Unguarded (Amy Grant album)

Unguarded
Studio album by Amy Grant
Released May 15, 1985
Recorded 1984-1985 Caribou Ranch, Nederland, Colorado; The Bennett House, Franklin, TN; Mama Jo's, North Hollywood, CA; Bill Schnee Studio, North Hollywood, CA; Bullet Recording, Nashville, TN
Genre Contemporary Christian music
Length 43:33
Label Myrrh, A&M
Producer Brown Bannister
Amy Grant chronology
Straight Ahead
(1984)		 Unguarded
(1985)		 The Collection
(1986)
Singles from Unguarded
  1. "Find a Way"
    Released: 1985
  2. "Everywhere I Go"
    Released: 1985
  3. "Wise Up"
    Released: 1985
  4. "Sharayah"
    Released: 1985
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Cross Rhythms[2]

Unguarded is the sixth studio album, and ninth album by Christian music singer Amy Grant, released in 1985 on A&M Records. It is Grant's first album released by A&M.

When Unguarded was released in 1985, Amy Grant was probably the most popular star in contemporary Christian music, recording songs with religious lyrics in the pop/rock style of the day. With this album, however, the religious content of the lyrics was scaled back as compared with her two previous regular studio albums, Age to Age and Straight Ahead. The album track "I Love You" was Grant's first secular love song from her own pen. Despite this, the album's lead-off single, "Find a Way", was a number one hit on the Christian radio charts. Four other singles from the album were also Top Ten Christian radio hits.

The aggressive mainstream style of the songs on Unguarded, combined with a heavy promotional campaign on the part of the album's distributor in secular outlets, A&M Records, helped three of its singles reach the mainstream charts. "Find a Way" was a Top Ten hit on the Adult Contemporary chart and peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100, while "Everywhere I Go" was a Top Thirty AC single and "Wise Up" was a minor charting single on the Hot 100. Unguarded would be certified gold in September 1985, and platinum in June 1986.

In 2007, Unguarded was reissued and digitally remastered by Grant's new record label, EMI/Sparrow Records. The remastered edition is labeled with a "Digitally Remastered" logo in the 'gutter' on the CD front.[3]

This was the final album to be recorded at Caribou Ranch, which was owned by former Chicago producer/manager James William Guercio before the infamous March 1985 fire that destroyed the studio's control room.

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Love of Another Kind"  Amy Grant, Gary Chapman, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Rich Mullins 3:22
2. "Find a Way"  Grant, Michael W. Smith 3:28
3. "Everywhere I Go"  Mary Lee Kortes 4:12
4. "I Love You"  Grant, Dann Huff, Smith 4:25
5. "Stepping In Your Shoes"  Grant, Chris Eaton 4:37
6. "Fight"  Grant, Chapman, Huff 4:42
7. "Wise Up"  Kirkpatrick, Billy Simon 3:51
8. "Who to Listen to"  Chapman, Tim Marsh, Mark Wright 4:22
9. "Sharayah"  Grant, Eaton 4:53
10. "The Prodigal (I'll Be Waiting)"  Grant, Chapman, Robbie Buchanan 5:10

Personnel

Production

Cover

To further heighten Grant's visual appeal, A&M released Unguarded with four different covers, respectively labeled W, O, R, and D. When the album was issued on compact disc, the 'D' variation became the standard version for the cover.

Charts and certifications

Album - Billboard (North America)
Year Chart Position
1985 200 35
Top Contemporary Christian 1
Singles - Billboard (North America)
Year Single Chart Position
1985 "Find a Way" Adult Contemporary 7
The Billboard Hot 100 29
"Everywhere I Go" Adult Contemporary 28
"Wise Up" Adult Contemporary 34
The Billboard Hot 100 66

Singles - CCM Magazine (North America)

Year Single Chart Position
1985 "Find a Way" Christian Radio–Adult Contemporary 2
"Everywhere I Go" 2
"Wise Up" 19
1986 "The Prodigal (I'll Be Waiting)" 31
"Sharayah" 6

Year-end charts

Year Chart Position
1985 U.S. Billboard Inspirational Albums 6
1986 1
1987 11

End-of-decade charts

Chart (1980-1989) Rank
US Billboard Top Contemporary Christian[4] 6

Certifications

Country Sales Certifications
(sales thresholds)
Canada (CRIA) 50,000 Gold
United States (RIAA) 1,000,000 Platinum

Preceded by
Beat the System by Petra		 Billboard Top Contemporary Christian number-one album
August 24, 1985 – April 26, 1986 		Succeeded by
Morning Like This by Sandi Patti

Awards

GMA Dove Awards

Year Winner Category
1986 Unguarded Recorded Music Packaging of the Year

Grammy Awards

Year Winner Category
1986 Unguarded Best Gospel Performance, Female

References

  1. ↑ William Ruhlmann. "Unguarded". Retrieved July 8, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Amy Grant - Unguarded (re-issue) | CROSS RHYTHMS REVIEW". Crossrhythms.co.uk. Retrieved September 17, 2011.
  3. ↑ Sparrow Records News
  4. ↑ "Top Christian Albums - 1980's". Retrieved February 27, 2014.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/7/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.