Larnelle Harris

Item: Unbelievable Love
Author: Julie Henry

Unbelievable Love

(1995)

Reviewed by Julie Henry

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Label Benson Music GroupThe LighthouseDecember 1995

adult contemporary ccm gospel

Larnelle Harris has found a good combination with producers Lari Goss, Bill Cuomo, and Robert White Johnson. Unbelievable Love contains 10 songs that could all easily be hit singles. The production quality on this collection from one of Christian music's most recognizable voices is outstanding.

Harris offers some of the project's keyboard work, assisted by Oliver Wells and Goss. I found the piano on "No Wonder" to be exceptionally pleasing. The theme of the song reminds me a lot of a pair of older Harris songs, "There Is No Equal" and "The Cornerstone." This slow ballad was one of my favorites.

If you are familiar with the song "All In Favor," than you have an idea of what "Stand Up And Be Counted" sounds like, with the vocals trading from Harris to the Veritas Choir. It is one of several tracks with an infectious rhythm that had me moving with the beat-the others were "I Look To You" and "Unbelievable Love." "I Don't Know Why," one of the most up-beat tracks, and "Cross The Line" sport some impressive saxophone parts, courtesy of Mark Douthit.

There are a couple of more "easy-listening" songs, "As Long As The Heart Breaks" and "Walking With My Lord." Another of my favorites is "One Day," which is about God's promise to us of a better tomorrow-that day when there shall be no sunrise or sunset. It is sung with such feeling and conviction that I couldn't help but like it.

The closing track is part of a Christmas musical called Season of Love. Our church choir and orchestra are learning this music for our annual holiday program and I have a feeling that we may be hearing "He Loved Me With A Cross" during both the Christmas and Easter music seasons. It is a really beautiful song that expresses the true meaning of Christ coming to earth:

He knew from the beginning The price He'd have to pay For my heart had gone so far beyond What other loves forgave I wasn't on that hillside To see Him on the tree But as my guilt was placed upon Him I know that somehow He saw me He loved me with a cross...

Any Larnelle Harris fan will probably enjoy his latest effort and the album should appeal to most fans of inspirational and AC music. I found myself getting into the beat on some tracks, and saying "Amen" when some were through. I find Unbelievable Love unbelievably great.