The Brigham Young University Young Ambassadors is a choir made up of singers who are equally comfortable singing solos and as a choir. The sound is much more contemporary than their counterparts on campus at BYU. This particular album is their Fireside Devotional repertoire. The choir director Randy Boothe plays the piano with skill as the choir accompanist.

There are 14 tracks on this album and all speak in some way about Christ being a light to the world.

"The Light of Hope" is the opening track and sets the tender tone for the album.

"Lullaby" comes next, and continues the tender tone. A duet with Brandalee Bluth and Alan Sackett, it alludes to the deity within the Savior at his birth.

"Teach Me to Walk in the Light/The Light Divine" is a medley arranged by Boothe. Afton Ferguson sings a brief solo. The pacing is contemporary and almost choppy. This forces the listener to pay a little more attention to the lyrics, but leaves this listener a little unsettled.

"Lead Kindly Light" is led by soloist Valerie Chamberlain with a plaintive violin and piano duet as the accompaniment. This is the first truly beautiful piece on the album.

"Better Than I" is a contemporary follow-up, and is sung by soloist Mark Boothe. This song speaks of putting faith in Christ because "For You know better than I/You know the way/I've let the need to know why/For You know better than I."

"The Light of the World" speaks of the premortal world and the earth before its creation. Another exquisitely beautiful piece.

"Hold On, the Light Will Come." No contemporary group's repertoire would be complete without one of Michael McLean's songs. This is one of his best uplifting anthems and is sung skillfully by the three soloists with powerful backup vocals. Well done.

"The Way He Speaks to Me" is another wonderful piece, sung with a slight pop lilt by Summer Wood. The piano on this one is nice. I enjoyed the whole song.

"The Man With Many Names" is a song from Michael McLean and Bryce Neubert's musical "The Garden." I love the message of this song. There's One who has made miracles happen and done many wonderful things but even so, he's never forgotten my name. Wow. What a powerful message. Well performed in this instance.

"He Healed Me" is performed by John Preator. He sings with a slight pop touch. He doesn't just sing the pitch he kind of rolls into the melody he's singing. My choir director called it smearing and that's exactly what he does here. The message of the song is beautiful but I feel Preator's smearing detracts from it.

"The Light of His Love" resumes the full choral sound and features the uplifting words "Arise and shine for Thy Light has come."
"Holy Father/I Am a Child of God" mixes a Kenneth Cope/D. Zabriskie song with the Primary standard. Then it goes even further, featuring Spanish, German, Japanese and Russian versions of "I Am a Child of God." Boothe has the choir do a couple of funky pacing things that are more unsettling than melodious.

"When All is Said and Done" has a great message. When we reach the end of our life, will it all mean something? This song asks those questions and more.

"The Lord is My Light" is the strong choral finish to the album. One can picture the fireside coming to a close and feel this song bringing everyone to a strong finish.

Overall I rate this album a four stars. It is appropriate for the Sabbath, but let me warn that this is a contemporary pop sound so just be aware of that when picking up this album for a listen.

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Dacia A. Blodgett-Williams

1 The Light of Hope
2 Lullaby
3 Teach Me to Walk in the Light / The Light Divine
4 Lead Kindly Light
5 Better Than I
6 The Light of the World
7 Hold On, the Light Will Come
8 The Way He Speaks to Me
9 Man With Many Names
10 He Healed Me
11 The Light of His Love
12 Holy Father / I Am A Child of God
13 When All Is Said and Done
14 The Lord Is My Light