The past three years have been some of the busiest and in some ways, most difficult in the history of Point of Grace. Several of the women have given birth to new kids. Founding group member, Terry left to devote more time to her family and Leigh stepped in to fill the void. With such a tumultuous time, one would expect the group to offer up a safe album that sticks to the Point of Grace formula for success. After all, this is a group that has had 24 consecutive #1 singles and a great deal of touring success. Those who listen to this new CD will actually be surprised to find the women step into some new territory.
It is obvious from the first song that this is not the same Point of Grace that listeners have grown used to. While they are still a pop group there is more of an aggressive sound than this group has ever experienced, including more guitars. Another big difference is the fact that the trademark Point of Grace harmonies aren't as big a part of this album as they have been on past albums. Unfortunately, this results in a sound that is more Avalon and other pop CCM groups than trademark Point of Grace. The final difference between this CD and former CDs by these ladies is the fact that on this CD different women take lead vocals on different songs, with the exception of two songs where the ladies share lead vocals. Some songs may feature Denise on lead vocals, others may feature Shelley, and still others may feature one of the other ladies or a combination of a few of them on lead vocals.
One of the strengths of this CD is the wonderfully written lyrics, which have been written by some of the best writers that Word Records could find, including Matthew West and Scott Krippayne. Unfortunately, one of this project's greatest strengths could also be considered one of its weaknesses since lyrically any of these songs could have been sung by any number of groups or artists; none of the songs lyrically are definitively Point of Grace. This CD also features some producers that are not typically attached to a Point of Grace project, including Wayne Kirkpatrick, David Zaffro, and Brent Bourgeois.
One of the big questions that fans of the group have is how well does the new girl, Leigh, fit in with the Point of Grace sound? Quite well, actually. She does lead vocals on the seventh track, which gives listeners a chance to hear her for the first time, and she shares lead vocals with one of the other girls on tracks 6, 9, and 10.
The best tracks on the CD are the first track which sets the stage for the rest of the CD; the tenth track, which features trademark Point of Grace harmonies, and the twelfth track which is most reminiscent of the Point of Grace sound that most will remember. Some will scratch their heads at the inclusion of a reading from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.
Die hard fans of the group would stand by them if they adopted a heavy metal sound, so they obviously will stand by the ladies of POG with a new, more aggressive sound. Some others may be more turned on to the group with their new sound. Unfortunately many others may find little difference between them and Avalon and many other groups in CCM today and decide that this CD just isn't up to snuff.
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