Title: Unbounded Love
Description: Woody & Vonnie Wright
Chadley - May 15, 2007 12:09 AM (GMT)
Artists’ Names: Woody & Vonnie Wright
Website: www.woodywright.net
Album Title: “Unbounded Love”
Song Titles:
1. Love Beats All I’ve Ever Seen
2. The Things I Might Have Been
3. I Am The Lord’s I Know
4. We’re Gonna Hold On
5. You And Me
6. Storms Never Last
7. I Heard The Bluebird Sing
8. The Love Of God
9. They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love
10. Slow Boat To Freedom
“Unbounded Love is a duo recording by Woody and his lovely wife Vonnie. This husband and wife CD features all acoustic instruments played by Allison Krauss and Union Station bassist Barry Bales, dobro virtuoso Rob Ickes, former Don Williams guitarist Biff Watson and studio super players, Aubrey Haynie, Eddie Bayers, Jeff Taylor and more. You'll hear classic remakes, favorite hymns and new Woody Wright original compositions.” This is the description of Woody Wright’s newest album straight from his website, and it nicely sums up exactly what you’ll get on this album. I see this as somewhat of a “niche” album in that all of the songs have something to do with the subject of love. These songs and arrangements would be appropriate for any wedding or other similar occasion, but each song can also stand alone.
The cover of the album features a romantic scene of Woody and his wife on the beach with the tide gently washing in behind them. They have drawn the words, “Unbounded Love” in the sand in front of them, and a small bouquet of flowers sits below these words. As I looked inside the cover, I was happy to see that the song lyrics had been included.
Now, let’s take a look at each of the songs on the album.
“Love Beats All I’ve Ever Seen” starts the album off with an upbeat bluegrass feel. Let me say something here that applies to the entire album: it is very nice to hear an album by a duet that does not stack in a third part. It’s very refreshing to my ears, and it’s also something that you don’t see much of these days. The tempo slows down and the arrangement smoothes out for the second song, “The Things I Might Have Been”.
The tempo stays the same for Song #3, “I Am The Lord’s I Know”. This is a very beautiful song done with just acoustic guitar in the background. Next comes one of my favorite songs on the album, the medium-tempo “We’re Gonna Hold On”. The fifth song is a slower, ballad-style song called “You And Me”. This song is a bit different in that Vonnie doesn’t join Woody on this song at all- he does the entire song solo.
The tempo speeds back up to medium with Song #6, “Storms Never Last”. Vonnie is back here, and she takes the lead vocals while Woody sings the harmony. Immediately following is another upbeat bluegrass-style song called “I Heard The Bluebird Sing”. This is definitely another of my favorite songs on this album. This leads very well into the eighth song, a medium-tempo number called “The Love Of God”. The smooth arrangement of this song fits the Wrights’ voices perfectly.
Song #9 is a very familiar one to most people. Woody and Vonnie tackle “They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love”, and they do it very well. The album ends with a song that Woody himself wrote. It’s a ballad entitled “Slow Boat To Freedom”. Of all the songs on this album, none would have closed things out better than this one. Once again, Woody does this song by himself.
All in all, this was a good album. Like I said, having all of the songs so obviously following the same theme makes this sort of a “niche” recording, but it works nevertheless. Those of you who have heard Woody sing know that his voice is reminiscent of Randy Travis, only in a higher register. Vonnie has a smooth, easy-to-listen-to voice. I think the strongest arrangements on this album have her singing the lead with Woody doing the harmony parts. There was a good mix of tempos and styles, and the arrangements of the songs were tastefully done. I will admit, though, that I would have liked to hear one song where Vonnie does a solo all the way through.
In closing, I would like to thank Woody and Vonnie for the opportunity to review this album. I think these songs will be a blessing to many people. Overall, I think that this album deserves a rating of 3 1/2 out of a possible 5 microphones!
Personal Favorites: “I Am The Lord’s I Know”, “We’re Gonna Hold On”, “I Heard The Bluebird Sing”, and “They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love”