Almost There (album)

Background and recording

MercyMe was formed in 1994 by vocalist Bart Millard, guitarist Mike Scheuchzer, and keyboardist Jim Bryson. The band later brought on drummer Robby Shaffer and bassist Nathan Cochran. In October 1999, the band released their fifth independent album, The Worship Project. The album proved successful, selling over 60,000 copies within a year, but the difficulty of selling albums directly, in addition to having to book and manage for themselves, led the band to pursue a contract with a record label. Millard was directed by a friend to contact Jeff Moseley, who had connections in the Christian music industry, for advice. After being contacted by Millard, Moseley expressed interest in the band, and within a week MercyMe was officially signed to INO Records, a new record label Moseley was helming. Moseley introduced the band to Pete Kipley, who would produce the album. Although Kipley had been involved on some minor projects, Almost There was his first major project.

Four of the songs on Almost There ("Call to Worship", "Cannot Say Enough", "I Can Only Imagine", and "In You") had previously appeared on the band's independent records. All of the other songs on the album were new songs which had not been recorded before. All of the songs of the album were written by Millard or the band except "I Worship You", which was written by Kipley and Reggie Hamm. The band included the song after Kipley brought it to them; although the band wanted to write their own material, they liked the song so much that they put it as the first song on the album. "Bless Me Indeed (Jabez's Song)" was written at the request of the label, who wanted to capitalize off of the success of the popular Bruce Wilkinson book The Prayer of Jabez. The band did not want to record the song, but eventually acquiesced. MercyMe pushed the label to include "House of God", an upbeat rock song, since they felt that they had been pushed a little too far towards the adult contemporary genre.

Almost There was recorded at Ivy Park, The Indigo Room, Paradise Sound, and IBC Studios. Kipley produced and programmed the record, while Skye McCaskey and Julian Kindred engineered the album. Salvo mixed all the songs on the album at Cool Springs Studio with the exception of "In You", which was mixed by Shane Wilson. Strings were recorded by the Paltrow Performance Group.

Composition

Almost There has been described by critics as being a worship and pop rock album. The album was noted as being stylistically similar to contemporary Christian bands like FFH. In contrast to the band's independent records, which had an "organic" feel, Almost There adopts a more radio-friendly musical style, although the rock style of the band's independent albums does occasionally resurface. Similarities were noted between the "guitar nuances" of Scheuchzer and U2's guitarist The Edge.

The album's first song, "I Worship You" was described as "falling somewhere between adult contemporary and rock", and utilizes acoustic guitars and synthesizers. "Here Am I" relates the story of people who are not being reached by Christians, and "challenges the listener to go out into the world and stand up for their King". "On My Way to You" is a worship song, requesting "wisdom, purity, and humility in our pursuit of holiness". "How Great is Your Love" incorporates both string and electronic instruments; Millard's vocals in the song utilize "effect–laden delays". "I Can Only Imagine" is a ballad, opening with just piano before building to include drums and guitar. Lyrically, it asks what it will be like in Heaven, standing before God.

"Bless Me Indeed (Jabez's Song)" is one of the fastest songs on the album. Lyrically, the song parallels the prayer of the Biblical character Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:10, asking God for blessing and protection from evil. "Cannot Say Enough" was described as "ambient" and compared to Third Day's "Your Love Oh Lord". "House of God" was noted as being one of the album's more rock–oriented songs. The song utilizes "driving" guitars and a "nasty" guitar riff, and invites the listener to enter the house of god. "Call to Worship" is a mid–tempo song led by guitar; the song was compared to the work of The Cure. The final two songs on the album, "All Fall Down" and "In You", are slower–paced songs, with the latter being led by piano and strings.

Release and promotion

Almost There was released in the United States on August 14, 2001. "Bless Me Indeed (Jabez's Song)" was released as the album's lead single. The label aimed to give the band a wider appeal by capitalizing on the success of the popular book The Prayer of Jabez. The song debuted on the Radio & Records Christian AC chart on August 31, 2001 at number 29, and spent four weeks on the chart, peaking at number 27. The poor chart performance of the song led to album sales that were lower than anticipated. The album debuted at number 12 on the Billboard Christian Albums chart on September 1, 2001, and a week later entered the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart, which ranks the top albums from artists who have not had an album enter the top 100 on the Billboard 200 chart, at number 39.

"I Can Only Imagine" was released as the album's second single. The song debuted on the Christian AC chart on November 2, 2001; it reached the number one position on February 22, 2002 and spent two weeks at the top spot. It also peaked at number 15 on the Radio & Records Christian CHR chart. As a result of the single's radio airplay, Almost There experienced a "surge" in sales. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 184 on December 22, 2001, and entered the top ten on the Christian Albums chart on January 19, 2002, charting at number eight. The album reached the peak of the Heatseekers Albums chart on February 2, 2002, and the following week entered the top 100 on the Billboard 200 chart, charting at number 98. "How Great Is Your Love" was announced as the album's third single in an interview with Billboard magazine on February 12, 2002. Millard had heavily pushed INO Records to release it as a single. However, "I Can Only Imagine" stayed on the Christian charts so long that by the time it fell off, the band had to begin work on their next record, and the song ultimately wasn't released to radio. Almost There was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on June 13, 2002, signifying shipments of over 500,000 copies. The band released their second album, Spoken For, on October 1, 2002. More than a year after the album's delivery and after the release of the band's second studio album, Spoken For (2002), Almost There remained near the top of the Christian charts. Almost There ranked as the 6th best–selling Christian album and the 128th best–selling album of 2002 in the United States.

In 2003, the album again received increased sales as "I Can Only Imagine" received airplay on mainstream radio formats. The song peaked at number five on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and number 71 on the Hot 100, also crossing over to top 40 and country radio. The album was certified Platinum on July 14, 2003 by the RIAA; a month later, Almost There reached the top spot of the Christian Albums chart after 107 weeks on the chart. It reached its peak of number 37 on the Billboard 200 on September 20, 2003. It ranked as the 2nd–best selling Christian album and 128th best–selling album of 2004. By May 2004, Almost There had sold over 1.5 million copies, and of April 2006 it has sold over 2.2 million copies. Almost There was certified double platinum on January 20, 2005 by the RIAA; as of 2012, it is one of only eight Christian albums to have reached that milestone; others include P.O.D.'s Satellite, Switchfoot's The Beautiful Letdown, and Casting Crowns' self–titled debut album. In its 2000s decade–end charts, Billboard ranked Almost There as the fourth best–selling Christian album of the 2000s in the United States, behind only Satellite, The Beautiful Letdown, and Alan Jackson's Precious Memories.

Critical reception and accolades

Almost There received critical acclaim from music critics. Critics praised the album's lyrical content, with particular complaint being given to "I Can Only Imagine". Steve Losey of Allmusic gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, praising it as "a disc that holds power" and being an "exception" rather than a "norm" in comparison to most other praise and worship releases. Losey also noted the "guitar nuances" of Scheuchzer as being similar to U2's The Edge, and praised Bryson as "[placing] intense but subtle keyboard traces within the context of each tune". Adam Woodroof of CCM Magazine gave it 3.5 out of 5 stars. While Woodroof felt the album did not deliver an innovative sound, he complemented it as offering "a breath of fresh air—and a sincerity sure to hold other artists wishing to dive into the genre accountable In a review for Charisma, Margaret Feinburg praised the album for incorporating songs from their previous independent records. Feinburg said that "MercyMe was stripped of much of its wonderful, organic, out–of–the box sound but given new life for radio airplay", and that "Overall, MercyMe is a band that deserves to be heard". Kevin McNeese of New Release Today gave the album five out of five stars, calling it "another defining album" in praise and worship music. McNeese particularly praised "I Can Only Imagine", calling it the album's highlight, but noted the other songs on the album were "penned with the same passion".

The J Man of Crosswalk.com gave Almost There a B, and said that "In the ever–growing genre of modern worship, MercyMe steps up to the plate and drives a home run over the fence". He praised the album as having a "fresh sound", but described much of the album was "somewhat low–key". Kevin Chamberlain of Jesus Freak Hideout gave the album 4 out of 5 stars. Chamberlain praised the album as being "lyrically one of the best albums out there" and said that "Every song is based on some sort of Scripture or Spiritual truth seldom found in some Christian music". However, Chamberlain felt the album's sound was average, saying it sounds like "FFH or any typical Contemporary Christian artist".

Other critics gave the album a more mixed response. Megumi Nakamura of Cross Rhythms gave the album 7 out of 10 stars. Nakamura praised "I Can Only Imagine", but said that "little else on the album that matches the huge impact of that one song". In a later review for the album's "Platinum Edition" re–release, Allan Clare gave it an 8 out of 10, saying the rest of the album aside from "I Can Only Imagine" was "bland". Russ Breimeier of Christianity Today felt the album was "something of a mixed bag" and described the band's sound was "a little too mellow to be rock, and a little too heavy to be pop... their particular style doesn't stray from a middle of the road sound". Breimier described the album was not particularly good or bad, and offered a weak recommendation to fans of worship bands like By the Tree and Delirious?.

In its 25th anniversary edition, CCM Magazine listed Almost There as one of '100 Albums You Need to Own'. In the following year, the previous magazine, ranked "I Can Only Imagine" as the fourth-greatest song in Christian music. At the 33rd GMA Dove Awards, "I Can Only Imagine" won the awards for Song of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year.

Track listing

(Credits and track list from the album liner notes)

Personnel

(Credits from the album liner notes)