Title: "Revival"
Description: Dunaways
Chadley - January 22, 2008 07:18 PM (GMT)
Group Name: Dunaways
Website: www.dunawaymusic.com
Album Title: “Revival”
Song Titles:
1. Praise The Lord
2. It’s All About The Blood
3. Trial By Fire
4. Feel The Joy
5. Let’s Do It All Over Again
6. When Mama’s Prayers Are Gone
7. Call The Name
8. What God Can’t Do
9. The Ol’ Warriors Are Praying For Me
10. Revival Tonight
11. I Just Came To Talk With You Lord
The Dunaways began singing together as a family in 1993. The Lord blessed and allowed their ministry to develop into one with a national scope. Currently, the group consists of Randall Dunaway, his wife Tammy, their daughter Kanah, and Lawayne Rials (a distant cousin of Randy’s).
Recently, ministry demands have caused them to stop scheduling dates, but they have continued to put out new music. (Randall is a pastor, and the family owns a Christian bookstore.) “Revival” falls into that category. It’s a collection of songs from such writers as Joel Lindsey, Larry Petree, Dottie Rambo, and group member Tammy Dunaway. The album cover features a clear picture of the group, and they were nice enough to include the song lyrics on the inside of the cover.
Now, let’s take a look at each of the songs on the album.
The album opens with an up-tempo song called “Praise The Lord”. This is a song that will catch your attention immediately. The blend amongst the group members is very tight, which is to be expected in a family group. This easily became one of my favorite songs on this album. Next in line is a song that I first heard from Brian Free & Assurance on their “It’s So God” album. “It’s All About The Blood” is a medium-tempo ballad with a powerful message that the world definitely needs to hear. I have to admit to being a little bit spoiled by Brian Free & Assurance’s version, but the Dunaways’ version is very well done as well.
The tempo stays essentially the same for Song #3, “Trial By Fire”. This song is an uplifting song that will be a blessing to anyone who has ever gone through tough times in their life. The tempo then picks up for the fourth song. “Feel The Joy” will get your toe tapping, and the vocal arrangement is fun to listen to. This song also makes my favorites list from this album. This leads into a slower, acoustic-style ballad called “Let’s Do It All Over Again”. It’s nice to hear the stringed instruments in the arrangement of this song. It gives it a slow bluegrass feel.
The sixth song is another medium-tempo, ballad-style song called “When Mama’s Prayers Are Gone”. This is a song meant to tug at the heartstrings of the listener. The next song is an up-tempo song called “Call The Name”. This is another bluegrass-style song with a nice instrumental interlude in the middle. This is easily one of my favorites from this album. Next in line is a medium-tempo song called “What God Can’t Do”. I have to wonder if some people will have a problem with the way this song’s lyrics are worded, but I think it will just take some deeper thinking on their part to really catch what the song is saying.
Song #9 is a slower ballad called “The Ol’ Warriors Are Praying For Me”. I think that this song actually has some of the smoothest vocals and harmonies of all the songs on this album. Song #10 is another up-tempo song called “Revival Tonight”. It has a hard-driving sound that places it firmly on my favorites list from this album. The album closes with another song that will be familiar to many fans of Southern Gospel Music. “I Just Came To Talk With You Lord” is a slow song with a powerful message about prayer. The album actually has a 12th track- it’s a testimony meant to be added onto the final song. I don’t want to discourage testimonies, but I think that this one would have been better left off of the album and used only in concerts. It just seems like an extraneous add-on to an already powerful song.
I had not had much of an opportunity before now to listen to the Dunaways’ music, but I can truly say that it was an enjoyable experience. The blend of the family members is very tight and pleasant to listen to, and their lead singer has a strong, solid voice. I like the fact that they used different vocal arrangements at times for variety. I do admit that I would have liked at least one more up-tempo song on the album to replace one of the medium-tempo songs. Overall, I would give this album a rating of 8 out of a possible 10 microphones!
Favorites: “Praise The Lord”, “Feel The Joy”, “Call The Name”, and “Revival Tonight”