He Took The Cross
Men Of Faith Quartet
Website: http://www.menoffaithquartet.com by David Bruce Murray
Rating: 3 STARS
Producer: Randy Shelnut
Song Titles: "The Dearest Friend," "Listen," "Dying To Know You," "Get On Board (Sailing)," "Coming Of The Son," "After The Sunrise," "While Ages Roll," "He Took The Cross," "He's Still Alive," and "Inside Of Me"
The Men Of Faith Quartet hails from Russellville, Arkansas, where they've been singing since 1999. Current members include Mark Lackey, Damon Cleghorn, Kevin Cleghorn, and the group's original bass singer, Bob Sims. Their project titled He Took The Cross was released in 2004, with tracks recorded for the project by members of the Dixie Echoes. Randy Shelnut also produced the recording.
This quartet has a good vocal blend. Three of the ten songs are originals..."Dying To Know You" (written by Damon Cleghorn), "Coming Of The Son" (Rodney Cleghorn), and "He Took The Cross" (Raymond Cleghorn). Lead singer Damon Cleghorn in particular has a lot of vocal talent, presenting each song on which he's featured with vocal expressions that really sell the messages in the gospel lyrics he's singing. National level groups might want to take a look at Cleghorn if he has the desire to go on the road full time.
Song arrangements are fairly basic. There are no major surprises on the cover songs. The mix could have been improved in a few spots, such as the chorus of "While The Ages Roll" where the melody is buried in the mix and the tenor is too loud. Also, there's a few vocal pitch issues which are most noticeable at song endings, but nothing that's terribly out of tune. A bigger recording budget for tracks and more time spent fine tuning the vocals could have improved the CD in several spots, but in general, I think this recording is one a regional level quartet can be proud to offer on their product table.