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The 2nd Chapter Of ActsAlbums ReviewedWith Footnotes (1974)In The Volume Of The Book (1975) Hymns II (1988) With Footnotes(1974)Harmonising siblings Annie Herring, and Matthew and Nelly Ward, named their trio after the passage in the Bible where the Holy Spirit descends upon the apostles. Orphaned as teenagers and under privileged (his family unable to afford music lessons, Matthew claims that he learned to harmonise by singing along to household appliances), they were signed up by Pat Boone. If you want more biographical information, there's a fascinating history of the group at this link. Although I'm not a particular fan, their raw talent is undeniable; principal songwriter Herring was a self taught musician, while the group's harmonies flowed naturally and required little nurture. The primary difficulty with this record is the environment it sprang from; in the early seventies, Christian contemporary music was in its infancy, rock and roll was viewed with suspicion, and there was little established tradition to work with. The group's voices would be most naturally suited to an acoustic folk setting, but the music on their debut With Footnotes is an odd mishmash; piano driven, but offset by out of place hotshot drumming and weird synthesiser flourishes. With Footnotes is akin to the CCM industry that this album helped spawn; most of the same elements are present but everything is less controlled. Once you get past the tweeness aspect, it's reasonably fun; their music is certainly original and there's enough happening to keep me entertained, while their sense of melody and harmony is strong. The key track here, and the song where the seemingly random musical elements of the album coalesce beautifully, is 'Easter Song'. It starts off as a baroque piano piece, before the soaring melody, unusual rhythm, big harmonies and pompous synthesisers combine to carry it off to a place where it's practically the 'Bohemian Rhapsody' of Christian pop within its modest two minutes running time. Despite some hackneyed lyrics, Matthew's vocal spotlight 'The Devil's Lost Again' kicks butt; the drummer finally gets to play something interesting without sounding too obstreperous, and the women contribute a memorable wordless vocal riff. The other songs are less interesting, mostly following the piano ballad formula; although they write interesting melodies, and their voices are beautiful, With Footnotes would be stronger if it contained less Cheesy Christian Ballads and more diversity. Having said that, With Footnotes has plenty going for it; a few more concessions in my direction and I'd really love this record. The supporting cast includes Phil Keaggy (not that there's a lot of guitar evident) and future Toto member David Hungate. 
In The Volume Of The Book(1975)There are precisely 1189 chapters in the Bible, so I felt somewhat affirmed in my decision to review The 2nd Chapter Of Acts this week when Acts 2 was the text we studied at Church yesterday morning. That was after I wrote the first review on Saturday, and a 0.084104289% chance. Anyway, The 2nd Chapter Of Acts learn from their mistakes on With Footnotes and include more stylistic variety and more appropriate instrumentation, meaning this album is significantly stronger than its predecessor even without a straight out classic like 'Easter Song'. Keaggy contributes more audible guitar lines, someone turns down the synthesisers, and the drumming isn't as distracting. Meanwhile, the ultra sincerity (an observer described their concerts as the trio singing straight to God, with the audience merely privileged spectators) and lovely harmonies are back, but instead of concentrating on ballads, The 2nd Chapter Of Acts throw in some tricky diversity. For example 'Last Day Of My Life' starts off as a prim piano ballad, but switches into overdrive with gospel verses, playing to the group's strengths perfectly. Some of these songs would be a lot less impressive without the harmonised vocal modulations; the opening lines of 'Last Day Of My Life' and 'Morning Comes When You Call' demand attention with their beautiful cascades of notes. 'Start Everyday With A Smile' opens the album with some symphonic tomfoolery, before opening into the harder edged 'Yahweh'. My favourite song In The Volume Of The Book is the country ballad 'Psalm 63'; the melody is beautiful, and the song is so sweet with its thees, thys and assorted humility. 'The Prince Song' is a little poncy, but memorable, while 'Morning Comes When You Call' is a stunningly beautiful ballad. In fact all of these songs have something going for them; the cheesiness quotient may still be through the ceiling, preventing this album from scoring a particularly high mark, but this is an impressive piece of work. The 2nd Chapter Of Acts' first two albums are now out of print, but were at one stage released on a single CD. While this pair of albums aren't my particular musical preference, their influence on CCM is estimable (although not necessarily positive), and if you're at all interested in vintage Christian pop these are keynote recordings.
Comments: from Martin Do you have for sale the CD with 2nd Chapter of Acts "Foot Notes" and "In the Volume of the Book" on it? Hymns II(1988)Skipping forward through more than a decade of albums which I've never heard, including the Narnian themed The Roar Of Love, Hymns II was The 2nd Chapter Of Acts' final album before their ordained breakup. While the concept of a hymns album may seem slightly cynical, it's an absolutely fantastic idea; The 2nd Chapter Of Acts are one of the finest vocal ensembles in the history of popular music, and they do full justice to a well chosen selection of hymns. The most famous hymns ('Holy, Holy, Holy', 'Great Is Thy Faithfulness') were included on the first volume; apart from 'Morning Is Broken', I wasn't previously familiar with any of these songs. Their voices have thickened over the years, but that's hardly surprising given that Matthew and Nelly were only teenagers when they recorded With Footnotes. The production does tie the recording to its era, but when the instrumental melodies and vocals are this gorgeous, the dated instrument voicings are barely an issue. The orchestrations are fully appropriate, compensating for the lapses of taste in the synthesiser and percussion departments. Since they're dealing in classic hymns and the instrumentation and vocals are consistent throughout, listeners will either find Hymns II painfully monotonous, or consistently beautiful. There's little value in singling out the best songs, but 'Be Still My Soul' is a beautiful piece. The homogenity of the album is a downside, but if you want to hear beautifully harmonised pop arrangements of classic hymns, you'll totally love this; otherwise the title alone should be enough to scare you away. In fact, the highest praise I can give Hymns II is that it is one of the few album that the entire Fyfe family can enjoy and therefore a staple in the soundtrack of our family holidays. Although my dad would prefer if it had some bagpipes.
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Written 2001-2007, Graham Fyfe
