Grace Like Rain (CD - 2003)

Personnel includes: Todd Agnew (vocals); Steve Selvidge (electric guitar); Jack Holder (baritone guitar); Jonathan Chu, Ann Acosta (violin); Dave Smith (bass); Rebecca Kletzker (viola); Richard Thomas, Amanda Martin (cello); Rick Steff (piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Dave Smith (bass); Kim Trammell (drums); Bruce Clinton, Kevin Paige, Todd Hale (background vocals).

Recorded at Ardent Studios, Memphis, Tennessee.

Personnel: Todd Agnew (vocals); Kevin Paige (vocals); Jack Holder, Steve Selvidge (electric guitar); Jonathan Chu (violin); Richard Thomas (cello); Rick Steff (Hammond b-3 organ, keyboards); Dave Smith (bass instrument); Kim Trammel (drums).

What grabs you immediately about Todd Agnew's brand of praise & worship is the diversity with which it's delivered. Throughout Grace Like Rain, Agnew shifts flawlessly from one genre to another without losing much speed. Cuts like "Shepherd" and "Grace Like Rain" pour forth as superb praise & worship fare. "Romans 12:1" brings the funk with a slapped bassline leading the charge. "Still Here Waiting" is a piano-driven melody with strings, a cut that slows the disc's timbre to a worshipful moment, while "Come Ye Sinners" utilizes subtle guitars and a Hammond B-3 to do the same. While the disc has plenty of spiritual heft, the cut "This Fragile Breath" is a particularly anthemic praise number that builds mightily at the song's chorus, and is easily one of the disc's best. Grace Like Rain is the type of release that is very real, both lyrically and spiritually. The opus comes off as a sincere message delivered poignantly by Todd Agnew. ~ Steven Douglas Losey minimize