Customer Reviews

So Far: The Best Of Susan Ashton Volume 1

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Many may not know that Susan Ashton was one of the most popular and respected contemporary Christian vocalists for most of the 1990s before her crossover to country music. This compilation highlights some of her greatest work in that genre and includes selections from her first three albums (Wakened by the Wind, Angels of Mercy, Susan Ashton) and two additional cuts.

Susan Ashton possesses a pure, gorgeous voice that immediately captivates. It is an incredible, expressive gift honed by a passion for her craft and a commitment to her calling -- it is a precise, masterful vocal presence. "So Far" is a testament to an amazing voice and an even more amazing partnership with songwriter Wayne Kirkpatrick. His intelligent, thoughtful lyrics and gorgeous melodies go straight to the heart of the Christian walk. Together they create some of the most honest testimonies of living faith you may ever hear.

Much of this material would be considered acoustic pop/rock with some country leanings and even a little jazz ("Remember Not"). It's difficult for me to pick a favorite -- the entire album is excellent. I do wish that more material from the third release ("Susan Ashton") had been included -- "Summer Solstice" in particular.

If you are a fan of warm, rich, confident vocals over spare, sophisticated lyrics reflecting a life for Christ, then SO FAR -- and all of Susan Ashton's earlier work -- is for you.

Susan Ashton is a contemporary Christian vocalist who is writing and singing songs that are as good as (or better than) any pop artist in today's Top 40.

This greatest hits album is a perfect introduction to Susan Ashton's music. One of the most immediate things you'll hear is her magnaminous voice: God gave Susan Ashton some impeccable pipes, and she knows how to use them. This singer has one of the most pristine and herculean voices in popular music today (think Martina McBride, a good comparison). Moreover, Susan sings with passion, knowing instinctively how to convey the personal feelings associated with her songs.

Of course, a central dimension to these songs is the unmistakable Christian themes. Whether she's encouraging us to "reach out beyond justice to mercy, going more than halfway to forgive," or acknowledging that "no one knows my heart better than [God]," or proclaiming she'll "stand...for what I believe," you can expect to hear messages to which all believing people relate.

This album contains some of the finest songs in contemporary Christian music. I highly recommend it!

Rarely do I find a cd where I like every single song on it, but this is one of those. Susan Ashton has a beautiful smooth soothing voice. It is hard for me to descibe her style, sort of a country flavor, but not quite, a little folk possibly. There are beautiful ballads like " Grand Canyon" and "Stand", and some more upbeat tunes like "Hunger & Thirst" and "Remember Not". Her message is on a personal spiritual level rather than generalized. This is just the perfect cd to play on a rainy afternoon, or whenever you want to kick back. I highly recomend it.

Back in the early 90's, Susan Ashton burst onto the Christian music scene with a couple very well reviewed CD's. Before she tried to cross over to a country artist, she released four projects for Sparrow and this best of.

This CD was released after her third project came out. That third CD only gets two songs here. It didn't have great success at radio, which is a shame because it had some great tracks. They just weren't radio friendly. "Waiting for Your Love to Come Down" and "Remember Not" were more radio friendly, but they weren't the best that CD had to offer. And they continue to be the weak links here.

The rest of the CD will brings smiles of remembrance from anyone who listened to Christian radio during Susan's heyday. It opens with "Here in My Heart" and includes such staples as "Down on My Knees," "No One Knows My Heart," and my favorite "In Amazing Grace Land." Interestingly enough, the CD closes with "Beyond Justice to Mercy" which was never a hit at radio. I must admit I didn't like this song of reconciliation, but it has grown on me.

As most collection CD's do, this one has two new tracks. "Stand" is a song of commitment in spite of the trials of life. "Hide or Seek" is classic Susan as it talks about the decision to seek or hide from God's love.

I'm not quite sure what killed Susan's Christian career, but I miss her music. Her few releases are still regular staples in my CD player. And this excellent collection will show you exactly why.

Wow! That's what I said to myself when I first got this CD a while back. This is the CD that first introduced me to the music of Susan Ashton and to put it simply, all I can say is that it is truly amazing. Hearing "So Far", I was very impressed by the clean cut and clear vocals of Ms. Ashton. More importantly, the faith in God that each and every song on "So Far" stands for has been so uplifting. "So Far" is a collection of Ashton's biggest hits from '91-'93 as well as two new songs for 1995. The two new songs, "Stand" and "Hide or Seek", are two powerful ballads of faith and hope. "Stand" encourages us to not be afraid but to go in God and praise him-following his will as we confess each sin and just let him bring joy to our lives. "Hide or Seek" tells us not to be afraid of anything, but to stop running and come to God for love, help, and hope because he already knows everything about us and loves us anyway. These are two very heartfelt optimistic songs. Of Ashton's previous hits that appear on this album, my three favorites are "Ball and Chain", "In Amazing Graceland", and "Grand Canyon"-all ballads. "Ball and Chain" and "In Amazing Gracelane" just fill me with so much hope about God's mercy, and they really help the listener appreciate more fully the love and warmth of God. "Grand Canyon" makes you think about driving out in the country and admiring the view-the song totally makes me see God and his grandeur in the beauty of nature everywhere. "Grand Canyon" just makes me want to love Him more. This CD has gotten me through many rough times with it's positive encouragement, and I recommend it to anyone looking for truly uplifting spiritual music. Each song on "So Far" also has a clear country music sound to it, so mainstream music listeners who like country music will also enjoy "So Far". Excellent work, Susan-I predict that you'll go far not only in the Christian music world but in the country music world too! Keep up the good work!

Like I said ,Susan Ashton is one of my favorite christian artists. If you like Trisha Yearwood as your favorite country artist (like me) then you will probably also like Susan Ashton. Too bad that now that she went country, that now on my local christian radio station. (Since she's from around here in Houston) If you remember listening to her or going to a concert of hers, gauranteed this cd will bring back memories of whatever you think of while listening to it. It does for me.

This is my favorite album. I listen to it all of the time and keep a tape of it in my car. If you can find a copy of it, I highly recommend buying it!

Susan Ashton is an extremely talented singer and this CD captures the beauty of her voice. She puts everything in to each song she sings. I highly recommed this CD to people who enjoy beautiful music with clean and moral lyrics.

Years ago, I went through a period of intense pain and severe difficulty. My entire life came apart, and so did I. During that time, I listened to a lot of inspirational music, and this album was the best of all of them.

I hadn't listened to it in a long time, but today I saw it amongst my many other CDs and decided to put it on. It brought back so many memories! You would think that an album I listened to frequently during a terrible time would have terrible memories associated, but I was amazed to see that the thing I remember most is the hope, the moments of knowing that I really would be all right, that things really would be okay. I remembered the comfort I drew from the music, from the clear conviction in Susan's lovely voice.

Now, all these many years later, my beliefs have changed in a lot of ways, but my faith is stronger than ever. And hearing this album reminds me just how very far I really have come...

Admittedly, that's a very subjective review and my personal reaction to the music. From a more objective point of view, the music is strongly written with a clear and unambiguous message of hope, faith, encouragement, and promise. Susan's voice is strong and she is an extremely good singer, using her voice perfectly to communicate the message. Good arrangements (very much in the style of 90s country, but not too "twangy" or "countrified"), and overall just a really strong, uplifting, and well-produced album in all respects.

And back to that personal reflection, I'm so glad I had this album during my tribulations and trial by fire, and I'm even more glad that I got it out today to listen to it again.

Imagine this is an old friend who has grown up, and you have too, you haven't spoken in years and now she wants to share the important emotions that her now developed Spiritual Persona has brought her to. (For the lady readers, I suppose the genders could be reversed). This is the first of Ms Ashton's works that I have been lucky enough to review, but I am certain it won't be the last. The warm feeling of sharing thoughts between old friends on subjects ranging from prayer, to praise; grace to submission. The acoustic guitar is a perfect compliment to Ms Ashton's beautiful airy voice. The bass registers also keep a balance to the airyness to maintain a well used tonal spectrum. 'Con Amore' is a notation in choral works that means 'lovingly' or 'with love' and in this reviewer's opinion, applies to this total collection. If you like 'music' or you are a 'spiritual person', you will like this, if you are both, you have just found a new favorite.