by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

I'll Lead You Home became the highest-debuting Christian album in chart history, and it's easy to see why. Produced by Patrick Leonard, the album consolidated Michael W. Smith's inspirational and pop success, combining gospel songs with glistening, immaculate pop production. Smith had earned pop fans with his previous record, Change Your World, and I'll Lead You Home showed those listeners that his inspirational records were every bit as good as his pop records. That's because they shared the same kind of mainstream pop production -- the layered synths and guitars spoke to the listeners nearly as much as Smith's voice itself.