Customer Reviews

Wandering Strange

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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The Dictionary defines the word "Gospel" as "something accepted as truth" and the old time Gospel Music had a way of making us believe this truth in a way that was unerringly human. This quality - often lacking in today's watered down contemporary Christian Music - is what has made the old gospel music stand up so well over time and to hear it played in the framework of modern pop/folk arrangements is enough to make even the most cynical of us want to stand up and get saved.

With simple arrangements, use of electric guitar, and the feeling that the music is being played "live", Campbell has managed to give these songs a contemporary feel without losing the sense of timelessness that has made these songs so lasting. This sense of timelessness is best illustrated in her version of "There is a Fountain" which, with its ringing guitars, folk/rock rhythms, and soaring harmonies, turns William Cowper's 1771 Hymn into a declaration of redemption. "Come Thou Font" is gently turned into a heartfelt soulful ballad in which every word sounds like a prayer.

One of the more pleasant surprises is that Campbell's own compositions stand up rather well to the old standards. "10,000 Lures" with its Pentecostal warning of enticement takes on biblical proportions in describing the Devil's tantalizing charms. In "Bear It Away" Campbell sings a song about four little girls who were killed in a Birmingham church during the Civil Rights Movement and we are reminded of how much of a role this music played in making this movement a reality.

Although not blessed with the strongest of voices, it is her ability to take the listener directly into the places where the songs are being sung that makes her music so endearing and heartfelt - the best of Campbell's music has always been in the painting of musical landscapes that have the quality of taking the listener into the heart of where people live. In the making of this CD she causes these songs come alive in a timeless way that is human, heartfelt, and soulful -truly one of the better Gospel Albums of the year for both believers and non-believers alike.

I think so. Kate Campbell's silky voice has never sounded better, her mastery of various styles never more apparent, and her creativity and insight have never been more brilliant. Her covers of old Baptist hymns invigorate them with a sincere purpose for today. Her originals show the depth of understanding of human experience, and the poignant storytelling style that we who follow Kate have come to expect from her. As a prime example, listen to "The Last Song". You'll be tranported back two thousand years, and hear and feel the players involved like never before.

This may be the first Kate Campbell album you buy, but it won't be the last.

I really needed this cd. A bad week at work, struggles on every side, our first baby arriving in 3 weeks. Needless to say, I had a lot on my mind. The people at (...) might have wondered what I was listening to while I fought back both tears and shouts of joy. The Lord used this CD to lift me up. It helped me to put things back into perspective.

I've never been a "fan" of anybody. I suppose I'm eclectic liking this and that, but I have never more than one album of any recording artist. It's just too much of the same for me. But Kate Campbell has my attention. Wandering Strange was my first Kate Campbell album. Sweet. Gospel songs that aren't gospelly--beautiful and meaningful but there is no preacher in sight. I think that only Kate Campbell could do this. I broke tradition and bought a second of her albums (Rosaryville). Today I bought a third Kate Campbell album. But I'm still not a fan! I'm just . . . captivated by her wonderful talent.

I found Kate Campbell's collection of gospel music to be filled with a heartfelt understanding of God's grace walked out in shoe leather. Her faith is expressed in a heartfelt thankfulness rather than a pios or "preachy" voice. Wonderful music. A wonderful message. Refreshingly funny.

Gospel-country-rock will soothe your soul
and heal your broken heart.
This is a major talent.

I loved the variety of songs and instrumentals on this album.
She sings with great depth and feeling. I really liked Cjome Thou Fount, There Is a Fountain and On Jordan's Stormy Banks.

I first listened to this album because it was at a music store "folk music" listening station with a tag line that read something like "the most soulful gospel since Aretha Franklin." That seemed surprising to me in a folk singer, so I decided to check it out. I started with the second track, one of my favorite hymns, "Come Thou Fount," and ended up standing there listening to the entire album, something I've not done before or since.

Whether you're a true believer or not, gospel songs are best sung by those who enter into them personally and can sing them with complete conviction from the soul. And Kate's conviction shines on this album, as does her complicated love for the South and its religion. The arrangements turn songs into testimonies, amplifying their meaning without the least hint of show-boating (as my grandma would've called it). Traditional songs are vibrant with life and relevence, and Kate's own compositions stand strong beside them, with lyrics and melodic quotes that pay tribute to the debt she owes them.

But this isn't just a collection of marvelous songs. Nobody constructs an album like Kate Campbell, and this one is put together as well as the most carefully constructed sermon. References in songs reflect off of one another--10,000 Lures to ten thousand charms--in a way that makes the whole even greater than the sum of the parts. This is an album with shades and depths to be discovered on even the hundredth listen.