''See You'' is the second studio album from

contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

recording artist Josh Wilson, released on February 8, 2011 by

Sparrow Records Sparrow Records is a Christian music record label and a division of Universal Music Group. History Sparrow Records was founded in 1976 by Billy Ray Hearn, then artists and repertoire (A&R) director at Myrrh Records. Purchased by Thorn EMI in ...

. The album has been met with commercial and critical successes.

Background

The songs "See You" and "Just Believe" according to Wilson "deal with struggling with doubt. It something that I have dealt with really since college. I'm 27 now and since I've been at college and started to figure out what I believe, I have faced a good amount of doubt." In addition, Wilson said "See You" "deals with a couple of friends who have been through some really hard times and I wanted to bring those stories to life in those songs and have a way to illustrate when we can ask where God is in those moments." Wilson said "Fall Apart" is a song "that reminds me that we need Christ in those bad times... and the good times just as much. We need Him for every since breath that we draw. He sustains us. He sustains all of creation." Lastly, Wilson stated the song "Always, Only You" is "about my wife, Becca. She and I have been married a little over a year so it's a song about where we are." The album Wilson said is about "how we see Christ."

Critical reception

''See You'' has received mostly positive reviews from the critics to judge the album. The most positive review came from Louder Than the Music, who gave the album a four and a half stars out of five, and the four star reviews came from

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, ''

CCM Magazine ''CCM Magazine'' is a twice-monthly online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music, published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications. History ''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has bee ...

'' and Jason Rooks of Jesus Freak Hideout, which an eight star review came from

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 ...

. The album got an 8.6/10 by Alt Rock Live, and the three and a half star reviews came from

Christian Broadcasting Network The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) is an American Christian media production and distribution organization. Founded in 1960 by Pat Robertson, it produces the long-running TV series ''The 700 Club'', co-produces the ongoing ''Superbook'' an ...

, Samantha Schuamberg of Jesus Freak Hideout. The album received one graded review, which was from Tom Frigoli of Alpha Omega News, and he graded the album an A. The mixed ratings came from ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...

'', Indie Vision Music and

Melodic.net ''Melodic'' is an international daily Internet publication devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on independent music. However, the range of musical genres covered extends to rock, pop, folk, ...

. At Louder Than the Music, Jono Davies said this "is a great album from Josh Wilson, musically creative, the tracks blend well to make the album flow, yet at the same time the songs don't sound the same. Musically Josh is a very talented guitarist, and on the songwriting front Josh excels as well with great story telling". Davies wrote "if you're looking for an album to get ready for the upcoming summer, this album should be given an opportunity to make it into your collection." Allmusic's Jared Johnson said that "Josh Wilson builds on the momentum of his prior efforts on ''See You'', offering enough upbeat, inspirational, contemporary pop to fully deserve that mythical label of 'crossover appeal.'" At ''CCM Magazine'', Grace S. Aspinwall said that "he ties it all together with a rich and colorful vocal, which sounds more polished and controlled than on his previous efforts. He has the makings of a hit after hit-man". Jesus Freak Hideout's Jason Rooks said the album "reflects Wilson's progression as an artist and allows him to shine through with his unique vocal delivery, real life songwriting, and as an impressive musician". Rooks ended by saying the album "could springboard Wilson to the next level and will be on many must-have lists for 2011." Cross Rhythms' Simon Eden said "this is radio friendly American pop rock in the vein of

Steven Curtis Chapman Steven Curtis Chapman (born November 21, 1962) is an American contemporary Christian music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, author, and social activist. Chapman began his career in the late 1980s as a songwriter and performer of conte ...

, so it shouldn't surprise you that Josh is currently (September 2011) Stephen's support act." Eden said "but overall this is well crafted, if rather generic, Nashville CCM." Alt Rock Live's Cameron Bartlett found that "by far, the best yet of any of Josh Wilson’s amazing albums. These songs are motivating, thought provoking, honest and bold, all in areas where music needs to be and often lacks in doing so." At Christian Broadcasting Network, Hannah Goodwyn said the album is "reminiscent of CCM newcomer,

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...

alum Jason Castro. That said, Wilson, who already has two, tried-and-true projects on the market, does fairly well on this new record." She finished by saying the album "is a worthy album, though it does lack a bit of the uniqueness CCM radio needs." Samantha Schuamberg of Jesus Freak Hideout said the album "fails to show distinguished progression in further developing a unique style. Hopefully this will not be the case with future releases. In the meantime, fans not looking for change will be quite happy with ''See You''." Alpha Omega News' Tom Frigoli called this "an album of discovery" that Josh Wilson "really lets listeners in on his hopes and fears throughout the album, and the honest, heartfelt lyrics are truly refreshing", and this creates "an inspiring, encouraging album filled with catchy melodies." At

, Robert Ham said "there are moments on Josh Wilson's third album where the singer-songwriter aims for an out-of-the-ordinary worship music experience: the understated pair of tracks ("Sing It," "Behind The Beauty") that open the disc; "It Is Well," the gorgeous acoustic guitar-led instrumental that drops in at the halfway point. But far too often Wilson falls back on the familiar: writing big chorused, overproduced pop songs that leave nothing to the imagination and paint the scene in loud, bold strokes of his lyrical paintbrush. It makes See You the perfect album for the iPod age. There's little need to download the whole album, just those songs that push for something different." Cor Jan Kat wrote that "the album is okay, but it won’t cause an earthquake". At Indie Vision Music, Eric Pattersson found that "despite several filler tracks and few creative risks, See You proves its worth with a number of top-notch songs, catchy choruses, and thoughtful insight."

Commercial performance

The album reached No. 12 on the Christian albums chart in the United States.

Track listing

Personnel

* Josh Wilson – lead vocals, backing vocals, arrangements, grand piano, upright piano,

Wurlitzer electric piano The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from the mid-1950s to mid-1980s. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is conceptua ...

Hammond B3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usual ...

, sampling, acoustic guitar, electric guitar,

baritone guitar The baritone guitar is a guitar with a longer scale length, typically a larger body, and heavier internal bracing, so it can be tuned to a lower pitch. Gretsch, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP Guitars, PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Schec ...

classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

autoharp An autoharp or chord zither is a string instrument belonging to the zither family. It uses a series of bars individually configured to mute all strings other than those needed for the intended chord. The term ''autoharp'' was once a trademark of ...

, percussion,

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more trad ...

Matt Bronleewe Matthew Ryan Bronleewe (born December 13, 1973) is an American record producer, musician, novelist and songwriter. Biography Matt Bronleewe was born on December 13, 1973, in Dallas, Texas. As a boy, he moved to central Kansas, Lorraine, with his ...

– various random additional and supplemental sonic material * David LaBruyere – bass * Paul Mabury – drums * Lee Holland – arrangements *

Ben Glover Benjamin Allen Glover (born June 1, 1978) is a songwriter and producer hailing from Loveland, Colorado, a small city on the edge of the Rocky Mountains. Glover moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2000 after signing his first publishing deal the year ...

– backing vocals *

Phillip LaRue Phillip Paul LaRue (born October 9, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, artist and producer from Nashville, Tennessee. He has released four studio albums with his band LaRue (band), LaRue, formed by his sister Natalie LaRue and himself, an ...

– backing vocals * Becca Wilson – backing vocals, whistle

Production

* Matt Bronleewe – producer * Brad O'Donnell – A&R * Andy Hunt – engineer * Justin Gagnon – assistant engineer * Kelsey Harmon – assistant engineer * Hunter Van Houten – assistant engineer * Ainslie Grosser – mixing * Erin Kaus – digital editing * Buckley Miller – digital editing * Bill Whittington – digital editing * Jim DeMain – mastering at Yes Master (Nashville, Tennessee) * Lani Crump – production coordinator * Katie Moore – art direction, design * Reid Rolls – photography * Christina Nichols – management

Charts

Album Singles

References

External links

Allmusic
{{DEFAULTSORT:See You (album) 2011 albums Josh Wilson (musician) albums Albums produced by Matt Bronleewe Sparrow Records albums