Search - Various Artists :: Evan Almighty

The soundtrack to Evan Almighty meshes some pop gospel numbers, a few classic rock standbys and younger artists covering classic rock tunes that taken out of context sound like staples of Contemporary Christian music. LeAnn Rimes leads off with a gospel-ish number that shows she can credibly sing in a more throaty and melismatic style. But it's not so much a gospel track as the idea of a gospel song, all bluster and huge backing choirs and vocal acrobatics and little of the subtlety and true intensity found in the genre. And Jo Dee Messina's cover of "One Love" is so anemic it would sound lackluster in a Hallmark movie. More than half of the album is solid, however. Plumb's take on the classic "Spirit in the Sky" is surprisingly deft, and Blue County's honky-tonk take on the Beatles' "Revolution" is a real toe-tapper. Whether one really needs to own the CCR recording of "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" and the John Fogerty re-recording is debatable. The album tries to be everything at once. And--like the movie it accompanies--it may be cheesy as heck, but it succeeds admirably. --Mike McGonigal