Stronger in Bloomington, MN

Natalie Grant
's
Stronger
is one of the rarest treasures in
Christian
music: an original album that has a distinct voice and style. With so many
CCM
pop
stars making decent but faceless music, it is a relief to see that there are still albums like this floating around. With a powerhouse voice and top-notch songwriters,
Grant
brings to mind a wholesome
Britney Spears
at some points and a spiritual
Faith Hill
at others. In fact, it is pretty weird to hear what would ordinarily be typical radio
filled with lyrics about Christian topics and ideologies. But it works; in fact, it works very well. This is one of the freshest approaches to this genre in quite a while, bringing to mind
Amy Grant
's groundbreaking
Heart in Motion
. Much like the other
,
puts her emphasis on the hooks, something that most
artists put in a distant second behind their message. Because of this, she not only gets her message across, but gets it across using music that anyone could get into. This is a very good album that points to the direction that
has the potential to go in. Despite the stigma that the genre has with mainstream audiences, any fan of solid
music should at least give this a chance. ~ Bradley Torreano