Group Name: Greater Vision
Website: www.greatervisionmusic.com
Album Title: “Everyday People”
Song Titles:
1. It Means Just What It Says
2. God Will Pass By
3. Peace Like A River
4. The First And The Last
5. I Just Came To Talk With You Lord
6. Above And Beyond
7. You Can
8. As I Am
9. Who Else Do You Need?
10. Plain Ole Everyday People
11. Too Much To Gain To Lose

In 1990, Gerald Wolfe (formerly of the Cathedral Quartet) put together a trio that is, today, considered one of the top groups in Southern Gospel music. Greater Vision is the most-awarded trio in the history of Southern Gospel music, having been named “Trio Of The Year” by the Singing News and the SGMA at least once as well as having received numerous awards for “Song Of The Year”, “Album Of The Year”, etc. In an industry where personnel changes have become quite common, the group’s lineup has been stable for a number of years now. Founder and lead singer Gerald Wolfe has won the award for “Favorite Male Vocalist” 6 times, tenor singer Jason Waldroup has been the recipient for “Favorite Young Artist” and “Favorite Tenor” awards, and baritone Rodney Griffin is an 8-time recipient of the “Songwriter Of The Year” award.

“Everyday People” is Greater Vision’s newest album. It is set to be released in stores on 9/11/2007. This is sort of a “back to the roots” recording. It is produced by Gerald Wolfe, and 8 of the 11 songs are written by baritone Rodney Griffin. I’ll give them credit for one of the nicest album covers this year. It consists of a bright and colorful picture of Jason, Gerald, and Rodney sitting down together for what looks like breakfast.

Now, let’s take a look at each of the songs on the album.

The album starts off with the uptempo “It Means Just What It Says”. This is the album’s first radio release, and I think that it will do very well. Most of the song features the group singing together, but Gerald does have a solo on the second verse. I would count this as one of my favorites from this album. Next up is a medium-tempo song entitled “God Will Pass By”. Fans of Gerald Wolfe know that he has a very distinctive style of singing, and it seems to fit this song perfectly. Again, I count this as one of my favorites.

The tempo slows down for the third song, “Peace Like A River”. Here we find the group concentrating on their blend and harmony, and it is just what you’d expect- the classic “Greater Vision sound”. This brings us to the fourth song, another upbeat number entitled “The First And The Last”. I really like the words to this song, and I think that the group should definitely consider making this their second radio release from this album. This song also makes my list of favorites.

Song #5 is a slow, easy song entitled, “I Just Came To Talk With You Lord”. The group has a nice, smooth sound here that is pleasant to listen to. The sixth song is a medium-tempo number called “Above And Beyond”. This is another song with strong lyrics that might be good as a radio release. The tempo slows back down for the seventh song. “You Can” features Jason on the lead and solo parts. He’s not the highest tenor in Southern Gospel by any means, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a smoother tenor in his range.

The eighth song is called “As I Am”. This is an uptempo song with a message that everyone needs to hear and that needs to be emphasized more often. That alone is enough to put this song on my list of favorites, but the arrangement of the song and the group’s rendition of it are also compelling factors in its favor. Song #9 is a ballad entitled “Who Else Do You Need”. In the past, songs like this seem to have been one of the group’s strengths, and it has not changed here.

Song #10 was, honestly, a disappointment for me. “Plain Ole Everyday People” is a light, medium-tempo song that I heard the Kingdom Heirs perform on their “Going On With The Song” album. Their rendition of it had a “pop” to it that Greater Vision’s version is somehow missing. Musically, the blend and harmonies are fine. However, compared to the Kingdom Heirs’ version, it kind of falls a bit flat. This is why I think it’s a very risky move to record a song that was recently done by another well-known group. You’re inviting comparisons that you may not want.

The album ends with another slow ballad entitled, “Too Much To Gain To Lose”. Again, it’s “classic Greater Vision” in both style and sound, and it is a fitting end to this album.

One thing that I notice about many of Greater Vision’s albums is that they are a bit heavy on slower, ballad-style songs. I know that this is one of their strengths, but I think that 5 slow songs out of 11 is maybe a bit much. I would personally have replaced one of them with a medium-tempo or uptempo song. However, the songs were arranged in an order that helped the album flow pretty smoothly. You’ll also notice that I mentioned the “classic Greater Vision sound” a couple of times. Fans of the group know that their sound and blend has a certain tightness to it, but yet it’s not quite as tight as some other groups. There were one or two times on the album where the pronunciations of their words weren’t quite together. Also, the group tends to push Jason Waldroup to the very tip of his range a lot. Sometimes he sounds as though he’s straining a bit to reach his notes. However, this is the sound that Greater Vision has built their success upon, and I think that this album will go over well with their fans. It has the same, familiar sound that people have come to expect from the group.

In closing, it was my privilege to review this album. I would like to thank Greater Vision and the folks at Daywind Music for the opportunity. Overall, I think that this album deserves a rating of 7 out of a possible 10 microphones!

Personal Favorites: “It Means Just What It Says”, “God Will Pass By”, “The First And The Last”, and “As I Am”

If you like the "old" Greater Vision (before all the orchestration) this album's for you. "I Just Came to Talk with You Lord" has a wonderful message. It's my daughter's favorite because it's got just a little bit of a jazz feel to it.