Legacy Five - "God's Been Good"

Before I go into a song-by-song review, I must say a few things up front about the God's Been Good project overall. From the first listen, something just seemed a little off about the production and sound; the music mix is very loud and somewhat muffled, and the voices are stacked a little too much for my liking. To this day, my favorite L5 album is the Heroes Of The Faith project, their only mainstream album to date to be produced by Lari Goss (Goss also had a hand in their first Heritage recording). The reason for this is that it is (in my opinion) the best-sounding project overall from Legacy Five to date, and is also the standard by which I go by when listening to other L5 projects. That's not to say that the songs can't (or don't) stand on their own feet (see individual reviews below), but as the saying goes, you can take a great song and bad production and still make a mediocre album, but you can't take a mediocre song and great production and make a great album.... As a result, I am going to do my best to overlook what I feel to be inferior production and focus on the merit of each song.

So with all that said, let's start the analysis!!

In A Million Years - This is an uptempo, "countrified" tune from the pen of Woody Wright (one of the best country-gospel writers today, if you ask me). Scott Fowler's lead singing seems to play against the style somewhat, however, given his more classical/formal leanings as opposed to the needed twang to pull this off. When the lead shifts to Frank Seamans, it comes across a little better. I like the false ending, but without a fade at the end, the encore just feels redundant.

The Moment I Get Up There - A cute hook and swing-style syncopation make this a catchy tune that will stick in your head. The verses also are creatively structured so that the first one, echoing "down here" gives Glenn Dustin some room to move down the scale, and the second verse ("up there") works its way up the spectrum, trading lines from baritone, lead, and tenor. A good choice for a single.

Goin' Home Day - A bluesy feature for tenor Frank Seamans. In my opinion, Frank is probably the clearest (and most stable) tenor the group has had yet. I'm not a huge fan of his particular sound, but he does sound much more solid on the higher notes than his predecessors.

Hello After Goodbye - When Legacy Five first formed, they spent a great deal of their performances honoring Scott Fowler and Roger Bennett's time with the Cathedrals. Roger even wrote a tribute to the late Glen Payne, which became the basis for their "Heroes Of The Faith" project. When Roger passed away, it was a given that he would also receive a tribute in a similar fashion. Jim Brady (of the Booth Brothers) wrote this song following Roger's funeral, and it is a fitting send-off for one of the founders of the group. On a side note, while "Heroes Of The Faith" was very personal, "Hello After Goodbye" is more open, leaving plenty of room for others to use this song for funerals (which I anticipate will happen quite a bit)....

Every Morning - A generic SG song, nothing really spectacular here. You can really hear the more mechanical style of singing on this song, with slightly awkward vowel sounding ("every morneeng," "give Him gloree"). Granted, it's better than hearing "glor-ay," but the "ee" sound is a little too deliberate for my liking, almost as if they're reaching for the rhyme.

God Will Go - The intro to this song is a little too abrupt. It comes in on a off-beat, but sounds like it just started out of nowhere. This song kinda reminds me of another L5 track, "Freedom," with the horns and medium-uptempo feel. The only real complaint I have on this song is the lack of fuller instrumentation. I know that electric guitars are still somewhat taboo (even now) in SG, but it would've been nice to hear. The track sounds almost incomplete without them.

What Faith Does - This is the closest to an "epic ballad" the album comes. It reminds me of "Saved Saved" from the Cathedrals' Faithful album. Faster 3/4 with orchestration and wide dynamics.

Heavenly Signs - A convention-style song, sounding like it was pulled directly from a Stamps-Baxter songbook. Each singer gets a stab at a solo line, and for some reason Scott Fowler sounds much more relaxed on this song than he does on the rest of the project.

Roll On - Another swing-style song. I like the acoustic bass on this song, as it fits the production sound a little better. This song likens back to the uptempo arrangement arrangements of the 60's (especially with the rhythmic organ chucking along in the background and brush snare). Traditionalists should love this song. The end of the song reminds of an Alabama song by the same name....

Take It To The Cross - A beautiful lead by baritone Scott Howard, this is a smooth "message ballad," that doesn't need the huge arrangement to get the point cross. This come from the songwriting duo of Rusty Golden and Jerry Salley, who have been seeing quite a bit of success lately, and in my opinion, this is one of their best efforts. A highlight of the album.

God's Been Good - This song is probably my favorite on the project. It is simplistic both lyrically and musically, but still comes through beautifully. It's also Tim Parton's only feature on the project. After an entire project of quartet singing and full (for the most part) production, this is stripped down to just a piano and solo vocal (there aren't even any backing vocals from the rest of the group). It's a great way to introduce the mainstream SG public to Parton, as well as to reassure them that Roger Bennett's position is being well-filled, both instrumentally and vocally.

AFTERWARD - It seems to me that Fowler has been spending a lot of time studying the Gerald Wolfe School of Southern Gospel Management and Performance; Legacy Five has been sticking closely to "traditional" SG stylings without pushing the envelope and keeping their loyal fan base happy. The albums are not overly produced and the singing is straight forward. L5 is also one of the most stable groups on the circuit today, with the only real turnover in the last decade being the tenor slot (and even then, Frank Seamans has been in the position for quite a while) and the vacancy left by Roger Bennett's passing (which Tim Parton has been filling, at least temporarily, since Roger's illness, and permanently afterward).

While speaking to a friend within the industry a while back, he observed that L5 came out of the shoot flying, building off of Scott and Roger's popularity with the Cathedrals, and eased back into their audience and fan base to become one of the most respected groups today, and I think that describes them best.