''Wonder'' is an album by Christian recording artist

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 '' ...

. Released in September 2010, the album peaked at No. 2 on the Top Christian Albums chart, and number 26 on the ''Billboard'' 200.

Track listing

Personnel

– vocals, acoustic piano, keyboards,

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 ...

, guitars * Bryan Lenox – keyboards * Jim Daneker – programming (12) * Ben Gowell – guitars * Adam Lester – guitars *

Tommy Sims Tommy Sims is an American bassist, songwriter, record producer and bandleader. Music career From 1987 to 1989 Sims was the bassist for the Christian rock band White Heart, which he left to become a studio musician and producer. During 1992 ...

– guitars * Jacob Lowery – bass * Dan Needham – drums * Byron Chambers –

talk box A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the sou ...

* Cara Slaybaugh – cello (10) * Nickie Conley – backing vocals (4) * Missi Hale – backing vocals (4) *

Darwin Hobbs Darwin Todd Hobbs (born November 30, 1968) is an American gospel music singer noted for his vocal similarity to classic soul singers Luther Vandross, Freddie Jackson and Lou Rawls. In addition to his career as a gospel artist, Hobbs and his ensem ...

– backing vocals (4) * Calvin Nowell – backing vocals (4) * Chris Rodriguez – backing vocals (4) * Debi Selby – backing vocals (4) Strings (Tracks 9, 11 & 12) * David Davidson – string arrangements (9, 11) * Jim Daneker – orchestral arrangements (12) * David Angell, Monisa Angell, John Catchings, David Davidson, Conni Ellisor, Jack Jezioro, Anthony LaMarchina, Pamela Sixfin and Kristin Wilkinson – string players Gang vocals on "Take My Breath Away" * Shirley Anderson, Lanny Anderson, JoJo Campbell, Oliver Campbell, Camryn Clark, Catherine Clark, Skylar Cochran, Dallas Dudley, Noah Elwood, Georgia Elwood, Tanner Lenox, Teagan Lenox, Treven Lenox, Tammy Lenox, Titus Lenox, Jessebeth Lowery, Jacob Lowery, Trevor Mathiesen, Judah McKeehan, Leo McKeehan, Marley McKeehan, Moses McKeehan and Bradley Pooler

Production

* Michael W. Smith – producer, executive producer * Bryan Lenox – producer, recording, mixing * Greg Ham – executive producer * Terry Hemmings – executive producer * Jason McArthur – A&R direction * Kyle Lee – recording, mixing * Aaron Chmielewski – recording * Daryl Dudley II – assistant engineer * Grant Harrison – assistant engineer * Tanner Lenox – assistant engineer * Baeho 'Bobby' Shin – piano and strings recording at Wildwood Recording, Franklin, Tennessee * Taemin Daniel Choi – piano and strings recording assistant * Juyoung "Genie" Yim – piano and strings recording assistant * Elliott Eicheldinger – mix assistant * Scott Lenox – mix assistant * Brad Pooler – mix assistant * Jim Daneker – computer technician * Chris Athens – mastering * Gabrielle Crisp – production coordination * Dallas Dudley – production coordination, assistant engineer * Trevor Mathiesen – production coordination * Michelle Box – A&R production * Beth Lee – art direction * Tim Parker – art direction, design * Amy Dickerson – photography * Melanie Shelley – hair, make-up * Katy Robbins – wardrobe Studios * Recorded at Quad Studios (Nashville, Tennessee) and Emack Studios (Franklin, Tennessee). * Piano and strings recorded at Wildwood Recording (Franklin, Tennessee) * Mixed at The Bird House (Franklin, Tennessee). * Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York).

Promotion and release

Smith's first single for the album "Save Me From Myself" debuted at No. 17 on the US

Hot Christian Songs Hot Christian Songs is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. It ranks the popularity of Christian songs using the same methodology developed for the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, the magazine's flagship songs c ...

Chart, and No. 33 on the Canadian Christian Songs Chart. The song is originally written and performed by the Danish rock band

Carpark North Carpark North is a Danish electronic rock band. The band was formed in Aarhus, Denmark on 28 July 1999 by Lau Højen (vocal, guitar), Søren Balsner (bass, synthesisers) and Morten Thorhauge (drums). The name "Carpark North" was created from th ...

. A month before the release of the album, Smith released an

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

with four songs from the album: "Save Me From Myself", "Run to You", "You Belong to Me", and "Forever Yours".

Critical reception

Dave Wood of ''Louder Than the Music'' gave the album 4 out of 5 stars commenting on how Smith "able to produce albums of the highest ." Deborah Evans Price of ''

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 ...

'' gave the album a positive review, saying "Michael has never sounded more compelling or impassioned."

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2010 albums Michael W. Smith albums Reunion Records albums