Reviews

REVIEWS

PETER DILLEY takes a look at some of the latest Christian music releases on both sides of the Atlantic

Hearts for worship

US-BASED ARTISTS

Offerings II - All I Have To Give by Third Day, Essential Records (Authentic Media), CD £14.99
Adoration: The Worship Album by Newsboys, Sparrow Records (EMI Christian Music Group), CD £14.99
Cry Holy by Sonicflood, Inotof (Integrity Music), CD £14.99
Wait For Me - The Best From Rebecca St James, Forefront Records, (EMI Christian Music Group), CD £14.99

Perhaps taking their lead from Delirious? or Petra, several major US Christian bands have been turning their attention towards praise and worship projects.

All I Have To Give is from Southern rockers Third Day, the follow-up to their award-winning Offerings album. In the 50/50 mix of live and studio tracks, rousing concert versions of Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (part of a medley with U2’s With Or Without You), Creed by Rich Mullins and God Of Wonders will probably connect most readily with listeners, but Third Day remain on good form with studio cuts such as You Are So Good To Me and Offering. A worthy sequel.

Worship songs have featured on Newsboys’ albums for years, but Adoration is the Australian/American band’s first full-blown worship release. Whilst remaining rooted in the Psalms and centuries of hymnody, their approach towards praise and worship shows real creativity. Opener He Reigns is a global call to worship, lines from Wesley’s O For A Thousand Tongues are transplanted into Take My Hands, their rendition of In Christ Alone is overlaid with Coldplay influences, and amongst several live tracks there’s an excellent gospel-tinged version of It Is You.

Unlike Third Day and Newsboys, Sonicflood exist primarily as a worship band, and work with Matt Redman on The Father’s Song (2000) did much to raise their profile in Britain. On fourth album Cry Holy, Sonicflood’s own writing credits are limited to the first, second and final tracks, and instead they showcase songs from a variety of sources - Tim Hughes’ Here I Am To Worship revisits those connections with Soul Survivor songwriters, Everything To Me was penned by protégé/labelmate Jason Ingram, and there’s a more than decent cover of Chris Tomlin’s Famous One.

Worship songs have always been woven into Rebecca St James’ albums and live shows, and that’s reflected on her ‘best of’ collection Wait For Me. Amongst those included here are Lamb Of God, Breathe and Song Of Love (all from Worship God), a version of Psalm 139, prayer songs Mirror and Pray, Your Love Broke Through (from the recent Keith Green tribute album), and Expressions Of Your Love co-written with Chris Tomlin during their tour last year.

Even with a generous 18 tracks, this only scratches the surface of Rebecca’s prolific output, so hopefully a second volume or live compilation won’t be too long coming.

UK-BASED ARTISTS

Depth and range

21st Anniversary Concert - Live at Abbey Road by the London Community Gospel Choir, Kingsway Music, CD £14.99 (also available on DVD £16.99, video £12.99, cassette £10.99)
Afterglow by Quench, ICC/Elevation, CD £12.99
Exodus by Andy Hunter, Sparrow Records (EMI Christian Music Group), CD £9.99
Superhero by Superhero, Fierce! Distribution, CD £14.99

Although the Christian music scene here in the UK remains at a small fraction of the size of that in America, British artists cross the entire spectrum of musical genres. Few would pretend to be household names, but the London Community Gospel Choir have earned quite a reputation in their own right, working with other artists, and even with an appearance on Comic Relief night.

To mark the choir’s ‘coming of age’, a celebration concert took place at Abbey Road Studios, and the live recording from this includes performances by special guests Paul Carrack (Mike and The Mechanics), Sam Moore, Carleen Anderson, Matt Redman and Martin Smith, plus of course plenty from LCGC themselves. Uplifting, and possibly even more enjoyable on DVD or video.

Quench emerged out of frenetic folk/punk team Why? in 2001. Building on foundations laid with last year’s debut EP, Afterglow offers fiery but melodic rock sounds, and songs that address human/spiritual issues such as idolatry (Gollum) and temptation (Siren), or simply make the Bible come alive (Think About It is basically Philippians 4:8). As a useful extra, Quench talk about their songs in video footage included on the CD.

I remember being impressed by Superhero’s explosive last album Burn And Dazzle, but apparently the Glaswegian four-piece weren’t totally satisfied with the end product. Not ones to quit, they soon started work on new material, and the 11 songs on this eponymous release are the eventual end result. Like their penchant for short song titles, high-power delivery is still Superhero’s modus operandi, but now there’s greater refinement in the wall of sound, perhaps a combination of greater experience and the involvement of top producer Alan Branch, who has previously worked with Bjork, Blur and Primal Scream.

Such is their new found confidence that Stars and Fragile were put out as a single, and there’s more of a similar standard - rock on!

DJ sets and the many sub-genres of club/dance music are a mystery to many (I’m certainly no expert), so all credit to the knowledge/expertise of Christian DJs like Andy Hunter, whose Exodus project is described as "A journey into the presence of God". Andy’s methods might seem unconventional, but this is worship and evangelism at the cutting edge - how else are Christians to engage effectively with club culture? That Exodus has the backing of Sparrow Records in the US is a massive endorsement. Pioneering work.

Peter Dilley is a Connexions Personal Adviser working with the charity InterAct in Chelmsford

© Christian Family Network
is run by CPO, supported by
Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting,
Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.


		REVIEWS PETER DILLEY takes a look at some of the latest Christian music releases on both sides of the Atlantic Hearts for worship US-BASED ARTISTS Offerings II - All I Have To Give by Third Day, Essential Records (Authentic Media), CD £14.99 Adoration: The Worship Album by Newsboys, Sparrow Records (EMI Christian Music Group), CD £14.99 Cry Holy by Sonicflood, Inotof (Integrity Music), CD £14.99 Wait For Me - The Best From Rebecca St James, Forefront Records, (EMI Christian Music Group), CD £14.99 Perhaps taking their lead from Delirious? or Petra, several major US Christian bands have been turning their attention towards praise and worship projects. All I Have To Give is from Southern rockers Third Day, the follow-up to their award-winning Offerings album. In the 50/50 mix of live and studio tracks, rousing concert versions of Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (part of a medley with U2’s With Or Without You), Creed by Rich Mullins and God Of Wonders will probably connect most readily with listeners, but Third Day remain on good form with studio cuts such as You Are So Good To Me and Offering. A worthy sequel. Worship songs have featured on Newsboys’ albums for years, but Adoration is the Australian/American band’s first full-blown worship release. Whilst remaining rooted in the Psalms and centuries of hymnody, their approach towards praise and worship shows real creativity. Opener He Reigns is a global call to worship, lines from Wesley’s O For A Thousand Tongues are transplanted into Take My Hands, their rendition of In Christ Alone is overlaid with Coldplay influences, and amongst several live tracks there’s an excellent gospel-tinged version of It Is You. Unlike Third Day and Newsboys, Sonicflood exist primarily as a worship band, and work with Matt Redman on The Father’s Song (2000) did much to raise their profile in Britain. On fourth album Cry Holy, Sonicflood’s own writing credits are limited to the first, second and final tracks, and instead they showcase songs from a variety of sources - Tim Hughes’ Here I Am To Worship revisits those connections with Soul Survivor songwriters, Everything To Me was penned by protégé/labelmate Jason Ingram, and there’s a more than decent cover of Chris Tomlin’s Famous One. Worship songs have always been woven into Rebecca St James’ albums and live shows, and that’s reflected on her ‘best of’ collection Wait For Me. Amongst those included here are Lamb Of God, Breathe and Song Of Love (all from Worship God), a version of Psalm 139, prayer songs Mirror and Pray, Your Love Broke Through (from the recent Keith Green tribute album), and Expressions Of Your Love co-written with Chris Tomlin during their tour last year. Even with a generous 18 tracks, this only scratches the surface of Rebecca’s prolific output, so hopefully a second volume or live compilation won’t be too long coming. UK-BASED ARTISTS Depth and range 21st Anniversary Concert - Live at Abbey Road by the London Community Gospel Choir, Kingsway Music, CD £14.99 (also available on DVD £16.99, video £12.99, cassette £10.99) Afterglow by Quench, ICC/Elevation, CD £12.99 Exodus by Andy Hunter, Sparrow Records (EMI Christian Music Group), CD £9.99 Superhero by Superhero, Fierce! Distribution, CD £14.99 Although the Christian music scene here in the UK remains at a small fraction of the size of that in America, British artists cross the entire spectrum of musical genres. Few would pretend to be household names, but the London Community Gospel Choir have earned quite a reputation in their own right, working with other artists, and even with an appearance on Comic Relief night. To mark the choir’s ‘coming of age’, a celebration concert took place at Abbey Road Studios, and the live recording from this includes performances by special guests Paul Carrack (Mike and The Mechanics), Sam Moore, Carleen Anderson, Matt Redman and Martin Smith, plus of course plenty from LCGC themselves. Uplifting, and possibly even more enjoyable on DVD or video. Quench emerged out of frenetic folk/punk team Why? in 2001. Building on foundations laid with last year’s debut EP, Afterglow offers fiery but melodic rock sounds, and songs that address human/spiritual issues such as idolatry (Gollum) and temptation (Siren), or simply make the Bible come alive (Think About It is basically Philippians 4:8). As a useful extra, Quench talk about their songs in video footage included on the CD. I remember being impressed by Superhero’s explosive last album Burn And Dazzle, but apparently the Glaswegian four-piece weren’t totally satisfied with the end product. Not ones to quit, they soon started work on new material, and the 11 songs on this eponymous release are the eventual end result. Like their penchant for short song titles, high-power delivery is still Superhero’s modus operandi, but now there’s greater refinement in the wall of sound, perhaps a combination of greater experience and the involvement of top producer Alan Branch, who has previously worked with Bjork, Blur and Primal Scream. Such is their new found confidence that Stars and Fragile were put out as a single, and there’s more of a similar standard - rock on! DJ sets and the many sub-genres of club/dance music are a mystery to many (I’m certainly no expert), so all credit to the knowledge/expertise of Christian DJs like Andy Hunter, whose Exodus project is described as "A journey into the presence of God". Andy’s methods might seem unconventional, but this is worship and evangelism at the cutting edge - how else are Christians to engage effectively with club culture? That Exodus has the backing of Sparrow Records in the US is a massive endorsement. Pioneering work. Peter Dilley is a Connexions Personal Adviser working with the charity InterAct in Chelmsford © Christian Family Network is run by CPO, supported by Care for the Family, Marriage Resource, Positive Parenting, Care, Women Alive, Christian Herald and many others.