Almost There

Almost There is the major label debut studio album by the American Christian rock band MercyMe. Produced by Pete Kipley, it was released on August 14, 2001, by INO Records. After releasing six albums as an unsigned band, they decided to pursue a record contract because it became too difficult to sell albums, book shows, and manage themselves. The band was assigned to work with Kipley, who had not produced a major project before. Four songs on the album had previously appeared on their self-released albums; the rest were newly recorded songs. Critics have characterized the music on the album as contemporary worship and pop rock, with a more radio-friendly sound than the band's self-released albums. Almost There received critical acclaim from music critics, who praised the album's songwriting; "I Can Only Imagine" received particular compliments. Critics were more divided on the album's sound. Some felt the album was "innovative" or "fresh", while others felt it was middle-of-the-road or derivative. CCM Magazine listed it in their 25th anniversary edition as one of '100 Albums You Need to Own'. From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almost_...) under Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)