Age to Age

Amy Grant was my first introduction into the Christian Music scene and this gem was the MAIN reason I fell in love with her music. EVERY song included on this album is FANTASTIC, except for "Fat Baby" which, for me, was a little goofy considering HOW WELL the rest of the album is. My favorite song on the album, probably my FAVORITE Christian song of ALL TIME, is "Arms of Love" which is the last song. You know how they always say SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST, well that is CERTAINLY the case here. The lyrics to the song are amazing and Amy Grant's voice, with her heartfelt delivery, are enough to give you goosebumps. If you want to buy a solid album, filled with uplifting, inspirational and emotional songs, "Age to Age" is the one to buy.

This is classic Amy Grant! I love this album. Each song speaks of the realities of the Christian journey, and the tunes for the songs are engaging and well-considered. From "Fat Baby" to El-Shaddai," the songs have a message that is worth telling and singing. As with all of Amy Grant's albums, she is in good voice here, and she turns a phrase nicely in each of her songs sung. I highly recommend this album to those desiring a taste of classic Amy Grant.

It’s like being reunited with an old friend. Great memories of my college days when the sounds Amy Grant, Brown Bannister and Keith Green took Christian music to another level.

Bought slightly used & plays great. This was one of my all time favorite CD’s she ever did & every song on it is great! The outer case was cracked but really not a big deal to me as long as the CD played good.

This cd was a Christmas gift for my mom she was happy, all of the songs played good

This album takes me back to my childhood and a girl, age twelve, who loved these tunes. Now in my middle-age they both remind me of my childhood and what a wonderful Savior I have. One of the best purchases I've made this year.

I had this album and cassette as a teen and I am so glad that it has been released on cd. This is, in my opinion, Amy's best release. Her voice is flawless and the songs are fantastic. Great mix of songs - from the worship songs of El Shaddai and Sing Your Praise to The Lord, to the fun, yet moving Fat Baby. No one should be without this cd in their collection.

A decent fluffy pop album, but a landmark release in CCM. Effectively, it was Amy's RUBBER SOUL for the genre. ABC Records acquired Word Records in late 1974, which set up the rise of CCM. Word right into the mid-'80s controlled anywhere between 50-65% of what was a tiny boutique record market, and Word doubled its sales volume in the next five years. CCM magazine debuted its own series of "singles" charts for Christian radio in July, 1978, and by March, 1980, Billboard recognized the CCM market and debuted a second religious albums chart, BEST SELLING INSPIRATIONAL LPS, to track CCM as a white pop niche, in addition to the BEST SELLING SPIRITUAL LPS, which followed Southern and Black Gospel releases. Both charts listed 40 positions. Two of Amy's releases debuted on the first March, 1980, ...INSPIRATIONAL... chart, her debut (and newly repackaged --new cover art) AMY GRANT and MY FATHER'S EYES. Going in 1982, even the charted hit albums were still a tiny niche market, with Petra's NEVER SAY DIE album showing 50,000 copies (Billboard, 12/18/82; still on the chart at 50+ weeks at the time) over the course of the year. AGE TO AGE swamped everything, advertised on Billboard's front page on 4/24/82, debuted on the Lp chart 7/17/82 at #1 and stuck there for well over half a year (#1 for 27 of 33 weeks, at March 5, 1983, on the BEST SELLING INSPIRATIONAL Lps chart, which was published approximately every four weeks during the middle of the month weekly issues), but never appeared on the regular Pop 200 position chart. By October, it was selling 20,000 copies a week, by 12/18/82, passed 250,000 copies sold, and certified RIAA 500,000 gold on 11/23/83. It remained a fixture on the ...INSPIRATIONAL LPS chart for the next several years, well over 200 weeks by 1985, STRAIGHT AHEAD certified RIAA gold on 5/02/85, and AGE TO AGE certified RIAA 1,000,000 platinum on 6/24/85. Amy's voice is weak, but she sings with feeling and sincerity. Frankly, Amy's pipes suggest "breathy vocals" pre-GREASE (think THE LORDS OF FLATBUSH, THE MUSICAL?) Olivia Newton-John pop-lite, the bubblegum MAKING A GOOD THING BETTER and HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN MELLOW period five years before; on this album, Amy's vocal shortcomings suggest sincere vulnerability, and it sells. The weakest tracks are "Don't Run Away" and "Got to Let It Go," the latter suggesting Joe Jackson's "Stepping Out" on A&M. These two Amy Grant tracks presage her synth-pop sound a few years later, which I find less pleasing than the older pop piano with strings based A/C (think late '70s Anne Murray, or Nashville pop generally at the time; Hugh F. Pyle in his book, THE TRUTH ABOUT ROCK MUSIC, compares her jungle music [favorably!?!] to Linda Ronstadt, but I think that's a bit of a stretch) sound on the balance of AGE TO AGE. The two tracks also exhibit that G-rated "cutesy" synth-pop sound I find so annoying on CCM releases aiming at a (dated) contemporary sound. And there's "Fat Baby," which works, but the inside humor is off-putting for someone with secular (me) tastes. "Fat Baby" reminds me of "Senor El Gato" by Kelly Hogan, a children's song, on a deliciously perverse Bloodshot Records CD, SONGS FOR BUMPY WAGON RIDES; THE BOTTLE LET ME DOWN. AGE TO AGE marked the closing of niche Christian recordings being profitable on comparatively tiny sales numbers. Via a Billboard advertising section in the 10/19/85 issue, the expense of releasing more professional sounding albums to compete with CCM commercial titles resulted in acrimony directed toward the successful artists from fading older stars like Jimmy Swaggart, and Amy Grant bested the next most successful '80s and early '90s CCM artist, Sandi Patti, by a factor of 2:1. Cover art: I compared the Lp (mine is worn "VG" condition in record nut terms) to the CD photos. Compared to the Lp photo, the CD photo is brighter, has less of a soft focus look, and the colors have been brightened considerably. The most telling effect has been a pronounced whitening the eyes, especially, which suggests Kiss's CREATURES OF THE NIGHT loopy (creepy?) cover photo effect.

Prima

Très bon article.

A great album. The beautiful El Shaddia is a wonderful song that outlines the Fathers love for us and how that love was demonstrated by providing us with our Savior Jesus. I would recommend this CD based on that one track alone! Amy's beautiful voice and God given talent to pen these songs makes this a truly enjoyable album and one that I would recommend for your collection.

Excellent, it brought back so many memories & the songs still spoke to me. I much prefer the honest nievity of this younger Amy than the modern remodled perfectionist without the genuine heart.

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