The Very Best of Avalon (CD - 2003)

Additional personnel includes: Chris Rodriguez, Brent Milligan (acoustic & electric guitar); Brown Bannister (acoustic guitar); Rob Graves (acoustic guitar); Tedd T. Damon Riley (keyboards, programming); Brad O'Donnell (bass).

Steve Brewster (drums).

Producers: Brown Bannister, Tedd T., Charlie Peacock, Brown Bannister.

Includes liner notes by Avalon.

Though it's one of several groups named after the ancient mythical island paradise, the hugely successful contemporary Christian quartet Avalon is perhaps best suited to the name. Sometimes called "the Christian ABBA," because of its two-man/two-woman line-up and taste for sparkling production values, Avalon actually has more in common stylistically with contemporary divas like Celine Dion and Shania Twain. Influenced both by traditional gospel and '80s Los Angeles pop, the group's sound is at once impeccably smooth and quite energetic.

TESTIFY TO LOVE collects Avalon's biggest hits and adds two new tracks, which rank favorably with their best work. The overall impression here is of something so perfectly created and smoothed out that it recalls the religious craftsmen of old; painstakingly working on a project for years on end, making every tiny detail perfect in hopes of getting closer to the divine. minimize