With its ninth studio release, Another Time, Another Place, premier vocal group Avalon accomplishes two very important things. First it pays homage to various landmark faith-driven songs from the last three decades (the 70’s, 80’s and the 90’s) and second we are introduced to Avalon’s newest member Jeremi Richardson.
A comparable bookend to 2006’s Faith: A Hymns Collection; Another Time, Another Place allows Avalon to bring back songs that defined Christian Music. With their signature sound, they tackle such classics as “El Shaddai”, “For the Sake of the Call”, “Basics of Life”, “God is in Control” and many more. As has been the norm as of late, several artists have scored hits by recording cover albums of songs first popularized in the 40’s (Rod Stewart), 50’s, 60’s and 70’s (Barry Manilow) or capturing a “sound” as Michael McDonald did with his Motown Albums. It is nice to see Christian Music get its due.
Entering both a new and yet familiar phase in its 12 year career, Avalon is the premier vocal group in Christian Music having achieved 2 Gold records, an American Music Award, multiple Dove Awards, and over 3 million records sold. The new line-up of Avalon features founding member Janna Long, Greg Long, Melissa Greene and Jeremi Richardson who replaces original member Jody McBrayer who left in 2007. One of the elite singing groups in contemporary Christian circles today and having survived members coming and going, Avalon still offers its fans and critics alike the vocal efficiency and personalized styling’s that have been its main stay.
”These are songs that first made us want to do what we’re doing today,” says Greg Long about their take on the works of Amy Grant (“Thy Word,” “El Shaddai”), Michael W. Smith (“Place in This World”), Steven Curtis Chapman (“For the Sake of the Call”), and others. Melissa Greene remembers singing “The Basics of Life” (4Him) during her high school days and taking her first solo on “Friend of a Wounded Heart” (Wayne Watson). While Another Time, Another Place focuses most on music that pre-dates Avalon’s existence, the group does cover “People Get Ready . . . Jesus Is Comin,” the 1996 hit by Crystal Lewis.
Set for a February 26, 2008 release date on Sparrow Records, Another Time, Another Place also features the Sandi Patty song, title track and radio single, “Another Time, Another Place”. Says Janna, “This was and is such a beautiful song about the hope of glory we have in Christ. To know that this broken world we live in is not the end for us as believers but merely a ‘passing through’ is very comforting.” Another excellent addition to the album is the Avalon fan favorite, “Testify to Love”, specially re-recorded for this project. Janna concludes, “We went into the studio and discovered just how well-written these songs were and how talented the original artists really are. These songs are timeless.”
Paying tribute to an inspiring past while rediscovering the music’s relevance today is a practice that feeds artists and audiences alike, let’s hope Another Time, Another Place is only the beginning of a smorgasbord.
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