Anyone even remotely familiar with David Phelps is aware of the vocal chops this Baylor grad possesses. Journey to Grace would best be thought of as a demo; the inclusion of a number of low key worship tunes are pretty obvious song pitches rather than his usual vocal showcases. And by the way I do mean "low key" quite literally - a baritone could handle a number of these cuts with ease.

That being said, however, Phelps does have his classic "belting so high that it doesn't seem humanly possible" moments - most notably on the outro of "He's Alive." Vocally, the big difference between this and more recent recordings would be a tonal one. Phelps is without question a classically trained tenor, and it's never been more apparent than on this handful of tracks. For whatever reason, as his career moved forward, David noticeably distanced himself from this style of singing. For those interested in hearing a Phelps more attached to his operatic roots, there are a few Pavarotti-esq C#'s that won't disappoint.

If he were to release the album today, he would no doubt get panned for the spotty song selection and sub par production level. But this was 1994, and as previously mentioned, most likely a demo. It was a strong post-college effort, but more importantly, Journey to Grace remains an example of why David Phelps has been called one of the top vocalists in the world.

JFH Reader Review: written by David Ryan, 5/7/09, for Jesusfreakhideout.com