Review: Triumphant Quartet – Everyday

This is the latest mainline effort from Triumphant Quartet.  A big reason for this group’s success is the stability of the lineup of David Sutton, Clayton Inman, Scott Inman, Eric Bennett, and Jeff Stice.

Tracks:

1. Jesus Built This Church On Love – This is an interesting start to the CD.  David Sutton sings the lead on an arrangement of this classic Joel Hemphill song that is soulful, yet understated.  There is a choir backing the quartet on this number, which adds to the soulful sound as well.  It’s not flashy, but a solid start to the disc.  8/10
2. Everyday – This is a masterful cover of the old Oak Ridge Boys tune.  Clayton Inman sings the verses with Sutton singing the lead on the chorus.  Eric Bennett gets to drag the bottom of the chorus a little.  The contrast with the lower vocals on the bridge is immaculate.  The background harmonies on the channel leading into the chorus and really nice too.  This is a high energy song that should do extremely well on radio.  Great job!  10/10
3. Somebody Died For Me – Country flavored ballad featuring Scott Inman.  Like I’ve noticed more recently, this song lyrically has a military theme, but is well crafted by writers Christy Sutherland and Kyle Matthews.  Inman does a great job on this song.  It really sounds a lot like the kind of material Gold City is doing these days, it’s similar musically to “What Children Believe” on GC’s Moment Of Truth.  Scott actually sounds a bit like Daniel Riley on the bridge with some nice background harmonies behind him.  That’s never a bad thing.  Another really strong song.  9/10
4. Amazed At The Change – This was the title cut to the latest CD by Liberty Quartet and was penned by Rodney Griffin.  The versions are fairly similar, but this one is a little bouncier and a little more acoustic mountain flavored in the instrumental track.  Both are good.  I think I like Liberty’s tag to the song better, but I like the background harmony change on the last chorus that Triumphant does here.  It actually sounds a bit reminiscent of the “War is over…” descant in John Lennon’s Christmas song “So This Is Christmas.”  Solid song.  7.5/10
5. Do You Know That You Know That You Know – Mid to uptempo song written by Scott Inman that has a cajun feel to it.  Scott sings the verses with a nice key change between the 2nd and 3rd verses.  The harmonies are smooth on the chorus.  Solid song.  7/10
6. When The Trumpet Sounds – Mid to uptempo that starts with the chorus sung with only a drum accompaniment.  David Sutton has the lead the whole way through and does a fine job.  Eric Bennett really drags the bottom on the choruses.  Nice song by  Wayne Haun and Joel Lindsey.  There’s a nice higher tag to this one.  It’s also neat the way they continually build the instrumental track.  A banjo enters the mix after the first verse, then some brass comes in on the last chorus.  I’ll bet this is a great concert tune.  8/10
7. One Drop Of Blood – There’s not a bass in gospel music that can carry a power ballad like Eric Bennett, and he does a wonderful job on this great ballad by Jerry Goff and Wayne Haun.  Nice harmonies on this one, and I can’t overstate Bennett’s masterful job on the verses.  The first two choruses are in trio form with Bennett and the two Inmans.  The chorus is then repeated with Sutton taking the lead and some nice moving harmonies.  Great song!  9.5/10
8. God’s Home – Midtempo driving country tune from the pen of Dianne Wilkinson.  Nice tune with some great harmonies with a nice bridge of “Working On A Building” leading to a key change.  There’s a false tag and then some nice piano playing from Jeff Stice.  Then the last few lines are repeated to a tag.  7.5/10
9. What A Wonderful Day – Joe Moscheo’s classic from the Prophets Quartet is given a cowboy swing treatment by the guys.  David Sutton shines on this song, his vocal on this song is very strong.  It’s actually set at a little faster tempo than I’m used to, but it’s a nice change.  The harmonies are nice, I’ve always liked this song.  This is a commendable job with some nice modern harmonies.  8.5/10
10. The Day Of Our Lord – Nice flowing ballad by Paula Stefanovich.  This has a very anthemic style, and Clayton Inman performs the lead perfectly.  There are several duet lines as well in the verses and some nice use of unison that splits into 4 part harmony.  This is a very catchy song.  It’s a very good song to end the disc with.  There’s a great bridge of “The King Is Coming” and then a key change (of which there are actually several) and the tag is performed in a round, with a last power “the day of our Lord” to finish the song.  9.5/10

Overall:  9 This is an excellent CD from Triumphant, with some nice variety in musical style.  While “Everyday” isn’t a gospel song per se, I think its message is very much applicable, and an illustration of Christian living, so I’m personally glad Triumphant decided to record the song.  Nevermind the fact that the song plays to each of their strengths.  “Somebody Died For Me” could easily be done by Gold City, “What A Wonderful Day” is a great throwback, and “The Day Of Our Lord” is a stirring anthem, while “One Drop Of Blood” is a classic ballad, and should become a signature song for Eric Bennett.  This is a most enjoyable album and easily a must-have for any fan of good SG music and quartet singing.