Lead me on --- Amy Grant --- 1988 (A&M)
I said it in the review on Narnia, and I'll say it again: Christian rock is not my thing. I don't like to be preached to, and I don't want to be converted. I've seen too much horror and injustice in this world to believe that there's some all-powerful entity controlling it all. If there is, he/she/it has got some serious sorting out to do! But the thing about “Lead me on” by Amy Grant is that, when I bought the album I didn't
know that it was Christian rock, well pop really. To be fair to her, kind of like Narnia earlier this album is not replete with praise to God, prayers, and encouraging people to 'fess up their sins. And it comes across as a really good mainstream pop album, with just the odd touches of God and Christianity in there, if you know where to look. If you don't, or choose not to, they won't leap out at you, and for me, as a non-Christian, that's a good thing, as it doesn't spoil the album for me.
It's not going to rock your world, but it's nice easy-listening, and some tracks do actually pack a punch. It revs up with “1974” which, as you might imagine, is a fond look back to childhood and youth, with nice jangly electric and acoustic guitar, keyboards and Amy's gentle but powerful voice declaring
”We were young/ And none of us/ Knew quite what to say.” The first Christian influences are apparent in the lines
”Down upon our knees/ We had tasted holy wine.” Before I found out about her Christian leanings, I just took that to be a euphemism for the first love. Silly me. But it
could have been. Really. It could. Really.
It's a nice opener, if a little gentle, but that's put straight as the title track shows us Amy and her band can certainly rock out, after a fashion. With a slow lead-in on guitar and keys, it gets going with some funky guitar and well yes, okay, it's obviously a song of praise as she sings
”Lead me on, lead me on/ To the place where the river/ Runs into your keeping.” Doesn't prevent it from being a great song, by any means. Like I said, I have nothing against Christian songs, as long as they're not overly preachy, smug or trite. The songs on this album tick none of those boxes. Sure, you can envision this song being played at some Evangelical meeting, but equally you could see her performing it on stage at the likes of Giants' Stadium or the Hammersmith Odeon, or in smaller, more intimate venues. Nice guitar solo from Graham, sorry,
Gary Chapman.
Nice also to see that Amy writes or co-writes about ninety percent of the material on this album. As I've said before, I always feel it stands to the artiste if they are at least involved in some of the songwriting, otherwise you're just singing a bunch of songs someone else has written, and become, in effect, the instrument for someone else's vision, in some ways as much a tool as the guitar or keyboard in your band is. “Saved by love”, the first of four ballads on the album, is tender and personal, again the idea of being saved, but cleverly not necessarily by God, but by the love for her baby and her family, as Amy sings
”Laura loves her little family/ And she's the kind of woman/ Who loves them with her life.” It's a lovely little track, just namechecking God as the agency through which all this good stuff happens. Some really nice mandolin here, courtesy of Mark O'Connor, and some really effective Hammond from Benmont Tench.
“Faithless heart” is the other side of the scale, another ballad but a bitter one, as Amy tries to resist the pull of the Dark Side (I guess we'd have to be honest and say she's talking about Satan here, given her beliefs), who is trying to make her break her vows and start an affair, or perhaps only thinking about doing this. It's a stark song, carried mostly on picked guitar and soft percussion, with some nice keyboard backing. One of the better tracks then, “What about the love” is Amy at her angriest, screaming at the horrors and wrongs of the world, the capitalism and materialism that takes over our lives till we can barely hear
”Angels to the left and the right /Saying “What about the love?” One thing Amy does not shrink from is the dichotomies within the church, with the opening lines of this song being
”I went to see my sister/ Who was staying with a friend/ Who had turned into a preacher/ To save the world from sin/ He said 'First deny your body/ Then learn to submit/ Pray to be made worthy/ And tithe your ten percent.'”
It's a powerful song, where she speaks to her brother the stockbroker who tells her
”If you tell me where there's famine/ I can make you guarantees” and she wonders
”Is this all there is? / Power to the strong/” The moaning guitar in the song fits its tone perfectly, and at the end Amy with incredible self-bravery writes
”I looked into the mirror/ Proud as I could be/ And I saw my pointing finger/ Pointing back at me/ Saying who named you accusor?/ Who gave you the scales?/ I hung my head in sorrow/ I could almost feel the nails.” Powerful, honest, deep stuff.
That would have been my pick of the album, were it not for the next track, the superb understated grandeur and sorrow of the haunting “If these walls could speak”. Written by one Jimmy Webb, who has also penned such timeless classics as “By the time I get to Phoenix” and “MacArthur Park”, it's a piano-driven acoustic ballad which wonders what stories the walls of a house would tell if they had a voice. It's immensely moving, the moreso due to the simple melody, added only to by some truly gorgeous violin, again thanks to Mr. O'Connor, and its powerful, impassioned vocal, the simple voice of a woman regretting her choices, and knowing there is nothing she can do about it now. It ends on a beautiful, almost heartbreaking piano melody, and is without question the standout track on the album.
Unfortunately, as happens with many albums of any genre, there is a tipping point, and it's often just after the best track, and so it proves here. The rest of the album is not by any means mediocre, but in light of what has just gone before it's hard to imagine anything topping, or even equalling the supreme and simple beauty of “If these walls”, and indeed, nothing can. “All right” is jazz/funk with nice organ, and more than a hint of gospel, while “Wait for the healing” recalls somewhat the melody of the title track, but with a pretty damn fine violin solo at the end, verging on a hoe-down, I kid you not!
It's not until the closer, the ballad “Say once more” that there's anything to talk about really, but it's a great track to end the album. A simple, honest love song with nice, gentle guitar and restrained keyboards and the song fades out slowly, leaving behind the echoes of what has been a truly special album.
Without the Christian references --- and they're gentle, and understated without a doubt --- this is one great little pop album, showcasing a singer with a fine voice, great songwriting ability and a heart that's certainly in the right place. Amy knows what she believes, but doesn't force that belief on her listeners, so you can enjoy this album whether you agree with her faith or not. It's full of good pop songs, some truly exceptional ballads and would not look out of place on anyone's record shelf --- or, these days, on anyone's ipod, I guess!
TRACKLISTING
1. 1974
2. Lead me on
3. Shadows
4. Saved by love
5. Faithless heart
6. What about the love
7. If these walls could speak
8. All right
9. Sure enough
10. Wait for the healing
11. If you have to go away
12. Say once more