My interest in Michael Anderson began when his last album came out. The local CCM radio station was doing a remote with him at the mall, and I happened by at the right time to meet him and to snag a copy of his ForeFront debut. I hadn't heard his music yet, but hey, it was a free disc. I took it home, listened, and liked-such that I went out and found his two previous mainstream releases as well!
Love Is The Hard Part, Anderson's second release for ForeFront, finds him in an interesting musical area, somewhere between Gary Chapman and U2, while maintaining the signature sound of Michael Anderson, for the most part.
With funky, almost Soul II Soul rhythms and Edge-esque guitars, "Revival" and "Fighting To Surrender" stand out from the very first listening. Other high spots include the Memphis soul numbers "Soul Man Myself" and "No Easy Way" and the acoustic pop-rocker Anderson originally wrote for Rebecca St. James, "I Know It's Not The Rain." Surprisingly, Anderson's cover of the Larry Norman classic "Shot Down" did not immediately strike me the way I had hoped it would. I like it better now than when I first heard it, but it's still not one of my favorites.
Lyrically, Anderson covers 1 Corinthians 13 nearly verbatim with the title cut and takes it home with his observation:
Love's a river, love's a fire Love is every heart's desire Love is knowing only time will tell Love is heaven, love is hell
He says he was angry when he wrote that one. Maybe that explains the gritty "rubber meeting the road" feeling of the tune.
In fact, much of the album seems to have a real sense of grit to it. Sometimes he questions, sometimes he confirms, but throughout he seems to be candid and personally sharing from the heart.
Love Is The Hard Part is a solid singer/songwriter album from an artist who has made a name for himself in both the CCM and the mainstream market.
Similar sounding releases
2002Ashley ClevelandSecond Skin
2001Mick JaggerGoddess in the Doorway
2003Kenny McCaffertyWarm Waters
1999Steven Curtis ChapmanSpeechless
1997Matt RedmanThe Friendship And The Fear
1999Geoff MooreGeoff Moore
