There are some albums that are nearly impossible to review with an objective point of view. This is one of them.

For most of last summer (Later editor's note - I was referring to the summer of '99), the whitestone gathering was my daily companion. I listened to it every day while riding the city bus to a job that I loathed. Day after grueling day, I would dread going to work, but listening to this album gave me the strength to stick it out. On especially trying days, I would even run to my locker on break just to get to listen to this album for a couple of minutes. Every minute with this album was like taking an instant vacation. Even now as I am listening to this CD for the 257th time, I am taken back to those special times I spent with the Lord while listening to this album.

Having said all of that, my editor insists that I move beyond the superlatives and tell you, the reader, some objective reasons why this album is so amazing.

This is easier said than done. Madison Greene doesn't really fit into any of the neat little boxes where we might try to cubbyhole our music. I would probably call it tribal/world music more than anything, but you could just as easily call it acoustic-folk-jam music. (By the way, contrary to all of the hype that Waterdeep gets from the indie acoustic hipsters, I think Madison Greene is much better. Don't get me wrong-I like Waterdeep a lot, but to me, they do not have the lyrical depth, the musical prowess, or the emotional intensity of MG.) Whatever you want to call MG's style, though, it is unique.

One of the things that makes this album unique is its incredible instrumentation. It's hard to say that one ingredient in the mix is more important than another, but certainly the acoustic folk guitar and the congas provide the musical foundation for the album. The guitar is played with a passionate intensity in both the fast and the slow parts, while the congas are the driving heartbeat for the album. (By the way, for the full effect, you can't listen to this album without dancing.)

As far as the other instruments used, one word would describe them-diverse.

The guitar is joined by bass, and in the strings section, an Appalachian dulcimer, a mandolin, and a haunting Celtic fiddle that plays melodies so beautiful it hurts.

The rhythm section is equally diverse and includes the djembe, talking drum, infant Moroccan bongos, the great Kenyan ceremonial goat, rainstick, and suspended Vietnamese bamboo xylophone. Jason Beck is truly masterful at his utilization of so many different percussion instruments in creating such a unique rhythmic vibe.

Plus you can't forget about the didjeridu. I have never heard such a diverse mix of instruments used without sounding overly "cute." Madison Greene does a good job of using each of these instruments to create their particular vibe without exploiting them for sheer novelty's sake.

The instrumentation is matched by the powerful vocals. Melissa Blair sings lead on most of the songs. Her voice is so beautiful! It has the capacity to tenderly convey intense emotion in songs like "the turning...," yet it can also be as wild and passionate as a summer thunderstorm.

Melissa's brother Michael also joins in many of the vocals. His voice is a little coarser than her's, but is perfect for the songs that are hardcore, abandoned worship. His singing just seems to draw the listener into expressing worship to God. From time to time, you can also hear him singing backup vocals that have a really cool echo effect. These folks are masters of rhythm and understand the importance of the essential element of controlled silence.

Lyrically, the songs range from intense songs that express one's spiritual condition to God in Psalm-like prayers ("the turning…") to more obscure songs about relationships with unusual and unique people ("Helen" and "at the grave of an autistic friend"). The lyrics are definitely along the lines of Jars of Clay or even the Beatles (I.E.-the Sergeant Pepper's album) in being less than straightforward, but to the persistent listener, the payoff of understanding is equally great.

I won't guarantee that this album will touch your soul like it did mine, but I can assure you that the whitestone gathering is a truly creative work of passionate musical art that should not be missed.