Description
Walk On is the fifth album by the American singer and songwriter Bruce Carroll, released on Word Records in 1993. Also manufactured and distributed by Epic, a division of Sony Music. The album was produced by Brown Bannister and Tom Hemby for RBI Productions.
In the same way Gary Chapman’s ‘Everyday Man‘ was more of a pop/country album (though that record would be better accepted by the country market today), Bruce Carroll’s fifth release, ‘Walk On’, dances along that same tightrope. It’s pointless now to enter into the discussion of what is true country music and what is not. If it’s good music, it’s good music. And in a sea of often uneventful and uninteresting adult contemporary Christian music, Carroll’s leadings toward a James Talyor-esque sound are warmly welcomed.
‘Walk On’ shares soothing, well-produced (thank you Brown Bannister and Tom Hemby), poignant, Christian life-based ballads and contemporary country/folk/pop tunes. The album follows a life’s journey, discovering faith in trials and successes, loving and fighting. The journeyman rests feeling «Right at Home». Blair Masters, Shane Keister, Phil Madeira, Paul Leim, Chris Harris, Mike Brignardello and Ricky Skaggs are just a few of the all-start cast which brings this journey to life.
The title track creates a sound of promise and encouragement with its harmonies and soft country guitar and percussion base. “When the cold and lonely winter winds are blowing/ You’ve got to walk on, walk on/ If we press on to the end we will be knowing/ For every dark night there’s a dawn/ If we just walk on, walk on.” Picking up the pace, «Good Life» tracks the story of fleeting prosperity and the joy found only in the simplicity of counting on Jesus alone. Building upon the theme of seeking safety, love and comfort in Christ, «Road Back Home» points to the light that eternally burns and guidance even through mistakes and bad choices.
Gary Cotton’s «It Took You» is a fun and unmistakably country love song. “You caught my eye, turned my head, left me spinning…/ You came along about the time love was dying/ I was so wrong, said I’d never find another love worth trying… It took you to fill the nights, put back the stars and moon/ Something all my friends and few others tried to do/ It took you.” «There is Prayer» and «Sometimes When We Love» continue Carroll’s string of vignettes about the the trial and hopes of Christian living. Though answers aren’t often easy, he keeps the focus on the One who makes the answers possible. These two really bring out the balladeer in Carroll.
“Was it that you wore your hair long/ And played rock and roll in that band/ Or was it just your independence that I couldn’t stand… As I’m standing by your headstone/ There’s one thing I’d like to add/ Can you find it in your heart, son/ To forgive your dad” surely hits close to home for many families divided by stubborn protectiveness and insecurities. «What We Were Fighting For» by Carroll and Farrell may open some eyes – via the ears. “I can’t even remember what we were fighting for… We hold our ground and we both found/ That no one won the war.”
Acoustic guitars (and a string arrangement to make any Disney movie ballad green with envy) beautifully bring ‘Walk On’ to a close with «Right at Home». This classic ballad and gentle vocals sufficiently wrap up this album of hope and love: “No matter what we’re going through/ With you I am right at home.” [Amy E. Dixon, CCM, November 1993]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/walk-on/1165944918)
CD tracklist:
01. Walk On – 3:58
02. Good Life – 4:21
03. Road Back Home – 4:34
04. It Took You – 2:46
05. Answer To Prayer – 4:16
06. The Middle Ages – 3:42
07. There Is Prayer – 4:19
08. Sometimes When We Love – 3:46
09. What We Were Fighting For – 4:50
10. Right At Home – 2:57
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Word Records.
A full-page advertisement for Bruce Carroll’s Walk On was featured in the November 1993 issue of CCM Magazine.
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