Unguarded is the seventh studio album by Christian singer - songwriter Amy Grant, released in 1985 on Myrrh Records for the Christian bookstores and A&M Records for the mainstream retail market.
This was Grant's first attempt to go mainstream with this album but has scaled back the religious content of her previous albums Age to Age and Straight Ahead.
The first single "Find a Way" became Grant's first Top 30 hit climbing to number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song featured a music video that was played heavily on MTV and VH1, the first music video directed by television director and producer Thomas Schlamme. Follow-up singles "Everywhere I Go" and "Wise Up" were hits on the Christian radio charts. Other songs have been given some media exposure like the intro part of the song "Fight" has been used on the sports channel ESPN and "Who to Listen To" was used in an episode of the NBC television series Miami Vice (season 2, episode 4 "The Dutch Oven"). The song "Wise Up" was given a remix treatment and appeared in the 1989 Myrrh Record compilation remix album Adventures in the Land of Big Beats & Happy Feets.
While Unguarded went to number-one on the Top Christian Albums, the album climbed to number 35 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart and would eventually go Platinum selling over a million copies. Grant won her fourth Grammy in a row for Best Gospel Performance, Female for the album. To further heighten Grant's visual appeal, A&M released Unguarded with four different covers, respectively labeled W, O, R and D. When the album was issued on compact disc, the 'D' variation became the standard version for the cover.
This would be the final album recorded at Caribou Ranch Studios in Nederland, Colorado before the studio was damaged by fire.
Track listing
1. Love of Another Kind (Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Wayne Kirkpatrick, Rich Mullins) -3:22
2. Find a Way (Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith) -3:28
3. Everywhere I Go (Mary Lee Kortes) -4:12
4. I Love You (Amy Grant, Dann Huff, Michael W. Smith) -4:25
5. Stepping in Your Shoes (Amy Grant, Chris Eaton) -4:37
6. Fight (Amy Grant, Gary Chapman, Dann Huff) -4:42
7. Wise Up (Wayne Kirkpatrick, Billy Simon) -3:51
8. Who To Listen To (Gary Chapman, Tim Marsh, Mark Wright) -4:22
9. Sharayah (Amy Grant, Chris Eaton) -4:53
10. The Prodigal (I'll Be Waiting) (Amy Grant, Gary Chapman, Robbie Buchanan) -5:10
On October 16, 2020, in celebration of the album's 35th anniversary, it was reissued on a limited edition white vinyl, with the original 10-song album along with a bonus LP of live tracks and audio commentary from Grant, with an alternate album cover featuring all four of the W-O-R-D album covers. This version was later released digitally on October 30th, for streaming services only.
Track listing on the 35th Anniversary Edition bonus vinyl and digital
1. Love of Another Kind (live) -4:22
2. Find a Way (live) -4:57
3. Wise Up (live) -4:59
4. Fight (live) -5:10
5. All the Burners (commentary) -1:54
6. Caribou (commentary) -2:19
7. Chip Up (commentary) -1:56
8. There's a Time to Dance (commentary) -1:42
9. Giant Figure-Eight (commentary) -3:20
Gold certified in 1985.
Platinum certified in 1986.
Accolades
Grammy Award - Best Gospel Performance, Female (Unguarded)
Dove Award - Artist of the Year
Radio singles
1986 "The Prodigal (I'll Be Waiting)" -#31 Christian AC
1986 "Sharayah" -#2 Christian CHR, #6 Christian AC
1986 "Love of Another Kind" -#12 Christian CHR
Previous release: Straight Ahead (1984)
Next release: The Collection (1986)
Watch the music video of "Find a Way" here:
Watch the music video of "Wise Up" here: