Life, Love & Other Mysteries
Life, Love & Other Mysteries | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 9, 1996 | |||
Genre | Christian pop | |||
Label | Word Records Epic Records | |||
Producer |
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Point of Grace chronology | ||||
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Singles from Life, Love & Other Mysteries | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
Life, Love & Other Mysteries (stylized as life love & other mysteries) is the third album by contemporary Christian music group Point of Grace. It was released in 1996 by Word and Epic Records.
Two tie-ins to the album were released: a video, subtitled The Video Story, and an autobiography by the group, written with Davin Seay.
Background[]
The group characterized the album as their hardest to record. They called it a "growing pain" because John Mays, who had signed them to Word Records, had left the label.[3] Shortly afterward, Word was sold, leaving the group to make all major decisions on their own.
Music videos were filmed for "Keep the Candle Burning" and "That's the Way It's Meant to Be," and a live video released for "Circle of Friends." The "Keep the Candle Burning" video featured footage from the group's four-city tour on the album's release day, including shots from the Dallas Mavericks' jet showing Terry Jones' husband, Chris; Denise Jones' husband, Stu; and Shelley Breen's then-fiancé, David, whom she married later that year.
"Circle of Friends" has been regarded as the group's signature song; a book by the group and their fan club both share this title. The current trio served as background vocalists on Kenny Rogers' cover of the song on his 2011 album The Love of God. Breen originally did not want to record the song, as she thought it was "kitschy, like a campfire song [or] 'Kumbaya' or something."[1]
Since Heather Payne's departure from the group in 2008, they have performed the song "Keep the Candle Burning" as a medley with "The Great Divide," and "You Are the Answer" as a medley with "I'll Be Believing."
In addition to the album, an autobiographical book by the same title, subtitled "Advice and Inspiration from America's #1 Christian Pop Group," was released in October 1996.[4] A video titled Life, Love & Other Mysteries: The Video Story was released in 1997.[5]
Track listing[]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer | Length |
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1. | "Life, Love & Other Mysteries" | Joel Lindsay, Reggie Hamm | Scott Williamson | 4:03 |
2. | "Keep the Candle Burning" | Gayla Borders, Jeff Borders, Lowell Alexander | Phil Naish | 4:26 |
3. | "That's the Way It's Meant to Be" | Bruce Sudano, Michael Omartian | Omartian | 3:31 |
4. | "Jesus Doesn't Care" | Scott Krippayne, Tony Wood | Williamson, Blair Masters | 4:43 |
5. | "Gone Are the Dark Days" | Gayla Borders, Jeff Borders, Phil Madeira | Williamson | 4:11 |
6. | "Sing a Song" | Al McKay, Maurice White | Omartian | 3:39 |
7. | "Any Road, Any Cost" | Krippayne, Wood | Omartian | 4:17 |
8. | "You Are the Answer" | Hamm, Matt Huesmann | Naish | 3:50 |
9. | "God Forbid" | Huesmann, Kyle Matthews | Omartian | 3:34 |
10. | "Circle of Friends" | Douglas McKelvey, Steve Siler | Naish | 4:15 |
The Video Story[]
Life, Love & Other Mysteries: The Video Story | ||||
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Video by | ||||
Released | 1997 | |||
Genre | Christian pop | |||
Length | 60 minutes | |||
Label | Word Records | |||
Point of Grace chronology | ||||
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A tie-in video, Life, Love & Other Mysteries: The Video Story, was released in 1997. The video includes the music videos for "Keep the Candle Burning" and "That's the Way It's Meant to Be," as well as four live performances, and interviews with the group as well as their husbands and songwriter/producer Michael Omartian. In addition to the two studio videos, the live performance of "Circle of Friends" was released as a promo video, and was included on the WOW 1998 video and DVD.
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "I'll Be Believing" (Live) | |
2. | "Life, Love & Other Mysteries" (Live) | |
3. | "That's the Way It's Meant to Be" | |
4. | "Jesus Doesn't Care" (Live) | |
5. | "Keep the Candle Burning" | |
6. | "Circle of Friends" (Live) |
Personnel[]
- Point of Grace
- Shelley Breen – lead vocals, backing vocals
- Denise Jones – lead vocals, backing vocals
- Terry Jones – lead vocals, backing vocals
- Heather Payne – lead vocals, backing vocals
- Musicians
- Tim Akers – keyboards and synthesizer (7, 9)
- Jeff Bailey – trumpet (3, 6)
- David Luther Cleveland – guitar
- Eric Darken – percussion
- Mark Douthit – saxophone (3, 6)
- Stuart Duncan – mandolin
- Byron Hagan – Hammond organ (1)
- Mike Haynes – trumpet (3, 6)
- Dann Huff – electric guitar (2, 8, 10), guitar solo
- Chris Kent – bass guitar (3, 6, 7, 9)
- Sonny Lallerstedt – acoustic guitar (2, 8, 10)
- Blair Masters – keyboards (4)
- Chris McHugh – drums (3, 6, 7)
- Scott Meeder – drums, percussion, drum programming (2)
- Jerry McPherson – guitar (3, 6, 7, 9)
- Doug Moffett – saxophone (3, 6)
- Phil Naish – keyboards and Hammond organ (2, 8, 10)
- Dan Needham – drums (4)
- Michael Omartian – keyboards (3, 6, 7, 9), acoustic piano (7, 9)
- Cheryl Rogers – acoustic piano (1, 5)
- Jimmie Lee Sloas – bass guitar
- Jackie Street – bass guitar
- Scott Williamson – drums
- Production
- Producers – Blair Masters (Track 4); Phil Naish (Tracks 2, 8 & 10); Michael Omartian (Tracks 3, 6, 7 & 9); Scott Williamson (Tracks 1, 4 & 5).
- Executive Producer – Point of Grace
- A&R Direction – Lynn Keesecker
- Production Coordination: Bridgett Evans O'Lannerghty (Tracks 2, 8 & 10); Suzy Martinez (Tracks 3, 6, 7 & 9).
- Mixing: Ronnie Brookshire, Terry Christian, David Schober.
- Art Direction – Christy Coxe
- Design – Chuck Hargett
- Photography – Michael Haber
- Hair Stylist – Patrick Swan
- Make-Up – I.B. Fishman
Reception[]
Allmusic gave the album three out of five stars.[2] Dial-the-Truth Ministries, however, criticized Point of Grace for covering "Sing a Song" by Earth, Wind & Fire because of that group's new age influence.[6][7]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b 24 (Liner notes). Point of Grace. Word Records. 2003.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
- ^ Jump up to: a b Life, Love & Other Mysteries at AllMusic
- ^ Life, Love & Other Mysteries (Liner notes). Point of Grace. Word Records. 1996.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
- ^ "Life, Love and Other Mysteries". Goodreads. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
- ^ Life, Love & Other Mysteries: The Video Story at Discogs
- ^ "Christian Rock: Exposed (part two)". Dial-the-Truth Ministries. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
- ^ "Take the Contemporary Christian Music Test". Dial-the-Truth Ministries. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
- 1996 albums
- Point of Grace albums
- Albums produced by Michael Omartian