The latest album by Cindy Morgan, A Reason to Live, is the sophomore project on the heels of her debut Real World, also with producer Mark Hammond. The album shows a slight change in style from her debut, which showcased a number of highly upbeat danceable tunes, focusing more on ballads and mid-tempo music. While this change may be disappointing to those who were anxiously waiting a new album of dance tunes from Cindy, there are a number of quality songs on this latest work to keep them grooving, keeping the heavy R&B influence, although some are at a different, slower tempo. While the stylistic change is obvious, some of the other factors that influence the sound and direction of the album must be noted, and these include the theme, the level of production layers, and the way Cindy Morgan fits into the album as a whole.
A Reason to Live has lyrics that are deep and insightful with enough complex ballads to capture the listener in an intimate setting of expression. Thematically, the main focus of the album is that of life and its short comings, pains, and joys. A subtheme that runs throughout the album points out that true living and life is found only in God and in an experience of His love. The title track is a slow piano ballad that shares about the many things that people dream about accomplishing in the future or wishing that they had done in the past instead of realizing that they need to live in the present. It's a cautionary song about how it is easy to miss out on living in the now. The song points out that "You can turn back to all the memories, but you can't turn back the clock. You can make life all it can be, but you can't make it something it's not. Yesterday is Yesterday, and tomorrow's still a day away, so what do you say there's a reason to live today"
As with many of the pieces where Cindy Morgan sings while playing on the piano, this song takes a simple melody combined with Morgan's distinctive voice to produce a touching, soft piece. Another of the strong piano pieces, "Someone Believes" is dedicated to Morgan's father and tells of the many unseen, unheralded sacrifices made by caring people that set the stage for others to go on to greatness. The combination of simple chords and her outstanding voice make this a quietly passionate testimonial to the deeply sacrificial giving that allows others to live well. This is definitely a Father's/Mother's day request classic. These pieces are some of the best songs on the album, showcasing the ability, vocal range, and lyrical depth that make Morgan's music stand out from a lot of other artists. Her talent at taking simple and soft melodies and producing powerful, touching music is quite special and it adds to her appeal as an open and quietly passionate musician.
This ability carries over somewhat to the other, faster pieces, although the higher amount of production does influence the sound somewhat. A song which is an example of this is in the R&B styled "Love's Still Love" which points out the true aspects of real love, namely God's unconditional love and constant faithfulness. This song is a strong statement of the permanence of this love, comparing it to the temporary, conditional love we usually experience in life. A section of the lyrics states that real "Love will endure, Love believes in you, Always forgives, always is true. Love knows no wrong, always understands, it heals the heart, given half a chance... in spite of us, Heaven's love is faithful... Love's still love." This song correlates with the slow R&B ballad "Let Somebody Love You," which is a quiet plea for a lonely person to let someone else get close enough to love them. Both songs showcase a strong bass rhythm section and are some of the few pieces which are danceable in the same style as much of Morgan's Real World work. Unfortunately, these are also pieces where some of the production is a little heavy at times, sometimes to such a degree that Cindy's voice is almost swallowed by the layers of synthesizers. This factor is one of the aspects of the album that was not handled as well, and in places smothers the strength and fullness of Morgan's voice when it should be coming through clear and strong. This isn't a major error in the album, but it does detract a bit from the listening experience. It does serve to underline the appeal of the piano based pieces like "Someone Believes," "Storybook," and "I Will," where the full range and clarity of Morgan's voice is easily heard.
A Reason to Live is an impressive second effort by the team of Cindy Morgan and Mark Hammond. While there are some difficulties with over-production, Morgan manages to avoid the standard trap of pumping out a retread of her debut album by changing focus slightly. This change provides a better picture of some of the talents of Cindy Morgan that attracted listeners in the first place, while at the same time confirming the original hopes in her ability to do more works of a similar depth and high level of quality.
Similar sounding releases
1993Margaret BeckerSoul
1995AnointedThe Call
1994Maia AmadaFaith Remains
1994Lisa BevillAll Because of You
1996Billy and Sarah GainesCome On Back
1994Kim BoyceBy Faith
