CD Review: HisSong - On The Way Up

Tracks:

1. On The Way Up The album opens up with the mid-tempo title track. This track sounds like a Mark Trammell Trio song, which is just fine with me! Tenor Adam Elrod has a very distinctive voice; the type that once you hear him singing, you know it's HisSong. 8/10

2. The Grave Can't Hold Me A mid-tempo, acoustic guitar-driven song that is an OK song, but didn't really jump out at me at first. The more I hear this song, the more I like it, though. Sounds sort of like an old Kingsmen song. 7/10

3. The Miracle Man A nice little tune that I find myself humming alot lately. I bet this goes over well in a live setting. 8/10

4. Out Of His Way The album's first truly slow song is a good one. All the vocalists sound top-notch, and the song finishes well. 8/10

5. Through Every Storm A ballad that (I think) features lead singer Dennis Humphries. Humphries' voice has a style that is a mixture of Josh Feemster and Garry Jones, to good effect. Nice orchestration and an awesome ending hooked me. 9/10

6. Our Highest Praise I had expected this song to be a slower one, but it is a song that has a CCM feel to it. Nice song, but nothing that jumped out at me. 6/10

7. Because Of The Blood Another slow song. I didn't really like this one, because it sounded too similar to other slow songs on this album. 6/10

8. Joy In My Heart Much to my enjoyment, the guys cranked out a "barn-burner" on this one! Had my hands clapping and feet stomping. The lyrics are somewhat simple, which is the only negative thing I can say about this song. 8/10

9. I Still Have It All HisSong's first radio single, and an awesome song written by Marty Funderburk. The tenor really shines near the end, and this song made it to #1 on the SoGospelNews.com charts for a reason! 9/10

10. The Things That Won't Be There An OK song, but for some reason reminded me of that novelty song that Mark Lowry, Stan Whitmire, Michael Lord, and Bill Gaither sang about on one of Mark's videos. That comparison kind of took the wind out of this song's sails. 7/10

11. That's When God Steps In A slow song that features the tenor. I could listen to this guy sing all day! He does a great job pulls off this song tremendously. 9/10

12. I Don't Regret The album closes with yet another slow one. A country-tinged sound, it features tenor Elrod again, but this song dragged a little too much for me. 6/10

Overall Rating: 6.9 This was my first opportunity to hear HisSong, and I liked what I heard. If this trio continues in this vein, I expect to hear great things in the future. This album isn't a must-have, but it's a nice CD for those that love a good trio.