How Great Thou Art

AMG Review of How Great Thou Art

Johnny Loftus
All Music Guide

This collection of gospel favorites features Slim Whitman's mellow vocals backed by a multi-dimensional synthesizer and acoustic guitar. While it's essentially a country-influenced set, the canned keyboard accompaniment washes out much of the set. Often, the synthesizers sound like a perpetually-pressed present button. Luckily, Whitman's voice is smoother than aged maple butter and could make the ingredients on a bag of Funyuns ring like spun gold. The touching "He" is enough to make you shed a tear, while Whitman's performance of the title track is measured and reverent, with delightful shifts into his higher vocal register. How Great Thou Art might not persuade non-believers to take a closer walk with thee, but the existing congregation of Whitman fans should be able to ignore the album's synthesized transgressions and focus on his strong vocals.