I Wish We All Could Win is the debut album from the Christian rock band the Afters. The album contains their Dove Award-nominated hit single "Beautiful Love". The album is notable for having two tracks on it used as theme songs. The aforementioned Beautiful Love was used for the MTV reality series "8th and Ocean" while the track "Until The World" was used as the theme song to the ABC Family drama Beautiful People. "You", "All That I Am", and "Someday" all charted on Billboard'''s Christian Songs chart.
Critical response
The website Soul Purpose remarked in their review: "The Afters display talent belying their short existence. ... engag[ing] the listener on a personal journey. A glimpse of the soul is rare indeed [but] the Afters debut effortlessly captures that." More often than not, critics have approved of the soulful pop rock the Afters deliver on this disc, regardless of its more overt religious themes.
Jesus Freak Hideout gave the album 4½ stars out of 5 commenting that "the Afters' approach to worship is a classy and thoughtful one." ChristianityToday.com gave the album 3½ stars out of 5 and added that it effectively "manage[s] to straddle the fence between what Christian and mainstream radio is willing to play." AllMusic gave the album 3½ stars out of 5.
Track listing
Personnel The Afters Joshua Havens – lead vocals, keyboards, guitars Matt Fuqua – vocals, guitars Brad Wigg – bass guitar, vocals Marc Dodd – drums
Additional musicians Dan Muckala – additional keyboards Matt Walker – cello Bruce Christensen – viola David Angell – violin David Davidson – violin Pete Kipley – string arrangements
Production Pete Kipley – executive producer, additional production (1, 3, 6–9), digital editing (1, 3, 6–9) Bart Millard – executive producer Brown Bannister – producer (1, 3, 6–9) Dan Muckala – producer (2, 4, 5, 10) Steve Bishir – engineer, digital editing (1, 3, 6–9) F. Reid Shippen – engineer (2, 4, 5, 10), mixing Mike "X" O'Connor – digital editing, additional engineer (2, 4, 5, 10) Danny Boutwell – additional editing (2, 4, 5, 10) Mike Nelson – additional editing (2, 4, 5, 10) Lee Bridges – mix assistant George Cocchini – tone chaperone Traci Bishir – production manager (1, 3, 6–9) Dana Salsedo – creative director Dan Harding – design Esther Havens – photography Overflow, Inc. – management
Charts Album Top Heatseekers Album: No. 40 Top Christian Albums: No. 24
Singles Year Title Chart positions US AdultTop 40 USDigital USPop USHot 100 USChrist 2005 "Beautiful Love" 29 23 43 55 37 2005 "You" — — — — 4 2006 "All That I Am" — — — — 13 2006 "Someday" — — — — 25
Awards In 2005, CCM Magazine selected I Wish We All Could Win'' for the Editor's Top 10 Albums. In 2006, the album was nominated for a Dove Award for Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year at the 37th GMA Dove Awards.37th Annual GMA Dove Awards Nominations & Winners on About.com; Jones, Kim The song "Beautiful Love" was also nominated for a Dove Award for Rock/Contemporary Recorded Song of the Year.
References