Search - Amy Grant :: Unguarded

Totally Amy.

Joseph M. Perorazio | Columbus, OH USA | 12/12/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"By the early 80's, Amy Grant had established herself as a true force in Contemporary Christian music, having sold over a million copies of her albums 'Age to Age' and 'Straight Ahead'. These milestones still did not prepare her primary audience for the new sounds of 'Unguarded', however. At the time of its release, 'Unguarded' sounded more like the top 40 radio of the time, with 80's synth-rock production and oblique lyrics that had Amy singing about a vague "you", rather than God or Jesus directly. There was some dismay among traditionalist fans, who saw this album as Amy moving away from her roots, but the mainstream audience, many of whom had never heard 'Age to Age' or 'Straight Ahead' made 'Unguarded's singles top 20 hits on the secular charts, a feat unheard of at the time for a Christian artist.



In retrospect, 'Unguarded' is perhaps more important as an historical turning point for Christian music, rather than as an album in itself, since the songs do sound somewhat dated today, and yet the Christian music audience is forever indebted to this album because it broke Christian music to a wider audience and paved the way for many rock-oriented Christian acts to follow."