Amy Grant in 1985: Her Album "Unguarded" was a Crossover Success

Even up to this day, Amy Grant is still the artist to have the most #1 singles on the Billboard Christian songs chart.  In 1985, Amy Grant was unstoppable.  Signed to A&M Records, she released her ninth album "Unguarded."  With this album, however, the religious content of the lyrics was scaled back as compared with her two previous regular studio albums. In fact, the words "God" and "Jesus" only surfaced twice across the record.

The album track "I Love You" was Grant's first secular love song from her own pen, a song she sang to her husband then, Gary Chapman.  Despite this, the album's lead-off single, "Find a Way", was a number one hit on the Christian radio charts. Four other singles from the album were also Top Ten Christian radio hits. 

One of the album's highlights was the song "Sharayah." It was released as the fourth and final single from the album. The song did not achieve the mainstream success that the previous Unguarded singles had seen but still emerged as a major hit on Christian radio. "Sharayah" is an uptempo, rock-styled inspirational song that features heavy use of the synthesizer and electric guitar. In the song, Grant addresses a close friend named Sharayah, a presumably fictional character who is experiencing a crisis of faith. Grant implores her friend to find salvation in God. However, the lyrics do not specifically mention God or Jesus. 

The aggressive mainstream style of the songs on Unguarded, combined with a heavy promotional campaign on the part of the album's distributor in secular outlets, A&M Records, helped three of its singles reach the mainstream charts. Grant's producer, Brown Bannister, had been listening carefully to the pop charts throughout her career, and here he seemed determined to give her the kind of sound that would compete successfully on the secular airwaves of the day. 

"Find a Way" was a Top Ten hit on the Adult Contemporary chart and peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100, while "Everywhere I Go" was a Top Thirty AC single and "Wise Up" was a minor charting single on the Hot 100. Unguarded would be certified gold in September 1985, and platinum in June 1986. 

This was the final album to be recorded at Caribou Ranch, which was owned by former Chicago producer/manager James William Guercio before the infamous March 1985 fire that destroyed the studio's control room. 

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