Legacy...Hymns & Faith

1	This Is My Father's World 3:05
2	My Jesus, I Love Thee 3:34
3	Softly and Tenderly 4:03
4	I Need Thee Every Hour/Nothing But the Blood / Vince Gill 4:42
5	What You Already Own 3:21
6	It Is Well With My Soul/The River's Gonna Keep on Rolling 4:54
7	Do You Remember the Time 3:51
8	Fields of Plenty/Be Still My Soul 4:36
9	Imagine/Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus 5:17
10	Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing 3:15
11	Fairest Lord Jesus 3:15
12	Holy, Holy, Holy 2:26
13	What a Friend We Have in Jesus/Old Rugged Cross/How Great Thou Art 3:30
14	Marching to Zion 3:20

Barnes & Noble

In recognition of her 25th anniversary of making music, Amy Grant returns to her roots with this gentle collection of traditional hymns. Legacy marks Grant's first new nonholiday release since 1997's Behind the Eyes, and fans of Grant's "Baby Baby"-style glossy pop sound may be surprised to find acoustic folk renditions of "It Is Well with My Soul" and "The Old Rugged Cross" here. While she hasn't given up the contemporary pop scene; this record is for the singer's Christian audience -- people who, like Grant, grew up in church singing these beautiful old hymns and have a deeply rooted emotional connection to the music. That said, it's hard to beat Legacy for sheer beauty and emotional intimacy; while sacred music has enjoyed a resurgence of late -- award-winning trio Selah have built their career on hymns -- Legacy is an easy, peaceful collection that spotlights the purity of these old songs. Eleven traditional hymns are joined by four new songs; one, "I Can Only Imagine," earned a Dove Award for Song of the Year for its writer, MercyMe's Bart Millard. Legacy benefits from the light touch of co-producers Brown Bannister (a longtime Grant collaborator) and county singer Vince Gill, Grant's husband; delicate guitar work is embellished with sunny mandolins and harmonicas, giving this collection an easy, down-home feel. A fitting tribute to the legacy of a Christian music icon. Lisa Zhito

All Music Guide

Within Amy Grant's rich catalog of sacred and secular recordings, Legacy...Hymns & Faith stands out for its thematic integrity and superb execution. Never a showy vocalist, she relies here on her familiarity with the material, most of which consists of old-time hymns, to convey the essence of each track. Her performances, bare of any extraneous effect and generally confined to a narrow segment of her range, blend into consistently excellent arrangements by Vince Gill (her husband) and Brown Bannister; these range from a catchy, soft pop treatment of "This Is My Father's World" through several dreamlike tracks, some buffeted by synths or strings (including "Softly and Tenderly," with its strong Daniel Lanois vibe), and one medley of particular beauty, "Fields of Plenty" and "Be Still My Soul," on which Grant sings a cappella and with Richard Bennett's acoustic guitar. Faith, in its gentlest manifestation, permeates the album up to the last track, "Marching to Zion," whose martial pipes and drums either disrupt the vibe or leave the listener exhilarated, depending on your disposition; a prayer, given in the studio by Amy's father, Burton Grant, and recorded by chance, provides an appropriate segue before the Crusaders storm off on their mission. Robert Doerschuk