Live At The Door by Nichole Nordeman

Reviewed by Nigel Harris

Nichole amassed a strong following with three hugely successful albums in five years, her most recent effort 'Woven & Spun' acclaimed as US Christian music's runaway success of 2002, incredibly generating Nichole six more Dove Awards in 2003 to add to the Dove Award for GMA Female Vocalist of the Year in 2001. At the peak of her popularity she decided last year to take time out to concentrate on newly wed life and the birth of her first child. However, it looks as though her record company felt that her fans might not want to wait until 2005 for the next Nichole Nordman offering and so this short live album has been released to tide us over. Lasting only 37 minutes you might feel slightly short changed (although I notice Authentic are offering it for £10.99 compared with £14.99 for her other albums). 'Live At The Door' features eight performances from two back-to-back shows in her new hometown of Dallas, Texas in March 2003. Half the songs are taken from 'Woven & Spun'. "I Am", "Legacy" and "My Offering" are taken from that album, but the classic "Holy" is probably the outstanding track. “Fool For You”, “To Know You” and “Is It Any Wonder” are taken from her earlier recordings. A nice surprise is the inclusion of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time", not written as a Christian song 20 years ago as far as I'm aware, but it works brilliantly - "If you fall I will catch you/I will be waiting, time after time." Special mention must be made of the all star band backing Nichole - Ken Lewis, Tim Lauer, Chris Donohue and Randy Pearce. They complement her own piano accompaniment and create a great, laid back, bluesy/jazzy feel to much of the album, a refreshing change from the huge production arrangements on many big US CCM albums.