As I have wrote in my previous reviews on Amy's other cds I have all of her albums and a few singles. This is one I can listen to all of the time and never get tired of it. I have so many cds though, so I take turns listening to them.. My all-time favorite is Heart In Motion. Anyways, the best songs on this album are: Lucky One (I have the single of this one), Say You'll Be Mine, House Of Love (with Vince Gill), The Power (this is truly one of my favorites), Love Has A Hold On Me (I have this single, too), Children Of The World, Big Yellow Taxi, & Helping Hand. This a great album for collectors.

Like most secular listeners, I first became a big fan of Amy Grant around the time Heart in Motion came out. My aunt had been a fan since her very early days as a purely Christian singer. From the instant I heard "Baby Baby," it just grabbed me, and I wore out my cassette tape of Heart In Motion. When I heard that Amy was coming out with another "pop" album in the fall of 1994, I knew I had to have it. I didn't like as much as H.I.M., but I still felt it was a good effort and a worthy follow-up, even if it only sold half of what H.I.M. did. Here's my track-by-track commentary...
1. Lucky One - sweet and lighthearted ballad, good first single. However, I like the "AC Rhythm Mix" that got radio airplay much better than the album version. Charted at #18.
2. Say You'll Be Mine - more uptempo than Lucky One but still very AC-friendly, a lot like "Every Heartbeat" or "Good For Me." I think it would have done well as a single in the U.S., which it wasn't (although it did just miss the top 40 in the U.K.).
3. Whatever It Takes - this is the one song on the album that I didn't really care for. Sweet, nice sentiment, but not nearly as catchy as the first two tracks.
4. House Of Love - charted at #37 as a single. Great song, very inspirational and well-sung, and in a way prophetic considering that Grant and Gill would marry only five years later.
5. The Power - I like this one, very gospelly and danceable yet quiet at the same time. This song has been covered by Cher (on her "Believe" album), but as much as I love Cher, Amy's version is better.
6. Oh How The Years Go By - this song has also been covered (by Vanessa Williams, whose version was an Adult Contemporary hit). And Vanessa's version doesn't hold a candle to Amy's. Beautiful song, great lyrics and an easily relatable sentiment.
7. Big Yellow Taxi - nice cover version, not as good as Joni Mitchell's original but still faithful. There was a radio remix, but the album version is truer to the original, and Amy has said she's a big Joni Mitchell fan. Certainly much better than that GODAWFUL version by Counting Crows that was a hit recently. Charted at #67.
8. Helping Hand - an uptempo, poppy piece about reaching out to help others in need. I didn't like it much at first, but it's grown on me. This song got a lot of contemporary Christian radio play at the time, and I still hear it occasionally on the radio.
9. and 10. Love Has A Hold On Me and Our Love - slow, beautiful ballads, remind me a lot of How Can We See That Far from Heart In Motion. Our Love could even be called sensual and would be a good make-out song without being tawdry or raunchy at all.
11. Children of the World - the only song on this album that explicitly mentions God, and in my opinion, the best song on this album. Rollicking, beautiful, and very moving, with backing by the same children's choir that sang with her on "The Night Before Christmas" on the "Home for Christmas" album.

All in all, a good, solid follow-up album to Heart In Motion and one that reinforced Amy's position as a staple of adult contemporary radio (less so top 40 stations).

Amy Grant's House Of Love album is a winner! It showcases softer pop tunes comparing it to her Heart In Motion album, but to sum it up, it's a dreamy yet upbeat album. The album starts off with Lucky One with a flute, crickets in the grass and a steady "Baby Baby" like beat. There is also the songs, Whatever It Takes and Love Has A Hold On Me, which make perfect wedding songs. Also, the album contains two social awareness songs such as Children Of The World and Helping Hand which are just powerful in their message and instrumental arrangements. The slowest song on the album would be, Our Love. It's statement is straightforward while the music itself has a "sit back and relax" dreamy effect. Ofcourse, HOL spawned three hits which are House Of Love, Lucky One and Big Yellow Taxi. If you love soft summer and fall music, this album would be for you. I think it's the bomb! I highly recommend it!

This is the third Amy Grant CD that I own (the other two is her 1991 release Heart In Motion and her 1992 Christmas release Home For Christmas). With the ingredient of Pop, House Of Love produces simple, yet irresistible Pop songs.

The highlights of House of Love are:

"Lucky One" - A semi-upbeat, yet beautiful ballad. (5/5)

"Say You'll Be Mine" - A more upbeat, beautiful, fun love ballad. (5/5)

"House Of Love" - A beautiful duet between Amy and husband Vince Gill. (5/5)

"Whatever It Takes" - A beautiful ballad of devotion, but softer and more serious than "Say You'll Be Mine" and "Lucky One". (5/5)

"Big Yellow Taxi" - Not a favorite of mine, but it's a nice, fun cover of the original song. (4/5)

Even though this may seem to be a Pop album, "Children of the World" shows that she hasn't departed from her Christian roots.

I recommend House of Love to any fan of Amy Grant or any lover of fun, beautiful ballads, and social awareness songs. I wish Amy would release more Pop albums.. she does a good job of not going overboard and her songs are nice to listen to at any time in any mood.

Amy Grant went from Christian to pop in 1991 by releasing Heart in Motion and placing the single "Baby Baby" at the top of the charts. This album is an even better followup; it has its share of catchy pop tunes, such as "Lucky One" and "Say You'll Be Mine," and covers ("House of Love" and "Big Yellow Taxi") mixed with more meaningful tracks that pepper the rest of the album, the very reason to go out and buy this album (or any other Amy Grant album for that matter). Listen to the songs such as "Power," "Love Has a Hold on Me" and "Children of the World" - the lyrics have a very inspirational feel that brings Amy's Christian background in a more secular package. The musical arrangments for these songs are just as superb. The catchy pop tunes are a letdown by comparison (particularly "Say You'll Be Mine" which was a single in the UK), and the covers come in between. But these don't detract from the overall charm and listenability of the entire album; this album was at the top of my playlist for much of the mid-1990's.

This album is simply a huge dose of inspiration without in-your-face proselytization; while the fundamentalists will balk (along with Amy's very shift to secular music as well as divorce/remarriage), for everyone else this album represents a win-win. Just because Amy Grant happens to have a religous background and does not have the clout of the big-name divas does not mean you should overlook this album. This album is too good to be overlooked. This is *the* secular Amy album to buy, especially since I consider it better than Heart in Motion as well as Amy's latest effort, Behind His Eyes.