This album is a MUST for fans of Chris & Meredith Thompson, and if you like folk music but haven't yet heard the Thompson twins' gorgeous singing, either this or their album Clearwater would be a great place to start.
Soulful, spiritual-sounding songs abound here, with the covers "Hand on the Plow," "Be Still My Soul," "Wayfaring Stranger," "Balm in Gilead," and "Amazing Grace." There are also three different Thompson originals that sound remarkably authentic in the same soulful, spiritual-sounding genre as those first five, "Hallelujah," "Changed My Life," and the amazing "Lift Up Your Voice and Sing." But that's not all! There is a remarkable cover of Dave Carter's "The Mountain" that is hauntingly beautiful. There is a wonderful original Thompsons number called "Lines of Longitude" about maps and mapping out the contours of our own lives. And maybe best of all is the original song "The Old Man in the Mountain" which makes a metaphor of our changing relationships with our aging parents in terms of the fall of the Great Stone Face a/k/a The Old Man in the Mountain, which collapsed some time back in Franconia Notch in New Hampshire. Powerful stuff, and unforgettable.
The effect of the entire album in fact is mesmerizing, as Chris and Meredith have chosen nothing but the best songs that show off both their great songwriting and their great singing, and woven them together in an ingenius mix that really delivers the goods. Yet this is nothing like a greatest hits compilation, as are so many other live albums. It's more like Who's Next by the Who or Surrealistic Pillow by the Jefferson Airplane, filled with songs that aren't available anywhere else, with one great-sounding song coming after another. So how's that for a heady review? Very highly recommended, and Chris & Meredith Thompson at their very best.