Title: "Marching"
Description: Daryl Williams Trio
Chadley - August 11, 2007 10:41 PM (GMT)
Group Name: Daryl Williams Trio
Website: darylwilliamstrio.net
Album Title: “Marching”
Song Titles:
1. When The Saints
2. I’ve Come Here To Tell You
3. Between Two Thieves
4. A Homesick Angel
5. That’s Why We Cry Holy
6. Ready For Wings
7. When God Has Another Plan
8. I Don’t Sail Alone
9. Why Trouble The Master
10. His Hand On Me
Based out of Nashville, TN, the Daryl Williams Trio has been singing together for some time now. After spending time singing with both the Blackwood Brothers and the Speer Family, Daryl Williams felt led to start his own group. He is an accomplished songwriter, and was inducted into the GMA Hall Of Fame in 1998 as a member of the Speer family. Along with Daryl, the trio consists of his wife, Karen, and Shannon Knight.
“Marching” is the group’s latest studio project, and it’s a collection of songs written by Daryl. The cover of the album is nice and clearly laid out, consisting of a picture of each group member sandwiched in between the group name and the album name. Inside the cover, I was pleased to find that the lyrics to the songs had been included.
Now, let’s take a look at each of the songs on the album.
A jazzed-up take on the classic “When The Saints” opens the album. Daryl takes the lead throughout the entire song, and he has a strong lead/tenor sound that is pleasant to listen to. This leads into the second song, an up-tempo number called “I’ve Come Here To Tell You”. Karen has the lead and solo vocals here, and she has a powerful second-soprano voice that she uses with confidence.
Song #3 is one that I first heard recorded by the Journeymen Quartet. “Between Two Thieves” has a strong and powerful message. Shannon is featured here, and has a high baritone range with a good bit of vibrato in his voice. This has always been one of my favorite songs since I first heard the Journeymen sing it, and I must admit that I miss their particular arrangement of it. They sang the chorus after each verse, whereas the Daryl Williams Trio goes straight into the second verse after the first verse before ever singing the chorus. Immediately following this song is the group’s current radio single, “A Homesick Angel”. This is an up-tempo song that I think will do well at radio.
Song #5 is, by far, my favorite song on this album. It’s a powerful anthem entitled “That’s Why We Cry Holy”. This is a song that focuses on the wonder and majesty of our Lord and makes you want to just fall on your face in worship. This should, in my humble opinion, be the next song the group releases to radio. Immediately following is the sixth song, an up-tempo number called “Ready For Wings”. The background music has some nice piano and harmonica licks that make the song fun to listen to. At the end of the song, we are treated to another turnaround of the chorus and ending.
The tempo slows down on the next song, a ballad entitled “When God Has Another Plan”. The light acoustic accompaniment, coupled with the strong message of the song, make this another favorite of mine. Song #8 is another up-tempo song entitled “I Don’t Sail Alone”. This song employs some more traditional quartet-style harmonies that sound quite good coming from a mixed trio. This leads into another power ballad entitled “Why Trouble The Master”. I think that this is one that will be familiar to many listeners, and it ranks as one of my favorites from this album.
The album closes out on an up-tempo note. “His Hand On Me” has a progressive feel to it, and it is the last one from this album to make my list of favorites.
This album was my introduction to the Daryl Williams Trio, and I came away with a favorable impression. Daryl truly is a gifted songwriter, as evidenced by the clear and powerful messages contained within his songs. The group sings with obvious enthusiasm, and their blend is well-established. However, I think that the album could benefit from a few things as well. First of all, the song types could be categorized as one of two extremes: up-tempo or slow ballad. There were 6 up-tempo songs and 4 slow ballads, and I would have liked to have seen at least one song in each of those categories replaced with medium-tempo songs. Also, due to the excessive amount of stacks, the group sounded like they were singing with a choir on most of the songs. I would prefer to hear more of just the group itself. Still, this was by no means a bad project, and I definitely received a blessing from having listened to it. It will find its way into my CD player often in the future, and I’ll have to be sure to check out the group’s older recordings. Overall, I would give this album a rating of 8 out of a possible 10 microphones!
Personal Favorites: “That’s Why We Cry Holy”, “When God Has Another Plan”, “Why Trouble The Master” and “His Hand On Me”