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Group Name: McMillan & Life
Website: www.mcmillanandlife.com  
Album Title: “No Storm Wasted”
Song Titles:

1. Tears Of Surrender
2. These Are The Days
3. Praise The Lord
4. Gethsemane
5. I Have
6. Live Again
7. I’m Going To Reach Heaven
8. With My Own Eyes
9. This Storm
10. My Hope
11. Invitation to receive Christ (not a song)

McMillan & Life was formed in the latter part of 2006.  Jimmy and Liz McMillan felt led to resign from their respective groups and form a group of their own.  Since then, they have been ministering together as part of McMillan & Life.  Rounding out the trio is vocalist Josh Arnett.

“No Storm Wasted” is the latest album by the group.  It is a collection of 10 original songs penned by such writers as Chris Binion, Joel Lindsey, Joyce Martin McCollough, Donna Beauvais, and group member Jimmy McMillan.  The design of the album cover features an electrical storm in a purple hue, with the album name at the top and pictures of the group members at the bottom.  Surprisingly, the group name was not on the front cover- a slight error, in my opinion.

Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: THE SONGS!

The album starts off with an up-tempo song called “Tears Of Surrender”.  Jimmy McMillan is featured here, and he has a strong and prominent voice.  The tempo stays the same for the next song, “These Are The Days”.  Liz McMillan is featured on this country-inspired tune, and her mid-range voice fits this song perfectly.  Staying with much the same tempo, Josh Arnett is featured on “Praise The Lord”.  Josh has a soulful-sounding voice, and the vocal blend is very nice here.  The tempo then slows down as Jimmy is featured on a ballad entitled “Gethsemane”.  Jimmy’s vocals have a softer sound here than they did on “Tears Of Surrender”, and it’s a very nice sound.

Liz is once again featured on Song #5, a medium-to-up-tempo number called “I Have”.  This song has a slightly harder and “edgier” feel than the previous songs, and the blend isn’t quite as tight as it has been.  Still, it’s a fun song to listen to.  Next up is a medium-tempo song featuring Josh Arnett called “Live Again”.  This is a song with some powerful lyrics that contain a message that is needed today.  The seventh song is a medium-tempo offering called “I’m Going To Reach Heaven”.  This is more of a traditional-sounding song featuring Jimmy once again on the lead vocals, and it’s the current radio single from this album.  The tempo then slows down as Liz is featured on another ballad called “With My Own Eyes”. 

The ninth song is another slower ballad.  Liz is once again featured on “This Storm”, the song from which the album’s title is derived.  This is a song with a lot of feeling, and the group gives it a big sound.  Song #10, “My Hope”, keeps the tempo in a similar vein as the previous song.  This song, featuring both Josh and Jimmy, has a slight praise & worship feel to it.  The album then ends with something unusual- an audio invitation to accept Jesus Christ as Savior.  All I can say about this is- BRAVO!  In my opinion, this is a unique way to bring the album to a close and give people an opportunity to respond to what they’ve heard.

This is my first exposure to McMillan & Life, but I’m sure that it will not be my last.  I enjoyed listening to this album, and I think that this group is on the right track as far as their sound is concerned.  Each vocalist has a strong voice, and I like the way that they use different vocal arrangements throughout the album.  In my opinion, their strongest arrangement is when Liz takes the lead- the vocals were the tightest at these times.  The only thing that I think they can improve on is a tightening of the overall blend in each of their vocal configurations.  I think that this will come naturally the more that they sing and practice together.  Overall, this is definitely a group that people need to hear.  I would give this album a rating of 8 1/2 out of 10 microphones!

Favorites: “These Are The Days”, “Praise The Lord”, and “This Storm”