Passing Through

AMG Review of Passing Through

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

In 2000, Randy Travis devoted himself to gospel music, and 2004's Passing Through is the fourth religious record he cut since then, but there's a difference here: instead of focusing on explicitly Christian material, Travis has collected a set of songs and stories about how faith affects life. It's inspirational music in the purest sense -- it doesn't preach, it instructs and inspires through its carefully observed tales. Musically, Passing Through is classic hardcore country, alternating between sentimental allads and straight-ahead honky tonk and country-folk. Similarly, the songs themselves tell tales that are classic country, but the difference is that each has a subtle message or religious undercurrent to it. It all makes for a very strong album, either in contemporary Christian terms or by a purely musical yardstick, and it's further proof that Travis's raditionalist country continues to reap considerable rewards.