Gregory Paul Smith - 'I Can Live Again'

I Can Live Again is not a nice "safe" album with generic sentiment and a "put your toe in the water to see how it feels" theme. This CD is personal and deep. Gregory Paul Smith puts his heart out there for the world to see, without fear or trepidation, because he knows that he has the approval of the one who matters ... Jesus.

I'll be honest with you. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I put Gregory Paul Smith's I Can Live Again in my CD player. After all, a background in jazz as an All-American trombone player, a stint as the frontman for a Christian rock band (Mars Hill Band) and time as a member of the southern gospel quartet Calvary Echoes didn't really give me a clear direction of where he would go as a solo artist. It could have been bad ... really bad. But, thankfully, it was good ... I mean really good ... that kind of good that makes you listen to it over and over and over! I wasn't sure what to do first; write the review, write him a note on his MySpace or put his music on my mp3 player so I could take it with me when I'm on the run!

This entire CD is a winner. Each and every song is soothing, even though you know, in the back of your mind, that a lot of personal pain had to be gone through before he could come out on the other side. Gregory Paul Smith gives you hope for your own life. He really makes you believe that no matter how much you've messed up your own life, you can come through it as long as you have Jesus.

My personal favorites (which were hard to pick because the whole album really is great) are "Dwelling Place," "I Can Live Again," "Broken" and "River."

Maybe I sound a little overboard here, but believe me, this is a release that I can safely rave about! And if I sounded a bit like a stalker in the note I sent Greg, well - (sheepish grin) - what can I say? The man's music has made me a serious fan! Give him a listen for yourself and you'll understand.