Okay. I've been promising myself every year that I'd review this album come Easter week, and every year I've neglected to actually do it. This year, I'm not going to pass up the opportunity.

You see, Cindy Morgan is one of the well-known voices in contemporary Christian music, and her 1998 album, The Loving Kind, was one of her finest moments in terms of presenting a stylistically diverse and yet thematically unified album within her chosen genre of adult contemporary pop. At some point between the start of her career as a pop diva and the mid-90's, Cindy chose to develop from just another pretty voice into a true artists. And while some might scoff at the idea of an AC-friendly "artists", I think good art can be found within any genre, especially when it's given more of an alternative approach like Cindy has done here.

But why does that make this album appropriate for Easter week? Well, it's one of those discs that I tend to pull out again and again at this time of year, because of its theme. Composed after a trip with Cindy's then-new husband Sigmund Brouwer to Israel, The Loving Kind is a concept album of sorts, based on the week leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, which Christians now observe at a strangely fluctuating point in each calendar year. Put together almost like a one-woman musical (with a lot of instrumental help, obviously, but it's Cindy playing the characters here), the album explores the perspectives of several key players in these events, imagining what they saw, how they felt, and how their lives (and indeed, history) were affected by it. Cindy matches this exploration to musical moods ranging from light pop to harsh rock (OK, just a little bit) to sophisticated jazz-pop to Middle East-inflected folk to somber classical. It's a lot of ground to cover all at once, but she blends it together quite seamlessly, leaving few dull moments.

Or at least, that's what I think now. For some reason, The Loving Kind is one of those discs that took me a long time to fully get into. I've had it lying around since my senior year of college, but all I could think of when I first heard it was how it wasn't as adventurous as her previous album (the stunning Listen, another record I'll have to review at some point), and how radio was picking all of the dull inspirational songs to play. I enjoyed a lot of the musical flavors on the album, but I had difficulties pulling out individual songs that would fit in on their own among other favorite songs that I was putting on mix tapes for myself. Maybe the idea of a concept album just wasn't my thing back then; I don't know. In any case, I've since taken a second look at the album (Cindy Morgan was mentioned early one as one of my fiancee's favorites when we were first getting to know each other), and it's proved to be both an artistically satisfying listen and an excellent meditation on the death and resurrection of Christ, a suitable soundtrack for those drives to sunrise service and the lazy Easter afternoons spent eating and hanging out with family.

Easter is actually my favorite holiday, because it's got tons of spiritual significance for me, but I can generally escape the commercial side of it because every artist in existence isn't recording songs about it that the radio plays incessantly. It's not like Christmas, where everyone gets whipped into a buying frenzy - Christians joyfully celebrate the holiday without it being this overboard spectacle, and everyone else might have their Easter bunnies and candy and egg hunts (which are fun too), but I never feel like feverish consumerism overtakes the meaning of the holiday. And you know, if Christmas aficionados can have oodles of cheesy Christmas music to play incessantly, then darn it, I deserve a good Easter album. (Not to set up a rivalry, we're celebrating the birth and death of the same guy here, but come on, let's have some equal representation here.)

So let's follow Cindy on her journey as she retraces the events that became the foundation of the faith the she has today.

In the Garden
From boy to a man, the carpenter's hands
Healed all the sick and diseased
Gave hope to the bleak, strength to the weak
And gave us a song to sing...
While I can't say whether the sound of this oddball opener is an accurate representation the music indigenous music of Israel, it definitely has a free-spirited, otherworldly feel that is unexpected for a CCM artist. Against a playful backdrop of piano, clarinet, violin, and klezmer, Cindy does a little playful waltz of sorts in which she connects Adam and Eve's innocence in the Garden of Eden to Christ's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. It's an interesting way of covering a lot of ground (essentially the whole Old Testament, setting up mankind's sinfulness and the need for Christ to save them) and tying two disparate events together, and Cindy does a great job of drawing us into a joyful celebration while reminding us that a price had to be paid for that celebration.

The March
Oh, it was a march for the ones who judged Him
Dipping their crowns in a crimson flood
It was a march for the thief and harlot
Humble and holy, oh what a story...
A slick transition, with the first song cutting out in a cute and sudden way, and the accordion leading us into a triumphant and upbeat song in a manner that sounds much like a polka, is one of the album's more endearingly strange moments. One the guitars and drums kick in and the song moves into an organic pop setting, I have to admit my interest fades a little, because I'm not sure if Cindy's usually endearing voice works well in this setting. She takes a bit of a gutsy approach in places, but something about it is awkward. Nevertheless, she exudes confidence as she describes the grand entrance of Christ into Jerusalem on what is now known as Palm Sunday. She knows that the people gathered around to celebrate this cultural icon are going to be some of the same ones who spit and hurl insults at Him on His way to the cross less than a week later, and that His life will redeem them from their various sins. The composition here is smart, with horns popping in to give it a slightly classy feel, but ultimately, it's kind of a schizophrenic mix and it's not one of the album's stronger points.

The Loving Kind
Sitting in a courtyard still
They all come marching for the kill
They don't know You
But how I know You...
If you've heard any of the mid-tempo numbers on Cindy's previous albums, then you'll have a pretty good idea of what this album's title track sounds like, with its light drums and gentle piano. I see it as being a bit of a bunt when Cindy could have knocked it out of the park, but nevertheless, it describes the solid friendship between Jesus and the disciple Peter, whose perspective Cindy sings from here. She affirms that yes, Peter knew Jesus extremely well, having seen evidence of His love and patience with people first-hand, and yet he still denied Christ when placed under pressure by the Roman government who wanted to kill Him off. One would expect a little more anguish in a song like this, which instead ends with a quiet assurance of forgiveness, something that I feel might have been more poignant if placed later in the album. Aside from that, it's still a nice bit of storytelling framed within a song that fits rather inoffensively into Christian radio standards.

The Last Supper
This is the body that was broken
Broken for us all
Take and eat
This is the blood shed for many
Take and drink, Amen...
One of the album's quietest songs shows up here (two ballads in a row; a possible reason why my attention kind of wandered when I first listened to this album), and it's a duet between Cindy and another well-known CCM artist, Wes King. Wes paints the scene with the gentle plucking of acoustic guitar, and his vocals provide a hushed counterpoint to Cindy's as she describes Christ passing out the bread and wine, symbolic of His body and blood, at His last meal with the twelve disciples. It's sung from the perspective of Christ, with a hint of sadness because He knows that it's their final gathering and that He's going to genuinely miss their company. These weren't just people that Jesus taught - they were an off-the-wall group of friends, and as stubborn as they were, He really loved these guys.

Devil Man
Kiss of the serpent, bite of the fruit
You can keep the knowledge, I just want the loot...
Enter Judas, stage right. Wish a hushed demand of "Give me the money, give me the gold", Cindy begins to give us a glimpse inside the head of a character who ended up being a mole and who sold Jesus out for the bounty price on His head. The song takes off running before too long, with dramatic strings and solid drumming, a sort of symphonic pop/rock piece that brings us into the album's second act (the first being fairly upbeat and easygoing by comparison). The song describes Judas's realization of what he has done, and the desperation which eventually leads to his suicide. I can't think of a finer song written from the traitor's perspective, aside from U2's excellent "Until the End of the World". The song culminates in a moody interlude of strings and oboe, which provides a nice bridge into one of the album's centerpieces.

Can You Hear Me?
Hey what's your problem, can't you hear what I said
I am here drowning in sorrow while you sleep on your beds
And I can't tell and I can't speak, I can't even repeat what it is...
This was the song that grabbed my attention from the get-go, and that remains my favorite to this day. A simple but emotional piano ballad with the somber strings bleeding over from the last track to back it up, this one seems to explore the more human side of Jesus's personality. It's a rather quiet, contemplative song, in which He looks back at time spent with the disciples, when they were lazy, and quarreled amongst themselves, and basically failed to understand the lessons He was trying to teach them. It's weird to consider Jesus in this context, sounding rather frustrated with all of the people who have completely missed the point, and crying out to God the Father as He sits in prison, awaiting the inevitable death sentence. It is in this moment that the Father whispers gently and reminds the Son of His purpose here: "The scars that You bear will one day set the whole world free."

The Only Way
Flowing robes in a judge's pose
But their evidence is all full of holes
Pilate's washing his bloody hands
But he just can't get 'em clean...
The jaunty, bouncy piano that opens this song is kind of an intentional rude awakening, yanking Jesus out of His dusty cell and marching Him through broad daylight to the place of his execution. The song has a taunting tone to it, and it's here that Cindy's composition reminds me most of a musical, what with the background voices chiming in and the almost whimsical musical backdrop juxtaposing with Cindy's matter-of-fact, almost sneering vocals. Here she matter-of-factly tells off the religious stuffshirts who are making a mockery of Jesus, asking them if they even remotely understand what they're doing here. She couldn't be more blunt than to say "I am the peace, I am the love, I am the way, I'm the only way", and the tone of the song kind of brings out the ridiculousness of these people for thinking that they can save themselves through their own righteousness. The bridge is a calmer moment, with Jesus calmly acknowledging under His breath, "I am My Father's Son, it is as You say."

Hard Heart
Drinking from a dirty cup
Well, you turn your head and drink it up
But the nasty deeds you hide away
Will all be seen on judgment day...
I love the way this song comes whooshing in after the flourish that ends the previous track, setting up a nice groove with its slick beat and the stylish blurting of horns. While it seems almost off-kilter given the circumstances that are being described, the mood is almost tongue-in-cheek here, as Cindy launches a verbal attack (perhaps from the point of view of one of the disciples?) at the Pharisees, those who will consider "No letting go of the old traditions". It's one of those songs that I have to put on full blast when I've just had it up to here with overly conservative stick-in-the-mud types who tell me I'm wrong simply because I think about something differently. But then I have to realize that I'm one of these Pharisees too, one of these haughty people who were responsible for beating Jesus to a pulp and nailing Him to the cross. "Whatever you do to the least of these, you do it unto Me". I guess the smooth faux-jazz-pop soundscape helps it to go down a little easier, but ow, my toes just got stepped on.

The Whipping
Now who are you, you filthy Jew
To say you'll save us, oh and take us
And forgive us of our sins...
Far and away the strangest track on the record, this brief interlude features a weird mix of muted, programmed thumping that takes the place of drums, and a funky, atonal guitar squeal that accompanies the harsh mockery of the Romans as they beat Christ and nailed Him to the cross. It eventually collapses into another somber bridge of strings, and Cindy ends the song with the brilliant double entendre "Pain so thick and dull, marching to the skull". (The word "Golgotha", the place where Jesus was crucified, means "Skull".)

Higher
Children laughing, and lepers healing
In the waters of sweet forgiveness
Jordan, Galilee, the lame are walking
By the shining sea...
A familiar piano cadence leads off a song that proves to be one of the album's finest and most emotional moments. Cindy is once again singing from the perspective of Christ, this time as He hangs on the cross and awaits His agonizing death. Her voice is uncharacteristically quiet and low at the beginning of the song, signifying pain and utter exhaustion, but she returns to a prettier vocal range as she sings an earnest prayer to be elevated above the pain and see the greater purpose in this sacrifice. Many songwriters have described this sacrificial act in their songwriting - in a broad sense, the vast majority of Christian artists are using it as a basic premise for their work - but rarely has someone displayed such a keen ability to make us see it through His eyes. As the song reaches its climax (the death is curiously implied, but never explicitly mentioned), Cindy brilliantly concludes by reprising a few lines from "Can You Hear Me?", and it's clear that the two songs were written as connected thoughts with similar music.

Take My Life
This race is not just for the runners
Some of us walk, while others barely crawl
We make our way through spring and winter
Leaning on strength that strengthens all...
I don't know why, but I was never big on this album's "big single". In the context of the album, it's an excellent way to open the third act, with its slow but triumphant piano cadence offering a calm release to the tension and tragedy of the album's midsection, but I don't know, maybe I thought the keyboards and programming were too fluffy and predictable in comparison to the brilliance of Listen. Anyway, my biases against "normal" inspirational ballads aside, this song is a fine showcase for Cindy's vocals, and it's also a glimpse at a character that I can bet Cindy relates to on a more personal level. This one is sung from the point of view of Mary Magdalene, a prostitute who was shown mercy by Jesus and who stirred up a good bit of controversy in showing her gratitude to Him for how He treated her. This is a song of total surrender, coming from a person who doesn't know a whole lot about God (how could she when the religious elite of the day considered her a member of an untouchable caste?), but who is in awe of the clearly supernatural things she's seen and who wants to give her life over to this Jesus unconditionally. While the flow of the song seems a bit clunky to me at times, Cindy really knocks it out of the park and you can tell that she feels what she's singing in her heart of hearts.

Alive and Well
Who did you call Him
When He raised the dead and all of Hell's demons fled
Do you know, who did you call Him
Did He demand your all, and in your pride
Now you fall once again...
Here Cindy teams up with veteran CCM act Michael W. Smith, who borrows a bit from his own classic "Agnus Dei" in helping Cindy produce an arrangement worthy of a professional-grade Easter Sunday service. With a bit of programming to provide a backbeat and some exotic flair, Cindy pulls back from the story and describes all of us, people who mocked and denied Jesus and who caused His death, being given life as a result. Her vocal seems to get off-beat with the rhythm during the verses, but aside from that, this is a fairly solid praise song that gives us a glimpse of Christ's glorious resurrection (which two women were the first to see, by the way - a possible reason for Mary's song being placed where it was on the album). A boys' choir shows up in the middle of the song, repeatedly singing "Hallelujah", which is the most obvious point of reference to Michael W. Smith's work. (Fun bit of trivia: Brandon Hargest, who would later become a member of the infamous Jump5, is a member of this choir.)

Praise the King
Praise Him for a peaceful porch, and rocking chairs that sway
Praise Him for the rolling hills, where children laugh and play
Oh, and praise Him for the wandering souls that never lost their way...
While we're on the subject of choirs, I should mention that Cindy uses one comprised of grown-ups to close out the album on a highly respectable note. Starting off with simple reflections of gratitude that hearken back to simple ballads of hers such as "How Could I Ask for More", she moves into a simple, repeating chorus which later erupts into a grand choral affair, with voices including John Elefante, all four members of Avalon, Chris Rice, Nicol Smith of Selah, and even Cindy's husband, bringing the house down with simple but beautiful harmonies as they repeat, "Praise the King, praise the King, let it ring, praise the King." It's a rare moment of beautiful simplicity that probably wouldn't mean as much on its own as it does when posed as a response to the story Cindy has told throughout the album.

Music has this certain power - an ability to make us care about things that hearing a story in simple words sometimes might not. As a Christian, it can be easy to take an event of such magnitude as Christ's death and resurrection for granted, simply because it's too big to fully process and appreciate. Art has a place in helping us to ponder the different aspects of this and appreciate it, because the best art will always respect that which is extraordinary by trying not to diminish it with ordinary, everyday thoughts and expressions. Cindy Morgan clearly grasps that concept here, and from the whimsical to the somber to the grandiose, she's given us a great version of the story that I think will stand the test of time a whole lot better than any of the Passion of the Christ-related musical merchandise that came out last year. Yep, this one's gonna be a CCM classic. It just seems to get better and better with time.

ALBUM WORTH:
In the Garden $1.50
The March $.50
The Loving Kind $.50
The Last Supper $1
Devil Man $1.50
Can You Hear Me? $2
The Only Way $1
Hard Heart $2
The Whipping $1
Higher $2
Take My Life $1
Alive and Well $1
Praise the King $1.50
TOTAL: $16.50

Website: As Cindy is not on a label at the moment, she does not appear to have an official website. I could have pointed you to an excellent one a few years ago, but for now, her bio on Christianity Today's website will have to suffice:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/artists/cindymorgan.html

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: With Family