Short Review: "The Anchor Holds" (Reflection Trio)

Pros:

• The music was very professionally produced, with Roger Talley working on the project.  There's a lot of ballads with big orchestrations, as well as fun faster-paced tracks like "That Same Blood."

Cons:

• The "piano" sounds pretty bad.  The studio needs to invest in a real piano, or at least get a realistic-sounding keyboard.
• There's some kind of instrument in the background of nearly every track, that blends with the percussion and makes all the songs have a certain familiarity about them.  I think it's some kind of guitar, but it needs to be used less frequently.
• I wish there was at least one more fast-paced song.  There's only four of them compared with six ballads.
• The album might have benefited from a couple of lighter ballads.  They're all pretty heavily orchestrated (with "I'm Amazed" being the lightest)  The beginning of "Under His Wings" is even lighter, with little or no orchestration, but it doesn't follow through till the end of the song

Comments: The Anchor Holds is a CD worth listening to.  The songs on it haven't been sung to death and the music is very good.  I really like the project.

I would like to clarify about the song list.  "Under His Wings" is a different song than the old hymn you may sing in church, although the chorus is sung twice at the end.  "I Go to the Rock" is not the version that the Kingdom Heirs and Legacy Five did.  "I Will Praise You" is different than "I Will Praise Him," and "I'm Amazed" is not the praise-type chorus done by Mercy's Mark, but is actually the song that was IMO ruined by [Jason Crabb?]  "I Am Not Ashamed" is a completely different song than the Inspirations sang.  Just wanted to let you know, in case you look at the song list and think: "They've all been sung to death.  I'm not listening to the CD."  A couple of the songs, that I know of, have been sung by other groups, but they haven't been done too much.

Southern Gospel fans will enjoy listening to jazzy "I Go to the Rock," worshipful "Under His Wings," and the slightly progressive "Jesus Never Fails."  4.5/5 stars

Favorite Songs: That Same Blood, The Anchor Holds

Song List: I Will Praise You, I'm Amazed, I Go to the Rock, The Anchor Holds, Jesus Never Fails, Calvary Came Through, That Same Blood, I Know My Redeemer Lives, I Am Not Ashamed, Under His Wings