Great Love
Signature Sound Quartet
Great Love sets a high standard of vocal performance, musicianship, arrangements, and song selection. Signature Sound Quartet offers a variety of styles on Great Love drawing from brand new material as well as older tunes. The guiding hand of Lari Goss gives Great Love a unified sound. Goss actually had a three fold role of involvement. He produced, arranged/orchestrated, and played keyboards. A few tracks tip their hat to the big band/pop influences of the 1940s. The title song "Great Love" moves slowly with plenty of thick blending vocal harmonies. The intro to "I Can Never Out Give The Lord" gets an element of brass swing. The brief nostalgic closer "We Will Remember You" has sweeping strings for accompaniment. There's plenty of fun on Great Love as well. The opening track ("Climbing Up The Mountain") has a rhythmic harmonica along with percussion driving the beat that would play well on Southern Gospel radio. If you enjoyed bass singer Tim Duncan singing "Stand By Me" on the first SSQ CD, you should also like "You Better Pray," a tune written by George Younce . "Will The Lord Be With Me" gives every singer a chance to shine, while "Down In My Soul" gets more of a "convention song" treatment. "What A Way To Go" begins with a light pop sound then morphs thru several musical feels . . . an interesting little journey. A third song form found on Great Love is the inspirational anthem. A classic Gaither tune written in 1971 ("This Could Be The Dawning Of That Day") gets a lush orchestration that builds to a dramatic climax. "When He Comes Again" has a similar timeless treatment. "Even Now" offers a more modern ballad arrangement with electric guitar filling in between vocals and contrasting with piano. If you want the total package of male quartet singing, Signature Sound Quartet is the way to go. Even though lead singer Ryan Seaton is new on this recording, SSQ continues to amaze me with their balance . . . no single vocalist dominates their sound, though each is identifiable. The classic touch of Lari Goss has meshed well with the scope of what the singers have to offer, and the song writing comes from some of the very best . . . names like Smith (both Belinda and Sue), Gaither, Lindsey, Griffin, and Peck.
--- David Bruce Murray
Label: Cathedral Records
Producer: Lari Goss
Websites: www.signaturesoundquartet.com and www.cathedralrecords.com
Song Titles: "Climbing Up The Mountain," "Great Love," "Will The Lord Be With Me," "This Could Be Dawning Of That Day," "Even Now," "Down In My Soul," "You Better Pray," "What A Way To Go," "I Can Never Out Give The Lord," "When He Comes Again," and "We Will Remember You"