Rating: 4 Stars

Label: Sonlite Records
Producers: David Johnson and Danny Crawford
Website: www.dovebrothersquartet.com

Song Titles: “After The Storm,” “Give It To The Lord,” “I Want To Live My Life For You,” “You Don't Know God's Love,” “A Day In The Life Of America,” “Face To Face With Grace,” “I Still Got A Feeling,” “You Would Think He Would Learn,” “You Can't Fix It” and “Smooth Sailing”

The Dove Brothers continue to stretch their boundaries with Life. This CD includes new songs written by McCray Dove, Jerry Kelso, Raymond Scarbrough, Matt Rankin and Greg Lindsey along with songs previously recorded by Ronnie Milsap, the Oak Ridge Boys, and Monument Quartet.

"After The Storm" and "Give It To The Lord" get Life underway with driving rhythms. David Hester hits some solid foundation notes on the chorus of "Give It To The Lord." Speaking of Hester, the song “Face To Face With Grace” surprised a few listeners when they heard it the first time. A typical question asked was, “Did the Dove Brothers bring in a guest vocalist?” The lead line on this song is actually sung by Hester, but he's using his baritone range for a change of pace.

Three other not-so-ordinary cuts on Life include “A Day In The Life Of America,” "You Can't Fix It," and "You Would Think He Would Learn." "A Day..." has a unique rhythm and grabs your attention with an interesting word picture: “We wake up each morning and start every day, with coffee espresso and grande lattes.” Ronnie Milsap originally recorded this song. Monument Quartet has also covered it. "You Can't Fix It" is a remake of a recent Oak Ridge Boys song that doesn't quite match the impact of the original version. "You Would Think He Would Learn" is a McCray Dove original. The "he" in this song title is the devil.

The lyrics of “You Don't Know God's Love” (originally titled “You Don't Know My Love” and recorded by Ronnie Milsap) have been gospel-ized for Life. I'm typically critical of this practice because the results are often cheesy, but in this case, the quality of the song wasn't lost in the transition. It's actually one of the highlights of Life. There's a jew's harp vibration underneath that you don't typically hear on a Southern Gospel recording and a few moments where the instruments are allowed to come front and center. The arrangement suits McCray Dove's singing style to a tee. This is one of those rare cases where a group takes another artist's song and re-invents it, making it their own.

Several cuts on Life fall into a more typical, upbeat DBQ vein. These include “After The Storm” and “I Still Got A Feeling” featuring McCray Dove and “Give It To The Lord” already mentioned above. “I Want To Live My Life For You” features Jerry Martin on a slow cut that fans of "I Can Pray" should appreciate. Finally, "Smooth Sailing" is a blending harmony showcase with an upright bass and finger snaps adding up to a classic sound.

Is Life perfect? No, but neither is real life. That being said, I just added the majority of Life to Murray Radio, that little white box I carry around with me. With this recording, the Dove Brothers are pushing fresh sounds while maintaining a balance with more established song styles. As a result, Life isn't entirely consistent from beginning to end, but there are some real gems along the way.

by David Bruce Murray