The #86 Album of All-Time in the Rock Era--"Heart in Motion" from Amy Grant

This album by Amy Grant represented a major shift in her career.  Up until this time, her albums had been mostly gospel but she crossed over in a big way in 1991.  

Heart in Motion was recorded from April through the Fall of 1990 at several studios:  Amy utilized the Bennett House and The Castle, both in Franklin Tennessee, the Quad Studio, 16th Avenue Studio, Soundstage and RBI Recorders in Nashville, Tennessee, the Schnee Studio and the Sound House in North Hollywood, California.

Grant did not abandon her Christian songwriting; great tracks like "Ask Me", which tells how a woman's faith allows her to deal with child sexual abuse, "You're Not Alone" and "Hope Set High" continue her tradition.



   

So, even though Heart in Motion was a blockbuster album that allowed her message to reach the masses, it was still #1 on the Christian album chart for 32 weeks.  The album and singles "Baby, Baby", "Every Heartbeat", "Good For Me" and "That's What Love Is For" generated huge airplay on Adult Contemporary stations.  That's a lot of exposure for this album, and it significantly contributed to its ranking in the Top 100 Albums of All-Time in the Rock Era. It is the best-selling Christian album in history, selling five million copies.

The album also was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards. 

1.  "Good for Me" (Amy Grant, Jay Gruska, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Tom Snow) --3:59

2.  "Baby Baby" (Grant, Keith Thomas) --3:57

3.  "Every Heartbeat" (Grant, Kirkpatrick, Charlie Peacock) --3:32

4.  "That's What Love Is For" (Grant, Mark Mueller, Michael Omartian) --4:17

5.  "Ask Me"  (Grant, Tom Hemby) --3:51

6.  "Galileo"  (Grant, Mimi Verner, Gardner Cole, Omartian) --4:19

7.  "You're Not Alone" (Simon Climie, Rob Fisher, Dennis Morgan) --3:49

8.  "Hats"  (Grant, Chris Eaton) --4:09

9.  "I Will Remember You" (Grant, Gary Chapman, Thomas) --5:00

10."How Can We See That Far"  (Grant, Hemby) --4:26

11."Hope Set High" (Grant) --2:48

Tom Hemby, Dann Huff, Gordon Kennedy, Jerry McPherson, Donald Kirkpatrick and Chris Rodriguez play guitar on the album.  Robbie Buchanan plays bass, keyboards and drums, Tommy Simmons plays bass, Blair Masters, Michael Omartian and Charlie Peacock play keyboards, Brian Tankersley plays synthesizer, Keith Thomas plays synthesizer, bass and drums, David Raven, Chris McHugh and Mark Hammond play drums, Mark Douthit contributes saxophone, Sam Levine plays baritone sax, Barry Green plays trumpet and Mike Haynes plays trombone.







Heart in Motion was produced by Michael Omartian, Keith Thomas and Brown Bannister.  David Ahlert, Jeff Balding, Terry Christian, Gregg Jampol, Laura Livingston and Bill Whittington engineered the album.  Jeff Balding, Terry Christian and Brian Malouf mixed Hearts in Motion, Stephen Marcussen mastered it while Keith Thomas was the arranger. Victoria Pearson-Cameron was the photographer for the album.  Heart in Motion was released March 5, 1991.   


Amy Grant has the #86 Album of All-Time in the Rock Era--Hearts in Motion.