Ginny Owens If You Want Me To: The Best of Ginny Owens Rocketown Records Pop 08-08-2006

SCORE 79%

Sometimes we are called to do things that we'd rather not. Moses didn't want to go back to Egypt even if it meant being something of a savior for the Israelites. Gideon initially was uninterested in leading an army to deliver Israel from oppression. Time and time again, unlikely and unwilling individuals ended up swallowing their fear or pride and allowed God to use them to accomplish His greater purposes. Whether it's fear or something else that holds us back from following God's call in our lives, we need to obey His directives for our lives.

Looking back on her career, which currently spans seven years, four proper albums, an EP, a live album, and many other accolades, singer and songwriter Ginny Owens remembers the hesitancy with which she initially approached becoming a professional musician. Having set out to become a school music teacher, Owens eventually landed with Rocketown Records and the rest is summed up here If You Want Me To: The Best of Ginny Owens.

With songs spanning each of her major releases, the album gives listeners a good chance to catch up on some of the music they may have missed from the past releases of Owens. If You Want also includes a taste of Ginny's live show with an explanation of and introduction for the title track as it originally appeared on A Night at Rocketown, which was one of the first introductions of Ginny Owens to the music world. There's also "Remember Me," a duet Owens recorded with Mark Schultz for his self-titled release, as well as the dance hall rendition of "40" which was originally part of the apt.core project Rhythms of Remembrance. New for the album are a radio remix of "Wonderful Wonder" from Long Way Home and "Open Arms," an upbeat track with a slight bent towards a salsa rhythm written by Shawn Lewis and Mike Jackson (Hyperstatic Union).

All in all, it's not a bad compilation of Ginny Owens music, but it seems a little unnecessary in a musical climate that tends to revolve around "a la carte" purchasing options. If You Want Me To actually raises the question of whether we should expect to hear from Owens again or whether this is the end of the road. The real treasure with this recording is the bonus DVD that accompanies the album. Providing 20 minutes of live footage and interviews from the Live from New Orleans project, the DVD will certainly make this collection worth picking up for fans of Ginny Owens.