''Michael W. Smith Project'' is the debut album of Christian recording artist
Michael W. Smith. Originally released in 1983, the album was reissued in CD format in 1987 with a new cover featuring an updated photo of Smith. The album reached number nine on the Top Contemporary Christian chart.
''
CCM Magazine'' ranked ''Michael W. Smith Project'' at number 34 on their 2001 book ''CCM Presents: The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music''.
Smith earned his first
Grammy
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
nomination for
Best Gospel Performance, Male at the
26th Grammy Awards
The 26th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 28, 1984, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1983. Michael Jackson, who had been recove ...
.
Track listing
Note: "First Light" was titled "From Light" on the original vinyl and cassette releases.
Personnel
* Michael W. Smith – lead vocals, backing vocals, acoustic piano,
Fender Rhodes
The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, th ...
,
Yamaha GS2,
Prophet-5
The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential (company), Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith (engineer), Dave Smith and John S. Bowen (sound designer), John Bowen in 1977, who used Microprocessor, m ...
synthesizers
*
Shane Keister –
Oberheim OB-X, Prophet-5 synthesizers,
vocoder
* Jon Goin – guitars
*
Mike Brignardello
Giant is an American melodic rock band that was formed in 1987. The band originally consisted of founding members Dann Huff (lead vocals and guitar) and Alan Pasqua (keyboard), and had Dann's brother David Huff on drums and Mike Brignardello on ...
– bass
* Mark Hammond – drums,
Roland TR-808
The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms instead of using preset patte ...
drum machine on "First Light"
* Mike Psanos – percussion
* Denis Solee – saxophone
* Gary Chapman (musician), Gary Chapman – backing vocals
* Jackie Cusic – backing vocals
* Diana DeWitt – backing vocals
* David Durham – backing vocals
* Teresa Ellis – backing vocals
* Amy Grant – backing vocals on "Friends"
* Pam Mark Hall – backing vocals
* Chris Harris – backing vocals
* Gary Pigg – backing vocals
* Kim Smith – backing vocals
Production
* Michael W. Smith – producer, assistant engineer
* Michael Blanton – executive producer
* Dan Harrell – executive producer
* Mike Psanos – engineer
* Brown Bannister – assistant engineer
* John Woods – assistant engineer
* Jack Joseph Puig – remixing
* Recorded at Tree International Studio (Nashville, Tennessee).
* Hank Williams – mastering
* Mastered at Woodland Sound Studio (Nashville, Tennessee).
* Bill Brunt – art direction
* Tim Campbell – photography
Chart performance
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michael W. Smith Project, The
Michael W. Smith albums
1983 debut albums
Reunion Records albums