Life, Love & Other Mysteries is the third studio album by the female Christian vocal group Point of Grace, released on September 9, 1996 by Word Records. The album is produced by Michael Omartian, Phil Naish, Blair Masters and Scott Williamson with Point of Grace serving as executive producers.
The group characterized the album as their hardest to record. They called it a "growing pain" because John Mays, who had signed them to Word Records, had left the label. Shortly afterward, Word was sold, leaving the group to make all major decisions independently, thus the executive producers credit. Point of Grace pulled in some of Christian music's leading talents to write the album, including Omartian, Jeff and Gayla Borders, Scott Krippayne, Kyle Matthews and others. The final song on the album "Circle of Friends" is not only a number one song, it's also their signature song that the group has sung at their concerts. It is also the name of their 1999 book about heartwarming stories of friendship. Life, Love & Other Mysteries was ranked at number 43 by CCM Magazine's 2001 book The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music. According to author Thom Granger, "...the album stepped into adventurous directions with more inventive harmony arrangements, jazzier melodies and confidently delivered vocal leads." Point of Grace covers Earth, Wind & Fire's 1975 hit song "Sing a Song" (#1 Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Songs, #5 Billboard Hot 100).
Life, Love & Other Mysteries topped the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart, giving Point of Grace their first number one album and peaking at number 46 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. In 1997, the group earned their first Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album and was nominated in four categories at the Dove Award. Life, Love & Other Mysteries was certified Gold in 1997 and then Platinum in 1999 by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over a million copies.
The group released a VHS video titled Life, Love & Other Mysteries: The Video Story. It's an hour-long video that features behind-the-scenes footage, live performances, music videos for "Keep the Candle Burning," "That's the Way It's Meant to Be" and "Jesus Will Still Be There," plus interviews with the group.
Track listing
1. Life, Love & Other Mysteries (Reggie Hamm, Joel Lindsay) -4:03
2. Keep the Candle Burning (Jeff and Gayla Borders, Lowell Alexander) -4:26
3. That's the Way It's Meant to Be (Michael Omartian, Bruce Sudano) -3:31
4. Jesus Doesn't Care (Scott Krippayne, Tony Wood) -4:43
5. Gone Are the Dark Days (Jeff and Gayla Borders, Phil Maderia) -4:11
6. Sing a Song (Maurice White, Al McKay) -3:39
7. Any Road, Any Cost (Scott Krippayne, Tony Wood) -4:17
8. You Are the Answer (Reggie Hamm, Matt Huesmann) -3:50
9. God Forbid (Matt Huesmann, Kyle Matthews) -3:34
10. Circle of Friends (Douglas McKelvey, Steve Siler) -4:15
Gold certified in 1997.
Platinum certified in 1999.
Personnel
Point of Grace:
Shelly Breen -vocals
Denise Jones -vocals
Terry Jones -vocals
Heather Payne -vocals
Production credits
Scott Williamson -producer (tracks 1, 4 and 5)
Michael Omartian -producer (tracks 3, 6, 7 and 9)
Phil Naish -producer (tracks 2, 8 and 10)
Blair Masters -co-producer (track 4)
Radio singles
1996 "Keep the Candle Burning" -#7 Christian CHR, #1 Christian AC
1996 -1997 "You Are the Answer" -#4 Christian CHR, #1 Christian AC
1997 "Circle of Friends" -#20 Christian CHR, #1 Christian AC
1997 "That's the Way It's Meant to Be" -#1 Christian AC
Previous release: The Whole Truth (1995)
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