Description
Falling Forward is the seventh studio album by the American singer and songwriter Margaret Becker, released on Sparrow Records in April 1998. The album was produced by Monroe Jones and Tedd T.
Margaret Becker has kissed the synthesizers that plagued her last release, Grace, good bye, with excellent results. The time off she took before making this album has produced a new Becker, more confident vocally and musically. ‘Falling Forward’ is catchy and hypnotic. Becker leaves pure pop behind, bringing in electric guitars and a more alternative sensibility. Her new sound is a far more suitable background to her husky vocals. The songs have taken on a new depth, unafraid to hit on the difficult things, like death («Horses») and doubt («Coins and Promises»). It’s an album of prayers, songs to God, not just about God. Although all the songs are good, «Any Kind of Light» is Becker at her finest, with candid lyrics and a fabulous, jazzy feel that’s intimate and gorgeous. ‘Falling Forward’ ranks among the best that CCM has to offer, and is a wonderful new beginning for Becker. [Melinda Hill, AMG]
If you follow the comings and goings in the Christian music industry with any interest, you were probably happy to see the appointment of Lynn Nichols to the A&R post at Sparrow because you knew this guy had a hand in creating masterpiece albums from Steve Taylor, Russ Taff and Phil Keaggy, not to mention his stint as a member of Chagall Guevara.
You knew he was going to help drive some great music your way.
If you couldn’t care one whit about that fact, take some advice with this: Acquire a copy of Margaret Becker’s Falling Forward, and you will have in your possession one of the best albums of 1998.
This is the record for which Maggie B. fans have been waiting for the better part of a decade. Taking nothing away from her previous two solo efforts, Soul (1993) and Grace (1995) consisted of sophisticated, keyboard-driven pop arrangements that fans who were convinced of Becker’s manifest destiny as a rock chick had a hard time embracing.
While Falling Forward doesn’t rock with the intensity of, say, Immigrant’s Daughter (1989), it is first and foremost a guitar-driven record, the instrument with which Becker’s supple voice meshes best.
Co-producers Monroe Jones and Tedd T. literally split the album in half, each helming five songs on their own and teaming up on «Coins & Promises». Jones takes a far more direct approach with his tracks, embedding Becker’s voice on instrumentation that aids her delivery on passionate songs such as «Clay & Water», «I Testify» and the wonderfully jazz-inspired «Any Kind of Light».
Tedd T.’s songs, as would befit his past work (Rebecca St. James, Geoff Moore & The Distance), have a little more texture to them, with sounds, effects and little sonic touches bringing tracks such as «Horses», «Cave It In» and «Crawl» to life. But the excellence here is his restraint with the gimmicks, letting Becker’s voice carry the songs.
Ah, yes, the songs. It’s a safe bet to say fans of Becker’s work would sit and wait patiently for another three years if she (and her varied co-writers) generated another set of songs of this caliber. Every song on this album reeks of quality. There are reverent songs («Deliver Me» and «Irish Sea»), questioning songs («I Don’t Know How»), hopeful songs («Coins & Promises») and waiting-to-be-set-free rock songs («Cave It In» and «Crawl»). This is the sonic diary of one woman’s existence, and everyone will find something they can relate to. Some will relate to it all.
Falling Forward paints a picture of life with all of its colors: some happy, some sad, some gut-wrenchingly painful, some tears-inducingly joyful. It offers us a very open and intimate look at the painter, and Margaret, we thank you for that. May this album do everything you want and more. You deserve it. [Lucas W. Hendrickson, CCM, May 1998]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/falling-forward/724940315)
CD tracklist:
01. I Don’t Know How – 5:20
02. Cave It In – 4:21
03. Clay And Water – 5:03
04. Horses – 4:04
05. Deliver Me – 5:10
06. Any Kind Of Light – 4:24
07. Irish Sea – 4:09
08. Coins And Promises – 5:11
09. Crawl – 3:05
10. Take Me In – 4:04
11. I Testify – 3:42
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Sparrow Records.
The April 1998 issue of CCM Magazine featured a cover story on Margaret Becker.
A full-page advertisement for Margaret Becker’s album Falling Forward was featured in the May 1998 issue of CCM Magazine.
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