Pioneering quartet legends The Mighty Clouds of Joy have much to rejoice about these days. On one hand, they are readying themselves for the celebration of a lifetime: an unforgettable 50 years in gospel music and ministry. On the other, it’s the 2010 release of At the Revival, their third EMI Gospel effort and the perfect capstone for their first five decades as one of music’s most enduring acts.

The album’s title evokes images of weeks-long tent meetings and spiritual fervor across the land, but don’t expect At the Revival to be a down-home, take-me-to-church kind of record.

Produced by celebrated soul-music producers and composers Raphael Saadiq and Devante Swing, At the Revival is a 10-track masterpiece that finds the Clouds applying their time-honored four-part harmonies to the classic sounds of R&B, soul, and rock ‘n’ roll, for a sound that’s at once timely and timeless.

Certainly, gospel heads may find the Saadiq and Devante connections strange, but both knob-turners were weaned on the quartet tradition, of which the Clouds are forebears. For his part, Saadiq — who has worked with the likes of Joss Stone, D’Angelo, Mary J. Blige, and John Legend, to name but a few — doesn’t hide the fact that he’s a huge fan of these Grammy-winning, Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductees.

“Raphael called and he expressed that he would like to do something with the Clouds,” Ligon recalls, “but he wanted to do something old-school. He didn’t want to use a lot of instruments — keyboards, strings, horns, and all of that. He wanted it to be kind of like the first records he heard from us when he was a little boy.”

Ligon continues: “Recording with him was kind of like family. He had watched us so long. When we got together in the studio, everybody knew Raphael so well — knew what he was about and what he’s been doing in his career. So when we got together it was kind of like a family reunion.”

As for Devante — whose production credits include such heavyweights as Al Green, 2Pac, and Usher — working with the Clouds simply made sense. The son of a Pentecostal preacher, Devante got his start singing in a traveling gospel group with his brother, with whom he’d later co-found the multiplatinum R&B foursome Jodeci and rule the airwaves during great part of the ‘90s.

One listen to At the Revival is all it takes to witness the synergy between the Clouds and both producers, who, like starry-eyed admirers, made sure to let Ligon and company work their quartet magic while they manned the boards. Saadiq, in particular, served as the sessions’ music director and bassist, carefully strategizing every groove, vamp, and swing.

Like a dusty record from the ‘60s, the swampy blues-rock of “Stop to Praise God” immediately asserts the tone of At the Revival, as a rhythmic, almost locomotive four-piece sound gives way to an impassioned lead vocal from Ligon, who exhorts believers that every waking hour is a good time to give honor and glory to the King of Kings.

“I’m reminded when they used to have big meetings back home from Monday to Sunday,” proclaims Ligon with a preacher-like tone in the opening moments of the title track, a toe-tappin’, two-step traditional piece that is a cornerstone of the disc — a nostalgic trip down memory lane that is classic Mighty Clouds of Joy from start to finish.

Another highlight is the smooth-as-ice “Jesus Kind of Man,” a soulful cut with a distinctive bass groove and a lyric that acknowledges the entire Godhead: “I’m a God’s child and a Jesus kind of man…I’m Holy Ghost-filled, headed for the Promised Land.”

From there, At the Revival takes all kinds of surprising turns, like the sparse yet spirited “I’ll Be Up There,” the triple-timed, Ron Staples-led “I Love You Lord,” the soul-rock of “He’ll Fix It for You,” the funk-tastic, Devante-produced “Just Love Somebody,” and the doo wop-styled “Hard Times,” which the late Mike Cook — who passed away in 2008 after almost 20 years with the Clouds — sings with all the flair and candor of the great Sam Cooke.

In a fitting homage, Cook takes the lead a second time in a live-to-tape version of the gospel classic “Walk Around Heaven” — a staple the Clouds have been performing in concert for decades, but that up to now was yet to be included in one of their studio albums. In the spirit of the original, Devante took the track, boiled it down to its essentials, and made it into a showpiece that Ligon calls “a tribute” to the memory of the departed Clouds veteran.

More than great vocals, music styles, or career milestones, though, The Mighty Clouds of Joy hope At the Revival helps people see them for who they are: a group that is unwavering in its commitment to Christ and the Gospel.

“I hope people realize, ‘Here’s a group that’s been through a lot,’” Ligon says. “‘Here’s a group that’s still here after 50 years. Here’s a group that is dedicated — a group that believes that there is a God. Here’s a group that loves what they are doing. Here’s a group that has caused a lot of people to give their life to Jesus.’”