The Collection (Amy Grant album)

The Collection
Compilation album by Amy Grant
Released	July 22, 1986
Recorded	"Stay for Awhile" & "Love Can Do" Oceanway Recording, Hollywood, CA The Bennett House, Franklin, TN Bullet Recording, Nashville, TN 1978-86
Genre	Contemporary Christian music
Length	40:13 (LP version) 60:49 (cassette version) 69:12 (CD version)
Label	Myrrh, A&M
Producer	Brown Bannister Johnny Potoker
Amy Grant chronology
Unguarded (1985) The Collection (1986) The Animals' Christmas (1986)
Singles from The Collection
"Stay for Awhile" Released: 1986

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

The Collection is the tenth album by Christian music singer Amy Grant, released in 1986 (see 1986 in music).

The Collection was the first compilation of Amy Grant's music to be released, and it was issued after her crossover success in 1985 with the album Unguarded. The Collection spanned Grant's first decade in music, and featured the new songs "Stay for Awhile" and "Love Can Do", the former of which was a Top Twenty Adult Contemporary hit in the United States.

Release

The Collection was originally released in two different versions: a cassette version and an LP version. The LP version was directed to her newer fans, who knew her primarily for her Top 40 pop hit "Find a Way". The cassette version was directed to her older fans, who knew her for her Christian work as well as her secular work. The LP version contained ten tracks, and the cassette version contained fifteen tracks. In 1990, The Collection was re-released on CD with the 15 tracks featured on the cassette version, and two additional tracks, "Too Late" and "I'm Gonna Fly". Word Canada accidentally released the ten-track LP version to CD. The cover and tray art were that of the seventeen-track version causing confusion and recalls. They later issued the seventeen-track version as well. According to CCM Magazine, The Collection is the best-selling Christian music compilation album ever released, having sold in excess of 1 million copies.

An unauthorized reproduction of the album artwork (featuring Amy Grant) was used for issue No. 15 of the Marvel Comics series Dr. Strange.^[2] Apparently, the issue's artist was a fan of the singer and decided to use her likeness for a character in the story.

In 2007, The Collection was reissued and digitally remastered by Grant's new record label, EMI/Sparrow Records. The remastered edition is labeled with a "Digitally Remastered" logo in the 'gutter' on the CD front.^[3]

Track listing

LP version

Side A

1. "Stay for Awhile" (Grant, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Michael W. Smith) – 5:37
2. "Find a Way" (Grant, Smith) – 3:27  Listen 
3. "Everywhere I Go" (Kortes) – 4:10
4. "Angels" (Brown Bannister, Gary Chapman, Grant, Smith) – 4:10
5. "El Shaddai" (Michael Card, Thompson) – 4:06

Side B

1. "Love Can Do" (Grant, Kirkpatrick, Smith) – 4:22
2. "Sing Your Praise to the Lord" (Rich Mullins) – 3:17
3. "Father's Eyes" (Chapman) – 4:05
4. "Thy Word" (Grant, Smith) – 3:19
5. "Emmanuel" (Smith) – 3:07

Original cassette version

Side one

1. "Stay for Awhile" – 5:37
2. "Love Can Do" – 4:22
3. "Find a Way" – 3:27
4. "Everywhere I Go" – 4:10
5. "Angels" – 4:10
6. "Thy Word" – 3:19
7. "Emmanuel" – 3:07
8. "Where Do You Hide Your Heart" (Grant, Smith) – 3:55

Side two

1. "Sing Your Praise to the Lord" – 3:17
2. "In a Little While" (Bannister, Chapman, Grant, Shane Keister) – 4:22
3. "El Shaddai" (Michael Card, Thompson) – 4:06
4. "I Have Decided" (Card) – 3:16
5. "All I Ever Have To Be" (Chapman) – 2:38
6. "Father's Eyes" – 4:05
7. "Ageless Medley" (Bannister, Card, Chapman, Christian, Grant, Mullins, Thompson) – 6:10

CD version

1. "Stay for Awhile" – 5:37
2. "Love Can Do" – 4:22
3. "Find a Way" – 3:27
4. "Everywhere I Go" – 4:10
5. "Angels" – 4:10
6. "Thy Word" – 3:19
7. "Emmanuel" – 3:07
8. "Where Do You Hide Your Heart" – 3:55
9. "Sing Your Praise to the Lord" – 3:17
10. "In a Little While" – 4:22
11. "El Shaddai" – 4:06
12. "I Have Decided" – 3:16
13. "Too Late" (Bannister, Christian, Grant) – 4:24
14. "I'm Gonna Fly" (Grant) – 4:23
15. "All I Ever Have to Be" – 2:38
16. "Father's Eyes" – 4:05
17. "Ageless Medley" – 6:10

Personnel

• Amy Grant: vocals
• Dann Huff: guitars
• Nathan East: bass guitar
• Michael W. Smith: keyboards
• Robbie Buchanan: keyboards
• Shane Keister: keyboards
• David Gamson: keyboards
• Steve Schaffer: Synclavier
• Paul Leim: drums
• Paulinho Da Costa: percussion
• Chris Harris: background vocals
• Mark Heimermann: background vocals
• Richard Page: background vocals on "Stay for Awhile" ^[4]
• Greg X. Volz: background vocals on "Love Can Do"

Production

• Producers: Brown Bannister, John Potoker
• Executive producers: Michael Blanton, Dan Harrell, Gary Chapman
• Engineers: Sabrina Buchanek, Spencer Chrislu, Ed Goodreau, J.T., Steve McMillan, John Potoker, Jack Joseph Puig
• Mixed by Sabrina Buchanek, Ed Goodreau
• Mastered by Doug Sax
• Design: Kent Hunter
• Photography: Mark Tucker

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America) Year Chart Position 1986 The Billboard 200 66 1987 Top Contemporary Christian 1 Singles - Billboard (North America) Year Single Chart Position 1986 "Stay for Awhile" Adult Contemporary 18 Singles - CCM Magazine (North America) Year Single Chart Position 1986 "Stay for Awhile" Christian Radio–Adult Contemporary 2

End of year charts Year Chart Position 1986 U.S. Billboard Inspirational Albums 21 1987 2 End-of-decade charts Chart (1980-1989) Rank US Billboard Top Contemporary Christian[5] 1 Commercial performance Country Sales Certifications (sales thresholds) United States (RIAA) 1,000,000 Platinum

Awards

GMA Dove Awards

Year	Winner	Category
1988	"Stay for Awhile"	Short Form Music Video of the Year

Chart procession

References

1. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r728646/review
2. Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #144
3. Sparrow Records News
4. "The Collection".
5. "Top Christian Albums - 1980's". Retrieved February 27, 2014.