemed.
One of my favorite hymns that I rarely hear - I don't think it is in our church hymnal, is "In The Sweet By & By". This recording has a nice "bouncy" feel to it. The Bradys blend well on the first verse, leaving Jim to solo the second. Possibly the best I have ever heard this song done.
Among my top all time favorite songs is "He Looked Beyond My Fault", most likely Dottie Rambo's best song she penned. Melissa takes the lead and shows how capable of a singer she is. They do an awesome job on this great classic.
Next up they pick up another Andrae Crouch song, "Soon and Very Soon", and really take off on it. You could almost imagine a black choir singing along. With their own back-up, the song takes on quite that soulful sound. They include on of the verses which is not heard very often. I really like how they did the song, but it isn't something you'd want to try in a very conservative church. :-)
"Cast All Your Care" is a simple and slow song written and sung by Melissa. The song is simply about casting all our cares on Jesus. Pretty song.
Melissa takes the lead on "Leaning On the Everlasting Arms", another favorite of mine. The song has the bouncy feel it should, and they sing it great.
"At the Cross" is sung a little slower than I like, but they still do well on this great hymn of the church.
I normally don't care to hear songs done with just the piano. I like a lot of instrumentation, but they close the CD off with Jim doing a solo on one of the greatest hymns ever written: "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" done mostly with just the piano for accompaniment, and an acoustic guitar filling in some chords here and there for the second and third verses. He sings it simply, and well. Even with just the 2 instruments, it is one of the best done songs on the CD.
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