Artist Name: Jimmy Dooley
Website: www.jimmydooley.com

Album Title: “Things Are Looking Different”
Song Titles:
1. Things Are Looking Different
2. I Survived
3. I Might As Well
4. He’d Move Heaven And Earth
5. I Wasn’t Really Living
6. Personally
7. I’m Giving It To God
8. Sunday Morning Church
9. Speechless
10. Nothing Short Of Amazing
11. God Noticed You
12. When I Get There
13. The Last Time

I’m going to quote from Jimmy Dooley’s website to help me introduce him.  “Jimmy Dooley began singing around the age of 5 at his grandfather’s church. By the age of 14, Jimmy began preaching. It wasn’t until the age of 17 that Jimmy felt called into the music ministry to sing. But strangely, Jimmy became seriously ill. He was hospitalized and his condition continually grew worse until the doctors gave him only a few months to live. They could never officially diagnose him, but with his deteriorating health it was only a matter of time before his body would give in and fail. But Jimmy and his family never gave up hope and through prayers and faith God healed him. Jimmy has been sharing this personal testimony ever since.”  Jimmy is a singer/songwriter who also owns his own recording studio called “Cross Connection Studio”.

“Things Are Looking Different” is Jimmy’s latest album.  Every song on it was written by Jimmy himself.  It has a distinctively progressive sound/feel to it that I think will appeal to and reach many people.

Now, let’s take a look at each of the songs on the album.

The album starts off with the title track.  “Things Are Different Now” has a progressive bluegrass sound to it that will immediately have you tapping your foot.  The message of the song is also uplifting.  This is followed by a medium-tempo song called “I Survived”.  This is one of those songs where it sounds as though the artist is “baring their heart”, and this transparency is exactly what I think Jimmy was trying to exhibit.  Song #3 is an up-tempo number entitled “I Might As Well”.  This one has kind of a “hard-driving” sound that is reminiscent of something the Crabb Family might have done.

“He’d Move Heaven And Earth” is the fourth song, and it’s one with a great message about just how far God went and will go on our behalf because of His love for us.  Jimmy does a good job on this up-tempo number.  The tempo slows down a bit for the next song, “I Wasn’t Really Living”.  Here we get our first taste of how Jimmy interprets a slow-to-medium-tempo power ballad, and it’s a very good fit for his voice.  Next in line is probably my favorite song on the entire album- “Personally”.  This up-tempo song clearly communicates what should be the desire of every Christian- to look like we know Jesus personally.  This is an excellent piece of songwriting.

Song #7 is another medium-tempo ballad entitled “I’m Giving It To God”.  Here we get a glimpse of the smoother side of Jimmy’s voice.  I like that he simply stays with the melody and doesn’t try to oversing the song.  The next song is another one that you might have expected to hear from the Crabb Family years ago.  “Sunday Morning Church” is another “hard-driving” song with a decidedly progressive sound.  This leads into another medium-tempo song entitled “Speechless”.  The sound and the message of this song combine to make it another of my favorites from this album.

The tenth song is another one with a progressive bluegrass hint to it’s sound.  “Nothing Short Of Amazing” is an up-tempo song that speaks of how amazing the grace of God really is.  Next in line is another slower song entitled “God Noticed You”, and this is followed by an up-tempo song entitled “When I Get There”.  The album then finishes with a slower ballad-style song entitled “The Last Time”.  This song has an accompaniment that is mainly piano, and it’s a nice way to end the album.

I had never heard Jimmy’s music before, and I must say that I was impressed.  First of all, his songwriting ability is a huge asset.  The lyrics don’t sound “forced”, and each of the songs on the album has a distinct and relevant message.  This also makes song selection a strength.  There was also a nice mix of styles and tempos that made the album flow nicely.  Jimmy also has a nice voice.  He has a good range and doesn’t try to sing outside of that range.  The only thing I noticed was that, on occasion, he tends to clip the ends of his words.  However, this does not detract from the overall sound.

I would like to thank Jimmy for giving me the opportunity to review this album.  Anyone who enjoys progressive Southern Gospel music would do well to get a copy of this album.  I look forward to hearing what Jimmy does on future albums.  Overall, I would give this album a rating of 9 ½ out of a possible 10 microphones!

Favorites: “Things Are Looking Different”, “Personally”, “Speechless”, and “When I Get There”