Producer: Wayne Haun, Scotty Inman, Kris Krunk
Record Label: StowTown Records
Website: www.triumphantquartet.com
Triumphant Quartet is one of the most awarded groups in Southern Gospel Music, taking home Favorite Quartet award 13 times! They have also taken the award for Favorite Album 6 times and have taken home the Favorite Song award 7 times. Not to mention the numerous individual awards they have won as well and the numerous #1 songs and other charting singles. They have accomplished a lot of ground in the 20 years they have been in existence. Over the last 10 years or so, they have worked very hard at stretching themselves musically, and this latest release continues that stretch as they have put together an eclectic recording filled with hymns, praise tunes and CCM covers that is sure to resonate with their fans from all walks of life.
The recording starts off with a really nice rendition of the Chris Tomlin classic, “AMAZING GRACE (MY CHAINS ARE GONE)”, which features Eric, Scott and David. The song is a more laid-back rendition and is a nice familiar song to start off the recording, before David steps up to deliver a very meaningful performance on the song, “MERCY”, a popular tune from the Elevation Worship repertoire. This is a highlight of the recording and is a wonderful testimony song, “I’m alive to tell the story how I’ve overcome, it’s His goodness and mercy and the power of the blood…”. I easily see this being released to radio and it should do very well for the group.
Picking up the tempo slightly, Scott takes the lead on the Zach Williams hit, “LESS LIKE ME”, which fits Triumphant Quartet like a glove. Stylistically, the song falls right in line with other CCM crossover hits TQ has recorded recently, such as “Eye of the Storm”, “Chain Breaker”, etc. and the song will no doubt be a fan favorite.
One of the true CCM classics from the 80’s is the NewSong tune, “ARISE MY LOVE”, and TQ took to task to make this song their own as they did a superb job reviving this power ballad, and it recalls other CCM power ballads the group has previously done such as “We Believe” and “We Will Remember”.
The mood then shifts to a more softer, acoustic feel as Scott does a great job on the classic hymn, “MY JESUS, I LOVE THEE”. Accented by a string section, it’s a beautiful and soothing rendition of the song before Clayton takes the lead on the popular worship tune, “EVIDENCE”.
Scott steps up next to sing the first verse of one of my personal favorite hymns, “IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL”. As the song builds with intensity, Clayton and David each take a verse as the song reaches it’s climactic proclamation…”It is well with my soul!” The story behind the song is one of the most poignant stories of faith and perseverance, and the guys do a phenomenal job on the song.
Clayton also does a great job the Bethel Music (Cory Asbury) tune, “HOMECOMING”. I will admit, I was unfamiliar with this song and TQ does a really great job adapting this uniquely written tune about God’s mercy and grace to SG audiences, before the tempo picks up a bit for the banjo infused, “MY JESUS”. Already having made its way into SG circles via the LeFevre Quartet, TQ does a really good job with their version, which features David.
Slowing the pace down and once again featuring a more acoustic feel with string accents, the classic, “GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS” is next before the tempo picks up once more for the TobyMac hit, “HELP IS ON THE WAY (MAYBE MIDNIGHT)”. Featuring an excellent delivery by Eric, the song’s reassuring message is fun to listen to and sing along with; it will no doubt go over well in concert!
“HOW GREAT THOU ART” is given a very similar treatment as “Great is Thy Faithfulness” and “My Jesus, I Love Thee”, and the guys do a tremendous on this more subdued rendition of this classic hymn, which really shows off some really nice harmony by the guys, before the recording closes out with a cover of Kari Jobe’s, “THE BLESSING”, where the group is joined by Karen Peck-Gooch. Eric is one of the few bass singers who does a tremendous job delivering those slower, heartfelt tunes and this is one of his best performances and closes out the recording perfectly.
While there are aspects of this recording I truly enjoy and it is an excellent representation of songs that fall into the hymns and worship genre, I feel there are too many songs with similar tempos and textures, and it just doesn’t offer me a lot of variety. I realize my opinion may be slightly jaded because I am not a huge fan of a lot of the worship music that is out there today, but if I can find a lot to like about this recording, so can the average traditional SG listener…so my advice to everyone is to pick this up and listen to it. There truly are a lot of aspects of this recording I really did enjoy from a creative point of view, and also from a worship point of view. It may not rank as my absolutely favorite TQ recording, but it’s still a great piece of work.
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