Dave's Review

Song Titles from Journey To The Sky : "My Journey To The Sky," "Joshua Led God's Children," "Because I Love Him," "Just Enough Clouds," "Come Spring," "Paradise Island," "Wait Till You See Me In My New Home," "Come And Go With Me/What A Time," "Glory, Glory, Clear The Road," "Boots Randolph Medley," "Hope, Joy, And Love," "He's Alive," "Clouds," "Feet On The Rock," "Comedy with Jeff Allen," "Trumpet Of Jesus," "Lay Them Down," "Moments," O Love That Will Not Let Me Go," "He Knows Just What I Need," "Lord, I'm Coming Home," and "The Love Of God"

I think every Southern Gospel fan is familiar with the Homecoming series of videos that Gaither and Co. have been putting out for the last 12 years. Journey To The Sky and Passin' The Faith Along contain previously unreleased footage from the same taping session that brought us Freedom Band . I'm guessing the footage is circa 2001, since Freedom Band released for sale in 2002. A number of gospel music legends who have since passed away appear on the videos, including James Blackwood, Hovie Lister , Howard and Vestal Goodman , and Jake Hess .

The best selections from this taping session were cherry picked to make Freedom Band one of the more popular and outstanding selections in the Gaither Gospel Series . In that sense, these DVDs are leftovers. There was enough footage left to assemble one other great video, but unfortunately, the decision to stretch it into two titles has lowered the overall value. These are still "very good," but not "great." For example, there's some less than flattering camera work on a couple of the lady soloists . . . specifically, camera angles zooming up from below that should have been edited more tastefully. Also, Passin' The Faith Along slows to a crawl on the second half with "He Washed My Eyes With Tears," Karen Wheaton 's "Blood Medley," a narrative by Gloria Gaither , and several other slower tunes. It's also telling that despite the padding, each of these videos is ten minutes shorter than Freedom Band . Some individual performances aren't the greatest versions you've ever heard, either. The Isaacs' studio version of "Stand Still" is very moving, for example, but here it has a detracting country-fied twang.

Still, there's a lot of good stuff to enjoy on these releases. Larry Gatlin has a solo on each title. He calls Ray Dean Reese "Ray Dale" a couple of times while singing "Healing Stream," but does a great job vocally. Lister, Hess, and the Goodmans are all featured, which should make fans of older videos happy. The Florida Boys turn in a rousing performance on "I, John." There's also several numbers where the entire choir sings . . . "Wonderful," "Joshua Led God's Children," "Paradise Island," and "Jesus, We Just Want To Thank You" are some examples. The Gaither Vocal Band is featured on "The Love Of God" while David Phelps shines on "O Love That Will Not Let Me Go." I had no idea Sarah Delane could sing with such energy until I heard her deliver "Because I Love Him." Alicia Williamson is outstanding on "Come And Go With Me." You'll enjoy watching Chonda Pierce doing a jig with one of the Speer sisters while Lauren Talley is featured singing "David Did Dance."

Aside from these two titles, the Homecoming videos released since Freedom Band in 2002 have been departures from the Homecoming norm . . . bluegrass and black gospel styles as well as conceptual topics like Heaven and patriotism have been pushed forward, causing traditional Southern Gospel to be de-emphasized for the past two years. For that reason, fans should welcome Journey To The Sky and Passin' The Faith Along . Even though I wouldn't rate either of these DVDs as "great" compared to other Homecoming titles, the production quality and performances still surpass the vast majority of non-Homecoming product you'll find on the market. Gaither videos have typically exemplified the highest standards in video clarity and audio quality, and these are no exceptions.

4 Stars

--- by David Bruce Murray