Almost There (2001)

Almost There is the national debut album by the Christian rock band MercyMe. It was released on August 14, 2001 and thus began a long association with their record label INO Records (later renamed Fair Trade Services). It was originally manufactured through M2 Communications and, at the time, was distributed by Word Records and Word Music Group. The album was produced by musician and songwriter Pete Kipley.

Almost There was recorded at three studios in the United States: Ivy Park, The Indigo Room and Paradise Sound and at IBC Studios, which was located in London, England, United Kingdom. Kipley produced and programmed the record, while Skye McCaskey and Julian Kindred engineered the album. Salvo mixed a majority of 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.

After releasing six albums as an unsigned band, MercyMe decided to pursue a record contract because it became too difficult to sell albums, book shows, and manage themselves. The band was assigned to work with Kipley, who had not produced a major project before. Four songs on the album had previously appeared on their self-released albums; the rest were newly recorded songs. Critics have characterized the music on the album as contemporary worship and pop rock, with a more radio-friendly sound than the band's self-released albums.

The lead single "Bless Me Indeed (Jabez's Song)" performed poorly on the Christian AC chart where it only reached the Top 30. But it was the second single, "I Can Only Imagine," that propelled MercyMe to the top of the charts. It was their first number one song on Radio & Records Christian AC chart and peaked at number 15 on the Christian CHR chart in 2002. The song's impact was felt not just in America but the whole world. It was written based on lead singer Bart Millard's personal feelings about his father's death, as he was abusive to Millard and his mother in his younger years. After Bart's father and mother divorced, Bart lived with his mother and has kept in contact with his father, then was later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Bart's father started to make amends with his son as his cancer started to get worse. Bart's father passed away in 1991 when Bart was 18 years old. "I Can Only Imagine" also charted on the Billboard charts in 2003 where it crossed over to mainstream radio by way of Curb Records, a first for a contemporary worship song. It topped Billboard's Hot Christian Songs chart in 2018, when it was the subject of a Christian motion picture of the same name based on Millard's life story of his early years leading up to forming his band MercyMe. Plans for a third single were canceled when MercyMe opted to work on their next album Spoken For. "I Can Only Imagine" originally was recorded on their 1999 independent release The Worship Project.

Thanks to the success of the track, Almost There topped on both the Billboard Top Christian Albums and Heatseekers Albums charts within the next two years in 2002 and 2003, while on the Billboard 200 Albums, it peaked at number 37. The album was the group's first gold certified album in 2002, then selling platinum a year later in 2003. By 2005, it went double-platinum. As of 2018, Almost There has been certified three-times Platinum selling over 3 million copies by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Their single for "I Can Only Imagine" was their first gold seller and by 2022, it has sold over 5 million digital copies, thus being certified platinum five times. In 2006, a double disc Platinum Edition of Almost There was issued with the second enhanced CD containing three versions of "I Can Only Imagine:" the original independent release from The Worship Project, an acoustic version and a live performance at The Door in Dallas, Texas, plus interviews about the history of the band and a music video of "I Can Only Imagine."

At the 33rd GMA Dove Awards in 2002, MercyMe won their first Dove award for Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year for "I Can Only Imagine," while the song itself took the top prize for Song of the Year and its writer, lead singer Millard, won Songwriter of the Year. CCM Magazine ranked the song at number four in their 2006 book The 100 Greatest Songs in Christian Music.

NOTE: Amy Grant was originally given rights to record "I Can Only Imagine" as a single, but gave the rights back to MercyMe in 2001. Grant later released her own version, re-titled "Imagine," pairing it in a medley of the hymn "Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus" for her 2002 release Legacy...Hymns and Faith.

Track listing

All songs written by MercyMe, except where noted.

1. I Worship You (Pete Kipley, Regie Hamm) -3:08

2. Here I Am (Bart Millard) -4:21

3. On My Way to You -4:07

4. How Great Is Your Love (Bart Millard) -4:15

5. I Can Only Imagine (Bart Millard) -4:09

6. Bless Me Indeed (Jabez's Song) -4:15

7. Cannot Say Enough -4:48

8. House of God (MercyMe, Pete Kipley) -3:14

9. Call to Worship -4:52

10. Fall Down -3:46

11. In You (Bart Millard) -4:18

Personnel

MercyMe:

Bart Millard -lead vocals

Jim Bryson -keyboards

Mike Scheuchzer -guitars, backing vocals

Nathan Cochran -bass guitar, backing vocals

Robby Shaffer -drums

additional musicians:

Paltrow Performance Group -strings

RIAA certifications

Gold certified in 2002.

Platinum certified 3x in 2018.

"I Can Only Imagine" single Gold certified in 2005, Platinum certified 5x in 2022.

Accolades

Dove Award -Pop/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year ("I Can Only

Imagine")

Song of the Year ("I Can Only Imagine" written by Bart Millard)

Songwriter of the Year (Bart Millard)

Radio singles

2001 "Bless Me Indeed (Jabez's Song)" -#27 R&R Christian AC

"I Can Only Imagine" :

2001 -2002 -#15 R&R Christian CHR, -#1 R&R Christian AC for 2 weeks

2003 -#71 Billboard Hot 100, -#33 Billboard Pop Airplay, -#5 Billboard AC, -#27

Billboard Adult Pop, -#23 R&R CHR/Pop, -#4 R&R AC, -#24 R&R Hot AC

2004 -#52 Billboard Hot Country Songs, -#49 R&R Country

2018 -#1 Billboard Hot Christian Songs for 3 weeks

Next release: Spoken For (2002)

Watch the audio album of Almost There, including the music video for "I Can Only Imagine" on the playlist.