The Singing Christians has a history that spans almost 25 years. The group originally formed in 1975 by Chris Rochester as an all male quartet called The Heavenbound Singers. The group saw many changes and eventually landed at their current configuration of Rochester, his wife Janice, and friend Jill Neave. The group also finally changed their name to The Singing Christians in the early 90s.
The Happy Side of Living features well known songs in the Southern Gospel circuit - such as "I Know I'm Going There," "Sky Full of Angels," "Boundless Love," "Four Days Late," and country-crossover hit "When I Get Where I'm Going."
It's apparent that The Singing Christians have been doing this a long time - as the recording features some of the brightest talents instrumentally, such as Jeremy Medkiff, Tony Creasman, Danny Crawford, and David Johnson, and the tracks all sound fantastic. However, the group could have benefited from some stronger and more unique arrangements to make these songs more their own. Also, their blend isn't the greatest at times (see "Hallelujah, I'm Going Home" or "Won't It Be Wonderful There") - a little more time fine-tuning these songs before recording them probably would have helped their sound a bit more.
The group also has a knack for picking songs that are just too big for them. Songs like "Sky Full of Angels," "Four Days Late," and "Look For Me" really call for amazing vocalists who are capable of making the song their own and not worrying about sounding like the original. Unfortunately, The Happy Christians' versions of these songs really fade in comparison to their originals.
Also - a little more details in the packaging would benefit the listener more - such as songwriters, group information, and producer credit. Overall, The Singing Christians' The Happy Side of Living is a nice enough recording from one of South Carolina's most popular regional talents.
Author: Chris D. Unthank
| Author's Website: http://southernspin.com
Written: 03/15/2009
| 
Category: CD Reviews
Comments: 2
RSS Feed
| (What's an RSS feed?)
|
Ads Sponsored by Southern Spin
BLESSINGS TO ALL --
IN HIS AMAZING GRACE BLESSINGS TO ALL --
Page 1 of 1 Comment Pages
