''Big God'' is a 1991 studio album by

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely around ...

vocal group

The Imperials The Imperials are an American Christian music group that has been active for over 55 years. Originating as a southern gospel quartet, the innovative group would become pioneers of contemporary Christian music in the 1960s. There have been many ...

and is their second album released on the

Star Song Star Song Communications is a Christian record label that was started in 1976 by Wayne Donowho, who recruited his friend Darrell Harris. It gained notoriety when it issued Resurrection Band's ground-breaking debut album, Awaiting Your Reply in 197 ...

label. The personnel line-up for this album consists of Armond Morales, David Will and two new singers

Jonathan Pierce Jonathan Pierce Hildreth, better known as Jonathan Pierce (November 15, 1967—May 9, 2020), was an American CCM, gospel singer from Odessa, Texas and an interior designer in Nashville. Pierce used his first and middle name while omitting his ...

(who was credited on the album by his birth name Jonathan Hildreth. Pierce is his middle name.) and, in an Imperials first, Armond's sister Pam Morales. Morales would be the first and only female member of the group. Morales and Pierce replaced Ron Hemby and David Robertson whom both previously appeared on the 1990 album '' Love's Still Changing Hearts''. Jason Beddoe was with the group temporarily but he left the group while in the midst of recording ''Big God'' so Armond brought Pam to fill in for Beddoe. This line-up would stay on until their next album ''

Stir It Up "Stir It Up" is a song composed by Bob Marley in 1967 and first recorded by the group Bob Marley and the Wailers that year and issued as a single. It was later covered by American singer Johnny Nash on his 1972 album ''I Can See Clearly Now'' ...

'' (1992). ''Big God'' peaked at number 22 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Top Christian Albums Top Christian Albums is a weekly chart published in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the best-performing Christian albums in the United States. Like the ''Billboard'' 200, the data is compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly ...

chart.

Track listing

Personnel

The Imperials *

- tenor (lead vocals on tracks 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 10) * Pam Morales – alto (lead vocals on tracks 1, 4, 8, 9, 10) * David Will – baritone (lead vocals on tracks 3 & 6) * Armond Morales – bass (lead vocals on track 1) Musicians * Bob Patin – keyboards, arrangements * Blair Masters – special effects programming *

Brent Rowan Brent Rowan (born May 28, 1956 in Waxahachie, Texas) is an American session musician and record producer who works primarily in country music. Active since the 1970s, Rowan began working with John Conlee through the recommendation of record produce ...

– guitars *

David Hungate William David Hungate (born August 5, 1948) is an American bass guitarist noted as a member of the Los Angeles pop-rock band Toto from 1976 to 1982 and again from 2014 to 2015, and the son of judge William L. Hungate. Along with most of his T ...

– bass * Mark Hammond – drums *

Eric Darken Eric A. Darken is an American percussionist, composer, and programmer. Biography Drawing inspiration from his grandfather, a band leader. Darken began playing drums at age 12, and played timpani and mallets in high school. Darken attended ...

– percussion * Kristin Wilkinson – string arrangements and conductor * John Catchings and Bob Mason – cello * Jim Grosjean and Gary Vanosdale – viola * David Angell, Conni Ellisor, Carl Gorodetzky, Lee Larrison, Ted Madsen, Laura Molynlaux and Pamela Sixfin – violin * Leah Jane Berinati – vocal arrangements (1, 2, 4-9) * Mark Pagen – vocal arrangements (3, 10) Production * Armond Morales – executive producer * Ken Mansfield – producer, arrangements * Bryan Lenox – first engineer * John Kuniz – second engineer * Brent King – overdub engineer * Milan Bogdan – editing and

sequencing In genetics and biochemistry, sequencing means to determine the primary structure (sometimes incorrectly called the primary sequence) of an unbranched biopolymer. Sequencing results in a symbolic linear depiction known as a sequence which succ ...

at Masterfonics (Nashville, Tennessee) *

Stephen Marcussen Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California, United States. He has been mastering music since 1979. Biography Marcussen's introduction to music recording happened in 1976 when, at ...

– mastering at Precision Mastering (Hollywood, California) * Toni Thigpen – creative direction * Gina Binkley – design, photo illustration * Mark Tucker – photography, photo illustration * Michael Tyler – make-up

Critical reception

Phil Thomson of

Cross Rhythms Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It operates an FM and online radio station, produces radio shows sent internationally, and its website has resources about contemporary Christian music. Hi ...

gave ''Big God'' 8 out of 10 saying "the choice of songs, the gutsy production, soaring quasi-black vocal leads against disciplined harmony, insistent percussion and a real sense of purpose - just enough drama to imbue the set with urgency, you have to rise above the penchant for oh-so-sincere build-up on one or two tracks, treatments which, in any other context might slip into parody. To their credit, they have been economical with the strings. There's significance in the label - Star Song Communications - where so many other acts dish up elevator music, this quartet really does communicate."

Charts

Radio singles

References

{{The Imperials 1991 albums The Imperials albums