CD Reviews

Jun

2008

Ricky Atkinson & Compassion - Encore: Songs From Our Past

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[4] Comments

RATING:

Producer: Ricky Atkinson & Compassion
Label: Resting Place Music
Website: http://www.rickyatkinson.com

Blending 3 of the Southern Gospel Music's most recognized talents into one collective voice is the newest incarnation of Ricky Atkinson & Compassion. Combining Ricky's talent with Loren Harris (Perrys, Wilburns) and Greg Cook (Florida Boys, Tony Gore & Majesty) was a massive undertaking. I'm not sure all the kinks are worked out yet vocally, but the potential is there for a massive sounding group.

The recording weaves through songs associated with each individual: "JESUS CAN" and "RESTING PLACE" (Ricky Atkinson); "WHEN HE WAS ON THE CROSS" (Greg Cook); "I WISH I COULD HAVE BEEN THERE" and "CALVARY ANSWERS FOR ME" (Loren Harris). The group went back and picked up a few less familiar tunes like "UNTIL THE DAY", "I CALL ON JESUS" and "IN JESUS NAME". The guys also recall a couple of classic hymns like "UNCLOUDED DAY" and one of my personal favorites, "WHEN JESUS COMES IN THE CLOUDS".

Because many of these songs were extremely familiar to their respective vocalists, I found some of the vocals to be somewhat lazy, losing a bit of discipline (though still pretty well executed). The blend isn't quite all there yet either. The tracks were all either borrowed from other artists or from Ricky Atkinson himself, so that in itself took away a lot of originality; though they were able to come up with some unique vocal arrangements to allow them to make some of the songs their own.

Now please, don't misunderstand or misquote me here. I am huge fans of all three individuals, and I definitely see the enormous potential here; as the diamond is still in the rough, despite being seasoned veterans. One would think when putting these three colossal individuals together that it would all just naturally click; that rarely happens. I fully expect, if these guys can stick it out and persevere, they will be a force to be reckoned with, and in a lot of ways they already are. I look forward to hearing what these guys do next, because the possibilities with these three are literally endless! I have a hunch that what these guys do next is going to be utterly amazing and blow everybody away.

Reader Comments

I think this was more or less a table project to get a recording out to people and get a single out to radio ("Until The Day", which is a very good cut). All three of these guys can carry the mail vocally. You can expect a follow-up record that will include all or nearly all original songs from Atkinson's pen. It will be a major release with plenty of time in the studio getting everything just right. These guys are going to make a significant contribution to SG music over the next few years.

Commented by On 06/01/2008

This project is G R E A T!! I absolutely recommend it to anyone & everyone. These guys are such incredibly talented individuals & I can't wait to see what's next!!
FANTASTIC JOB, AGAIN, RAC!!

Commented by On 06/10/2008

Each project just continues to get better. Ricky did it one more time, haha. If you don't have this -- get it NOW, right now. It's a blessing times 10!!!

Commented by On 06/10/2008

this was really something to listen to, especially if you are listening to it for the very first time. The whole thing is still a bit too surreal for me, a nice experience on the whole!

Commented by kc shankar On 08/04/2008

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