No Less than All
Impeccably arranged vocals; lush, layered harmonies; instrumental and vocal versatility -- these are the hallmarks of GLAD. GLAD, the band, began on the campus of West Chester State University near Philadelphia, PA in the early '70's. Formed as a progressive Christian rock band with classical/jazz leanings and an emphasis on complex vocals, GLAD has always borrowed from a wide range of musical genres. The band made its first two records for Myrrh/Word between 1978 and 1980. On their second outing, Beyond a Star, the group began to dabble with an a cappella sound ("The Reason"). In '81 the group signed with Benson Records (now Benson Music Group), their home for thirteen years, during which they operated initially in the "band" mode. Over time, the group's sound evolved into a sophisticated pop/jazz style, with one a cappella offering on each record. As an experiment, in 1988, the group recorded an entire album of a cappella -- a mixture of original tunes and elaborately re-arranged hymns. The public responded in a big way by purchasing over 300,000 copies of "The Acapella Project", and GLAD began to alternate their "band" and a cappella recordings.Skipping forward a few years -- in 1995 and 1996 GLAD made several bold strokes -- with "Color Outside the Lines" in the band mode; "A Cappella Gershwin," a recording of masterfully arranged compositions by George and Ira Gershwin; and another fine addition to the series which began as "just an experiment", "The A Cappella Project III". Late November of 1998 brought the release of "A Cappella Worship - The Highest Glory," a recording of God-exalting worship songs which marks the return of the team that launched the first "Acapella Project" -- George King, as executive producer; Ed Nalle, as producer; and Bob Kauflin, as lead arranger (3 original songs penned by Bob, and a total of seven arrangements).