For her fourth album, rock ‘n’ roll queen Ashley Cleveland went
\nout on a limb – again. She put together an album of live songs, but
\nnot a live album.<\/p>\n
These songs were all recorded live, but at various times over
\nthe years. Included are four new songs – also done live – and a
\ncover of the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter”… yep, live.<\/p>\n
Cleveland is probably the only “Christian” artist who could
\ninclude a Rolling Stones song on her album and get away with it.
\nBut, she’s always disregarded industry boundaries. Does she play
\nChristian music or is she a Christian who plays music?<\/p>\n
Yes. To both, of course.<\/p>\n
Her albums have songs on them that are inherently Christian (she
\nloves the hymns) and inherently of the world (“Skin Tight” from
\n1993’s
\nBus Named Desire<\/i>) – and she applies her considerable vocal
\nchops to each type with absolute ferocity. Cleveland sings as if
\nshe’s singing each song for the last time and she’s going to make
\nit pay.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nYou Are There<\/i> is a gem from start to finish. With her
\nhusband Kenny Greenberg, Cleveland and band come out on top on
\nevery song. There’s only one complaint with this album: it’s just
\nnot long enough.<\/p>\n
Vocally and musically, the highlight is the title tune from her
\n1991 debut album,
\nBig Town<\/i>. Rolling Stone magazine called that debut disc “one
\nof the best overlooked” albums of the year and if this version is
\nany indication, they were right.<\/p>\n
Paired with a few seconds of Andre Crouch’s “Soon And Very
\nSoon,” “Big Town” quite simply just rocks. The song, written by
\nCleveland, is probably the closest thing to an autobiography she’ll
\never write:<\/p>\n
I gave a few years to fantasy and a few more to drugs and
\ndrinking\/I’ll give what’s left to some honesty in exchange for some
\nwishful thinking\/ I hope to see you in the big town\/Don’t lose
\nsight of me ’til I get there.<\/p>\n
The song is written to God and is an honest woman’s account of
\nher life. No, it hasn’t been perfect — but she knows whose she is
\nand where her life’s headed.<\/p>\n
There’s a big sky between you and me but your word is good to
\nthe letter\/You sent some joy my way and a little peace\/And a
\npromise that it only gets better.<\/p>\n
Cleveland’s gravelly “take-no-prisoners” alto reminds me of what
\nKim Carnes could have been if she’d gone rock and roll instead of
\nadult contemporary \/country pabulum.<\/p>\n
The title song, originally on her 1995
\nLessons Of Love<\/i> project (which won her a Grammy award for
\nBest Rock Gospel album), is a 7-minute guitar and vocal bonanza.
\nCo-written with Greenberg, this song is her interpretation of Psalm
\n139:<\/p>\n
Where I cannot lift my eyes, You are there\/Where I cannot find
\nmy way, You are there\/Where I cannot hold my tongue, You are
\nthere\/Where I have no prayer, You are there.<\/p>\n
Phil Madeira plays some great keyboards and B-3 on this song,
\nespecially during the instrumental break. But, it’s when Cleveland
\ndrops the volume on the third verse to barely more than a whisper
\nthat brings the listener in – then at just the right place the
\nvolume spikes and she’s rocking again.<\/p>\n
Of the new songs, “Lucky Never Had It So Good” and “You Don’t
\nHave To Take This From Me” are the standouts and, while it’s great,
\n“Gimme Shelter” is the weakest.<\/p>\n
“You Don’t Have To…”, which Cleveland co-wrote with Pam Tillis
\n(and Tillis included on a recent album) is just Cleveland and her
\nacoustic guitar. It’s a bare bones, stripped down, song about a
\nwoman tired of a man who won’t accept her faithful love:<\/p>\n
There are those that are unfit for commitment\/Though they swear
\ntheir love on bended knee\/And there are those of us who think we
\ncan fix them\/But you don’t have to take that from me.<\/p>\n
Cleveland knows what a good song wants: dedication, belief,
\nemotion, talent and a total lack of fear. She delivers in aces on
\nevery count.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nYou Are There<\/i> is nominated for a Grammy again in the Best
\nRock Gospel category. It certainly deserves to win, but being a
\nlive album and being up against the serious competition it is (Big
\nTent Revival’s
\nAmplifier<\/i>, Petra’s
\nGod Fixation<\/i>, Audio Adrenaline’s
\nSome Kind Of Zombie<\/i>, and Sixpence None The Richer’s
\nself-titled) I don’t look for it to win – but it sure would restore
\nmy faith in the awards system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":27348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7272],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-38713","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-ashley-cleveland","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38713"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}