One Way: The Songs of Larry Norman

Description

One Way: The Songs of Larry Norman is a multi-artist tribute compilation featuring covers of songs written by the American singer-songwriter Larry Norman, released on ForeFront Records in 1995.

These classic songs come from a time over 18 years ago when it was even less popular than it currently is to be a believer and much more difficult to sing about it. The ages of the contributing artists pretty much divide them between those who probably know singer-songwriter Larry Norman as one of Christian music’s founding fathers and those whose musical gifts were blossoming at a time when Larry was at the height of his popularity. Even so, the “younger generation” acquits itself nicely. Obviously, one of the biggest attractions to this disc is the inclusion of DC Talk’s rendition of «I Wish We’d All Been Ready», but that’s certainly not the only cut worthy of note. Serene & Pearl bring an Indigo Girl-style fragility to the title track; the irony in Code of Ethic’s dance revision of «Nothing Really Changes» would no doubt please Norman, while newcomer Grammatrain captures Norman’s bluesy essence on «Six O’Clock News» as does Holy Soldier on «Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus» and Rebecca St. James on «Sweet Song of Salvation». ETW’s urban/rap take on «If God Is My Father» goes to the heart of Norman’s social conscience, while Steve Wiggins of Big Tent Revival snaps out some of Larry’s most biting lyrics on «The Great American Novel». Altough the fact that only ForeFront artists are on the disc probably made it easier to organize, it’s distressing that the Christian music community at large wasn’t more involved. Fortunately, many superb performances make up for that oversight. [Bruce A. Brown, CCM, August 1995]

CD tracklist:

01. Geoff Moore & The Distance – U.F.O.
02. Rebecca St. James – Sweet, Sweet Song Of Salvation
03. Big Tent Revival – The Great American Novel
04. Holy Soldier – Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus
05. Michael Anderson – Shot Down
06. Audio Adrenaline – Righteous Rocker #3
07. Serene & Pearl – One Way
08. Dana Key (of DeGarmo & Key Band) – The Outlaw
09. Code Of Ethics – Nothing Really Changes
10. Grammatrain – Six O’Clock News
11. Geoff Moore & The Distance – Why Should The Devil (Have All The Good Music)
12. Larry Howard – The Rock That Doesn’t Roll
13. E.T.W. – If God Is My Father
14. dc Talk – I Wish We’d All Been Ready

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

A double-page advertisement for the multi-artist tribute compilation One Way: The Songs of Larry Norman was featured in the July 1995 issue of CCM Magazine.

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