Glow

Innocence Mission | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 6, 1995)
• Original Release Date: June 6, 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Fontana a&M
• ASIN: B000002G38
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,863 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Details Producer: Dennis Herring Distributor: Fontana Distribution Recording Type: Studio Recording Mode: Stereo SPAR Code: n/a

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It Shimmers and Glows Like Spring, March 19, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Glow (Audio CD)

Back in 1989, as a music mad gal, writing reviews for an underground fanzine, I caught a tune on a local college radio station. It was a song called "I Remember Me" by The Innocence Mission. It was a lovely, breezy track that matched the jangly beauty of sound that was emerging from certain bands who were in a niche between the hippy hop of the Manchester Sound and the budding world of the Seattle scene of the day. I purchased their self titled album ("The Innocence Mission") and snapped my fingers happily to the tracks. Yes, they have The Sundays sound, but one can ponder if The Sundays actually have The Innocence Mission sound, since both groups emerged around the same time. The ethereal vibe and vocals seem to show them to be cousins in style; yet, the similarites end at Karen Paris' vocals - which are about a shade removed from Harriet Wheeler's. However, this is not a comparison on the two groups. They are actually different in rhythm and musical texture.

I've been keeping my fingers in the musical pie for quite a while now, but I admit I lost track of The Innocence Mission, figuring they probably drowned with the said Sundays, or various other groups who bit the dust since. I was surprised, after sampling this lovely album of luscious hooks in the local music store to see they've stayed afloat, and have been making some beauties, thank you very much. Boy, have I been missing the boat.

"Glow" is a musical treasure that immediately starts with a dreamy riff, taking you by the hand for a journey of tunes and floating guitar evoking the feeling of spring fever. "Keeping Awake" kicks of the stream of sound that leads into the Velvet Underground infused "Bright As Yellow", pulsating in a dreamy ramble, over to my favorite track "Brave - a mixture of amazing melodic hooks that take you to certain emotional corners. "There" is another sunny summer day tune that makes you want to lay in a hammock and smell some cut grass and flowers.

This albums provides what I can only describe as drinking cold sweet lemonade on a sun drenched porch, or driving your car with the top down on the first fresh, warm day day in spring. "Glow" was playing on my iPod this morning while riding the subway. The tracks were so bright and beautiful, I think I fell in love with every man I saw.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything I had hoped for, July 23, 2003

By 

Sannah Zay "suncat23" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Glow (Audio CD)

I'm a big fan of the Sundays, and they are a fairly unique band... it's hard to find music that captures the same ethereal foggy atmosphere of that band. I heard a lot of comparisons to the Sundays when I was reading about the Innocence Mission, and thought that was very intriguing... it's not often bands are compared to the Sundays.

The music is great. The vocals are as good if not better, the guitaring is similar in style and nearly as good, and the overall atmosphere of the music is spot-on. This is the kind of music that takes you to a foggy dreamland, wrapped in a flannel blanket drinking peppermint tea. I love it. If you like the Sundays, you should probably like this too.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arguably Their Most Consistently Outstanding Album, February 10, 2006

By 

Chip Webb (Fairfax Station, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Glow (Audio CD)

Glow was my first introduction to The Innocence Mission. I had heard about them off-and-on for years, but Glow was the first album of theirs that I purchased, and that was in January 1996. Glow is arguably still their most consistently outstanding album. All of their albums have superlative songs, and putting on each new Innocence Mission album for the first time feels like having old friends drop in to visit, but Glow can still grab you from beginning to end more than a decade after its 1995 release. The childhood memories displayed on this album are moving, and lead singer and songwriter Karen Paris paints incredible pictures with an economical use of words that hint at larger vistas.

The album opener, "Keeping Awake," is itself a perfect song. If you've never heard The Innocence Mission before, you may be blown away by Karen's vocals and poetry. Musically, the song communicates peace and calm, but it's the little details that stand out. The imagery is evocative: family members sitting under trees in a dreamed-for tomorrow; a girl dancing into her room; the sense of peace at having everyone home; and, most of all, the sense that "My room is held in someone's arms,/my bed is held in someone's arms." This last little detail -- God holding the speaker's bedroom -- points to the often subtle ways in which The Innocence Mission band members communicate their Roman Catholic faith.

The album moves on from there as Karen paints her watercolor pictures. Yellow/gold is a recurring color in her palette this time around ("Bright as Yellow," "Brave," "Speak Our Minds," "Everything's Different Now," "Spinning"), as are blue ("Keeping Awake," "Happy, the End," "I Hear You Say So"), white ("Happy, the End," "There"), green ("I Hear You Say So") and red ("Bright as Yellow," "Brave"). Collectively, the songs move us through the four seasons of the year. We have recurring characters: Aunt Mary ("Speak Our Minds," "Everything's Different Now") and Harry ("Our Harry," "Spinning"; Harry is also almost definitely the one spoken to in "I Hear You Say So" and less certainly the one addressed in "That Was Another Country"). We are also introduced to Junie and Georgia, as well as other unnamed companions.

All of this adds up to a richly detailed portrait of growing up in middle-class America at a time when major changes are seen in the lives of friends. Our speaker feels trapped by fears and her inability to both reach out to others ("Bright as Yellow") and trust God ("Brave"). In contrast, one friend, Harry, is able to reach outside himself: he's going to join the Peace Corps in the summer("Our Harry"). This troubles the speaker, who doesn't want to lose Harry ("Spinning," arguably "That Was Another Country"). She and her other friends, meanwhile, face their own sadness ("Speak Our Minds") juxtaposed with times of healing ("Happy, the End"). This, of course, is just the lot of ordinary life, and such conditions require perseverance ("Go"). Such perseverance is needed not just in their relationships with other people, but God as well ("There"). In the end, Harry apparently does leave in the summer, "reaching out" to others through the Peace Corps work, but the speaker now has peace about his leaving ("I Hear You Say So").

Lyrically and musically, The Innocence Mission give us this non-linear story with talent and creativity. Karen has one of the most beautiful voices around, and her husband Don, Mike Bitts, and (now ex-band member) Steve Brown are all talented musicians. The music is often ethereal. Glow also may be so successful partially due to the talents of Dennis Herring, who was arguably their best producer.

In any case, don't pass over Glow. You'll be missing out on a rich, emotional work if you do. The early Innocence Mission albums have been going out of print recently, so this one may not be with us (under the A&M label, at least) for much longer.