Mighty Sam McClain - Journey (1998)

Singing praises to God and sharing his love for others despite having faced tragedy and setbacks in his past, McClain is rather reminiscent of the Biblical character, Job (who despite losing everything, still praised God, and then was blessed with twice as much wealth and a bigger family than before). McClain's life journey has often been rocky; he has faced rejection by his family, survived substance abuse, and been ignored by the music industry despite his hard-working attempts to gain attention. But turning to God, he remained faithful and is now blessed with a critically acclaimed career and a loving family. This album shares all of this, and his honest, retrospective outlook wins hands down. Take a look at "No More Tears," twhere he takes the familiar line of "walking the backstreets," translating it to his life experiences -- feeling frustrated, moving from place to place without seeing his situation improve. This honesty transcends to the supporting musicians, who give from-the-bottom-of-the-heart solos without sounding mushy, from bassist Tim Ingles' funky jazz feel on "I'm Yours," to Bruce Katz thumping the ivories or the B-3.