Field of Your Soul

Description

Field of Your Soul is the third album by the American husband-and-wife pop duo Greg & Rebecca Sparks of Bash’N the Code and Found Free fame, released on Etcetera Records in 1993.

The Spark’s have quite a history in Christian music, stretching from the ’70s and the band Found Free (probably best remembered for initiating Christian cruise ship packages) through the ’80s and Bash ‘N’ the Code (which evolved into Bash) to their previous duet albums for Reunion. But those last couple of records only hinted at the passion which leapt out of the speakers from the first notes of the album’s opener, «Mercy Me». If you saw Greg & Rebecca’s tour with Rich Mullins and Russ Taff, then you’re already familiar with the driving, acoustic rock sound which has recently shaped their music; if not, then you’re in for a real treat. The centerpiece of their sound is still Rebecca’s voice and Greg’s rhythm guitar work. Bu there’s now a new insistence not only to Greg’s playing but Rebecca’s vocal approach. Often previously dismissed as a chirpy pop thrush, Rebecca has developed a hard-edged delivery that comes from the gut and the heart, comparable to that of Melissa Etheridge or Ashley Cleveland (who, along with Russ Taff, provides background vocals on several tracks). Greg’s voice too seems to seek out the best places to lock in with Rebecca’s in more complimentary ways than ever before.

Of course, it’s a lot easier to make that sort of emotional investment when you’ve written a brace of tunes as potent as those on ‘Field of Your Soul’. «This Love Is» finds the couple realizing that when their human love fails, they can “hold onto heaven every day we live;” «Do You Want What I Got» speaks brazenly of faith in Christ without talking down the listener; Greg’s solo, «Love Can Change the World». carries a simple message without being simplistic, while «Fractured Pieces», an elegy for a friend fallen victim to AIDS, is at once melancholy and uplifting. This is music brimming with raw honesty – don’t miss it. [Bruce A. Brown, CCM, February 1994]

Remember Sparks? No, not the Brit pop group from way back but the US husband and wife duo who had some great albums out on Reunion a while ago. Well, they’re back and though toted as playing ‘acoustic’ music actually often offer here the same hard edged, guitar driven blues rock which is clearly their forte. Rebecca Sparks is in fact an exceptional blue-eyed soul singer with a dazzling armoury of whoops, hollers, growls and octave leaps at times resembles Ashley Cleveland while the songs, are effective vehicles for her passionate declarations of faith. A raw, tough, satisfying rock album with «Do Ya Know What I Got» having a raunchy swagger worthy of the Rolling Stones. But best of all is «Carve A Tunnel» which samples Martin Luther King on a song denouncing the racism still found in American society. [Tony Cummings, Cross Rhythms, October 1994]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/field-of-your-soul/1505174499)

CD tracklist:

01. Mercy Me – 4:38
02. This Love Is – 4:47
03. Field Of Your Soul – 3:58
04. Fractured Pieces – 5:16
05. Do You Want What I Got – 4:01
06. Carve A Tunnel – 6:37
07. Love Can Change The World – 4:46
08. New Horizons – 3:45
09. Homeland – 6:03
10. Carry On – 4:46

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Etcetera Records.

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