''Love & Mercy'' is the seventh studio album by

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

singer-songwriter

Kathy Troccoli Kathy is a feminine given name. It is a pet form of Katherine, Kathleen and their related forms. Kathy may refer to: In sports *Kathy Bald, Canadian freestyle swimmer *Kathy May, American tennis player *Kathy Radzuweit, German volleyball player ...

. It was released on April 29, 1997 on

Reunion Records Reunion Records is a contemporary Christian record label based in Brentwood, Tennessee, that operates under the Provident Label Group. The label was founded in 1982, by Dan Harrell and Mike Blanton. History The label was formed by Amy Grant's m ...

. The lead single "Love One Another" features Troccoli and 40 plus Christian artists like

Amy Grant Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...

Sandi Patty Sandra Faye "Sandi" Patty (born July 12, 1956) is an American Christian music singer, known for her wide soprano vocal range and expressive flexibility. Biography Early life Patty was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, into a family of musician ...

Michael W. Smith Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when " Place in This World" hit No. 6 on the '' ...

and

Carman In Celtic mythology, Carman or Carmun was a warrior and sorceress from Athens who tried to invade Ireland in the days of the Tuatha Dé Danann, along with her three sons, Dub ("black"), Dother ("evil") and Dian ("violence"). She used her magica ...

. The song was released commercially as a CD single on March 18, 1997 to Christian retail stores in advance of the album's release and the single's proceeds went to His Touch Ministries in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, which is a non-profit organization that was established to educate the church, provide support groups for

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

victims, create teams to visit

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

patients and provide housing for men, women and children suffering from the illness. The album's third single "A Baby's Prayer" is a

pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

song that Troccoli and Scott Brasher wrote that explores the

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

issue from the perspective of an unborn child. "A Baby's Prayer" would give Troccoli her first two Dove Award wins for Inspirational Song of the Year (one as artist, the other as writer, shared with co-writer Brasher) at the 29th GMA Dove Awards. ''Love & Mercy'' reached number 7 on the

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 ...

, number 6 on the

Heatseekers Albums Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

and number 170 on the Top 200 Albums charts in ''

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 ...

'' magazine, giving Troccoli her first crossover chart appearance on the latter.

Track listing

#"I Call Him Love" (Ty Lacy, Kevin Stokes, Joanna Carlson) - 4:07 #"Water into Wine" (Grant Cunningham, Matt Huesmann) - 3:38 #"Love One Another" (

, Bill Cuomo, Robert White Johnson) - 5:47 #"How Would I Know" (Jackie Gouché-Ferris) - 5:01 #"A Baby's Prayer" (Troccoli, Scott Brasher) - 3:49 #"He'll Never Leave Me" (Dawn Thomas) - 5:25 #"All Glory to God" (Troccoli, Cuomo, Johnson) - 3:55 #"Faithful to Me" (Troccoli) - 3:57 #"Call Out to Me" (

Diane Warren Diane Eve Warren (born September 7, 1956) is an American songwriter. She has received several awards including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ''Billboard'' Music Awards and an Honorary Academy Award. Wa ...

) - 3:51 #"Help Me God" (Allen Shamblin, Madeline Stone) - 2:51

Charts

Radio singles

Accolades

GMA Dove Awards A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...

References

1997 albums Kathy Troccoli albums Reunion Records albums {{DEFAULTSORT:Love and Mercy (album)