Big Picture
Encouraged by the chart success of his first two releases, Michael W. Smith spent seven months in the studio in 1985 and '86 and the result was this ultraconfident-sounding recording.The Big Pictureis buoyed by "Old Enough to Know" and "Rocketown," two magical numbers that are clearly aimed at the youth market. The former is an encouraging ballad to a young girl who struggles with her sexuality, while the latter is a semiautobiographical tale of Smith's small-town meeting with a traveling minister. The ensuing outcome is Smith's conversion to Christianity. The essential element here comes from Smitty's merging of radio rock-pop and a Christian message. The well-produced result helped change the direction of contemporary Christian music.--Michael Lyttle