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Label: Jericho Records
Producer: Kevin McManus and Shannon Childress
Website: [url=http://www.thenewlifequartet.net]http://www.thenewlifequartet.net[/url]
Song Titles: “Steppin’ High,” “Again And Again,” “Praise The Lord,” “I’m Gonna Move On Up The Mountain,” “For The Life Of Me,” “Then We’ll Be Gone,” “He’s Alive,” “Good Man Down,” “Merciful To Me,” and “I Want To Be More Like Jesus”

We’ll Be Steppin’ High by The New Life Quartet features a collection of ten tunes with interesting lyrics and arrangements. The style is traditional Southern Gospel male quartet, and there’s a good mix ranging from uptempo to slower inspirational format. Producers Kevin McManus and Shannon Childress have blended Milton Smith‘s orchestrations with basic studio musician performances to achieve a sound that’s compelling overall . . . not really breaking any new ground musically, but not at all boring either. The vocals could use more breath support in a few spots, particularly on the slower tunes, but overall these men achieve a good quality quartet sound. The graphic design includes studio portraits by Paul Wharton on the CD cover and tray card. The only drawback is that it’s limited to a single panel front and back CD insert which doesn’t lend enough space for lyrics to be included.

The New Life Quartet’s rendition of “Praise The Lord” has been given the same treatment as the original Imperials arrangement. They could have done more to define the song as their own. “I Want To Be More” also follows a more or less typical vocal arrangement, but it’s slightly slower than the traditional version. When the new tempo is combined with some brass licks in the accompaniment, it doesn’t sound too close to the original. The rest of the tunes may include some covers, but they are less well known. The song called “He’s Alive” that appears on this CD is different from the one popularized by Dolly Parton. Bass singer Glen Floyd contributed two original tunes to this CD . . . “Steppin’ High” and “Again And Again.” They stand up well with decent hooks, melodies, and lyrics.

Overall, this CD is a good product that a regional level quartet should be proud to offer for sale to their fans. 

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