Various Artists “iWorship Now/Next 2014” Album Review

 

Various Artists “iWorship Now/Next 2014” Album Review

The church is the home of the no-cut audition.  Just like with our biological families where we don’t get to choose our siblings or our parents, we don’t get to choose our fellow church members.  Once when we have decided to join a church, we have been given a part to play to make living with this family work.  And this entails the fact that we have to rub shoulders with people of variegated talents, tastes, traditions and experiences.  Often one area of heated contention is in the area of corporate worship.  Often rackets would be raised when church members feel like their musical tastes or preferences are not represented in the worship repertoire.  This is where Integrity Music’s latest release “iWorship Now/Next 2014” is of such great resource to the church.  Gathering 15 of the best worship songs from Darlene Zschech, All Sons and Daughters, Paul Baloche, Rend Collective among others, these paeans exhibit a tapestry of the various styles of worship music that could serve as the panacea of our worship wars.

The most rewarding element about “iWorship Now/Next 2014” is that there’s something for everyone.  If your appetite leans towards stadium-filling servings of drums sounds and those big-infectious guitar hooks, then Planetshakers’ “The Anthem” is a delicious treat.  Though the title is never cited in song’s lyrics, it captures the heart of the Gospel in such transparent perspicuity that it ought to be our anthem for our Christian lives.  Speaking about the great themes of Scripture, New Life Worship’s “Jesus Reigns” is a crescendo building power pop exalting the resurrection of Jesus that is perfect for congregational worship.  Considering the recent bout Hillsong matriarch Darlene Zschech has had been having with breast cancer, “In Jesus’ Name,” a song that calls upon our promises we have in Jesus, is particularly touching.  “In Jesus’ Name” is delivered with so much power that it literally trashes the devil and shakes the heavens.  Originally found on Zschech’s recent release “Revealing Jesus,” this is the abridged version where it is truncated from the original 10 minutes to a tad over 5 minutes.

However, if you are one of those who think that less is more.  And if you do not want your worship to be caught in a traffic jam of electric guitars and drums, you would definitely be enamored by All Sons and Daughters “Great Are You Lord.”  Thriving on its simplicity of its understated backings, this unalloyed sounding ballad righty places the focus on the beauty of our Lord.  Amongst the newer worship teams, Rent Collective certainly has left their mark with their acoustic camp-fire styled worship.  “You Are My Vision,” is a contemporary take of the church hymn “Be Thou My Vision” with all the “thees” and “thous” eradicated.  Those who appreciate the amalgamation of some traditional elements of worship into our contemporary songs would have a field day with Jennie Lee Riddle’s (featuring Jonathan Lee) “When the Stars Burn Down.”  With a tinge of country-esque romanticism, this Riddle and Lee composition weaves in some hymnic touches into it.

 Tweeted by Darlene Zschech as one of her favorite worship tunes, Martin Smith’s “God’s Great Dance Floor” is on the league of its own. Starting off slowly before Smith turns this tune about second chances into a Brit pop rhythmic dance track, “God’s Great Dance Floor” is bound to get us dancing for the Lord.  Charged with a high voltage of heavenly power is Dustin Smith’s “You Are the Fire.”  You can feel the heat of God’s consuming fire as we sing along with Smith: “You’re all consuming, You can’t be contained/Never relenting, changing everything/You are the love that overwhelms my heart/You are the fire lighting up the dark.”  In sum, “iWorship Now/Next 2014” enables us to appreciate how vast and boundless worship music can be in both its lyrical and stylistic forms. This CD is indeed a must have for those who seek to lead worship in church.  

Rosanne Cash “The River and the Thread” Album Review

Rosanne Cash “The River and the Thread” Album Review

Over the years, Rosanne Cash has wisely built up a cache of ardent fans; fans who are willing to stick by her through every weal and woe and fans who gulp up every note she hums to.  Thus, unlike many burgeoning artists, she’s no longer under the tyranny of recording companies to churn up radio hits and to keep vigilance on her sales figures.  Nowadays, Cash can take her time to smell the roses; she simply has the luxury of releasing a record not because she’s obligated to but because she wants to.  And being in such an esteemed position has privileged her to be more creative, freer to explore issues closer to her heart rather than writing just to catch a hit.  Cash’s former album “The List,” for instance, comprises of 12 songs she personally handpicked from a list her dad Johnny Cash when she was merely 18 years old.  After making her home in New York for years, her new album was inspired when Cash was invited to restore her dad’s boyhood home back in the heart of Dixie Land.

In many ways, “The River and the Thread” is part of Cash’s trilogy of releases connected to her late dad Johnny Cash.  While 2006’s “Black Cadillac” is Cash’s grief stricken farewell to Cash Sr., 2008’s “The List” comprises of songs from her dad’s bucket list of songs while this current opus was inspired by her trip back to her parents’ home.  Thus, “The River and the Thread” has a bittersweet sepia tone nostalgia to it.  Though it’s truly a Southern record rifle with histrionics of the land, it’s by no means a country album.  That is, if we define “country" in terms of the spiky rollicking style of Cash’s 80s heydays when she was ruling the airwaves with “Second to No One,” “Seven Year Ache,” and "Hold On” among many others.  Rather, “The River and the Thread” is a reflective record, the kind that Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin and Cash’s buddy Emmylou Harris are making in their latter careers.  It’s reflective, spiritual, thought provoking and it showcases Cash’s maturity at her craft.

With the serpentine twirling of the electric guitar that harkens the ghosts of the deep Southern and some distorted Keb’Mo-like sounding swampy drums, “A Feather’s Not a Bird” is Cash’s sonic travelogue as she makes her way back to the place and things that mean the most to her.  On this record, you will find Cash flitting through lots of geographical land marks, but it’s through such a journey she also acts as our tour guide helping us to visit various emotional terrains too. “Etta’s Tune” finds us lock in tears land where Cash pays a touching tribute to Marshall Grant who was Johnny Cash’s bass player.  But more than just a professional acquaintance, Marshall and his wife Etta were like surrogate parents to Cash.  Sounding like a cross between a lullaby and a delicate orchestral piece, “Night School” is a nod to Stephen Foster who himself has a deep affection for the South.  Here Cash’s measured yet quietly emotional delivery is easily the album’s apogee.  She does funky with “Modern Blue.”  Not since her “The Wheel” album has Cash packed up so much energy on what is her coolest propulsive rock tune in a long while.  Listening to her hubby cum producer John Leventhal’s crunchy guitar curlicues is worth the price of this album.

 

“The River and the Thread” is also Cash’s most spiritual record: though a new composition, “Tell Heaven” has an old Southern church charm to it where Cash urges us to transfer own sorrows and frustrations from our own shoulders to that of God’s.  While Rodney Crowell’s “When the Master Calls the Roll” (a song Crowell first penned for Emmylou Harris) speaks of reconciliation and healing of those torn asunder by the Civil War.  The song itself is a work of art as it slowly unveils like a script of a novella.  And not to be missed is “50,000 Watts” which speaks of the power of prayer that brims with optimism. “The River and the Road” may not have songs as catchy as her earlier country hits but it’s hugely compensated by its lyrical depth and insights.  This is a record not for the frivolous, but it’s a narrative piece of art for those who want something to chew on for years to come.    

Skye Jathani “Futureville: Discover Your Purpose for Today By Reimagining Tomorrow” Book Review

Skye Jathani “Futureville: Discover Your Purpose for Today By Reimagining Tomorrow” Book Review

Emerging from the 1990s is a technique many churches have borrowed from the business world: every church needs to have a vision statement.  Just like Nike has “Just Do It” or Coke has “Life Starts Here” or AT&T “Your World, Delivered” every church needs to have a succinct statement that encapsulates its raison d’etre in a catchy wink.  Such a way of trying to capture the church’s purpose in a way that is palatable, memorable and purposeful is definitely a commendable exercise.  However, what has gone awry is that these pithy statements are often fashioned by senior pastors who function more like CEOs than Gospel-centered servants of God.  As a result, they have domesticated the entire church to follow after their dictated agendas which are often nothing more than ego-boosters and quick-get-rich plans.  Guised under the pretense of following the Great Commission, church members are then asked to work to feed the senior pastor’s greed of moving the church’s membership from 1,000 to 10,000 people.  Often masked under the ersatz teaching that the more you give, the more you will be blessed, church members are also coerced into financing the pastor’s expanding waistline for more first class “preaching” trips across the world and undisclosed six digit salary packages. 

Most damaging is that those who deviate from the church’s so called “vision” are deemed to be living without destiny and purpose.  Unless a Christian devotes all his or her time, money and talents into fulfilling the local church’s narrowly defined vision, everything else is inferior, paltry and even prodigal. Just as with every erroneous teaching that doesn’t have the Gospel as its center, there is often a hefty price tag attached.  And such a hefty payment comes in terms of two forms of instalments:  first, as a result of such manipulation, many Christians think that unless they are engaged in the some form of church ministry, everything else is insignificant.  Thus, many have abandoned their own vocations, gone into seminary, incurred an overbearing student loan and only to find out that they are not really cut out for full-time pastoral work.   Second, others who have been able to see through the schemes of these CEOs clothed in a pastor’s garb have left the church with a bitter after taste.  Some have thrown away the bath water with the baby by isolating themselves from any institutional religious work altogether.

Such a problem, relatively speaking, is still at its nascent stage.  Thus, creditable resources that speak into this issue with Biblically wisdom are still developing.  Filling such a lacuna with lots of insights and wisdom drawn from Scripture is Skye Jethani’s latest release “Futureville: Discover Your Purpose for Today By Reimagining Tomorrow.”  Before we go on to expound upon Jethani’s ideas as presented in this follow-up to his hugely popular “With,” it is worthwhile knowing a little about Jethani.  If you are smitten by Jethani’s ability to present his ideas in an arresting manner, it is because Jethani is the executive editor of the Leadership Media Group at “Christianity Today.”  On top of his position, he is also a regular contributor to “Relevant” and “The Huffington Post.”  Moreover, his blog (www.skyejethani.com) was awarded second prize for best Christian blog by the ECPA. 

“Futureville” is not a book about the future but about the present.  Jethani’s thesis is simple: what we believe about the future will determine how we live today. If we believe that meaning stops the moment we breathe your last breadth, then what we do today is of little consequence in the larger scheme of things.  If death is the boundary marker as far as human significance is concerned then whatever we do today or tomorrow will eventually be like drawings on a white board.  At the end of the day, they will ultimately be wiped off into oblivion.  Jethani is therefore right in arguing that our todays are defined by our tomorrows.

Gleaned from the teachings of N. T. Wright from his magisterial tome “The Resurrection of the Son of God” (Fortress Press, 2003), Jethani correctly argues that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is more than just a historical event.  Rather, it is epochal marker that gives definition to what the future holds for every believer.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ is re-creation all over again.  According to the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans 8, the resurrection is God’s first step in renewing the entire cosmos.   It is through the resurrection of Jesus, we (who believe in Jesus as Lord) are given our passports into Futureville.  It’s through the resurrection of Christ, “the earth itself will be set free from sin, reconciled to God, and be glorified” (p. 97).  And starting with the resurrection, the entire cosmos our will one day be renewed at Jesus’ second coming.  Jethani writes: “Futureville is the union of heaven and earth into a restored and glorified cosmos occupied by God and his people” (p. 97).  In short, Jesus did not just come to save sinners.  Rather, he came to rescue all that he has created.

Thus, if the Futureville is far grander and far more encompassing than narrowly defined self serving vision statements, how does Futureville affect our present zip codes?  How does the promise that Christ will one day renew the entire heaven and earth have bearing upon the way we live?  Such is the burden of the second half of the book.  After laboring on the foundations of God’s definition of Futureville, Jethani gives us four practical areas in our present life where Futureville has left its imprints.

Futureville’s Present Zip Codes

First, if Christ has truly made up residents of Futureville, the first bearing Futureville has on our present life is the way we view vocation.  Rather, than elevating church-related positions as jobs that truly are significance, if God’s vision of the future is the renewing of the entire cosmos, then every vocation is purposeful.  This means that in God’s purview it is just as significant for a factory worker to punch in her time card as it is for a pastor who takes up his pen to craft his sermon.  And this has humongous implications on church leadership, Jethani writes: “This requires a different model of leadership within the church.  Rather than a command-and-control CEO model, where the pastor seeks to align every person and resource around the church’s institutional goals, leaders should be equipping God’s people to fulfill the specific callings they have received from the Lord because these specific callings are a significant way God’s work is manifested in the world” (pp. 111 & 112).

Second, residents of Futureville should not do everything in order to bridge the cleavage between social justice and evangelism.  If Futureville is about the restoration of the order of relationships that was first established in creation, it means the healing of our relationship between God and people (evangelism) through the out workings of the Gospel.  And following such a restoration is the abridgement of relationships between people (social justice).  Third, if the future is about a restored creation, then as residents of Futureville we need to appreciate beauty of God’s creation “humans deprived of beauty may survice, but they cannot thrive” (p. 144).  Fourth, if the Futureville is about God’s abundance and sacrifice “to a world shattered by chaos, ugliness, and scarcity – then sharing our resources with those who have less must be part of our worship” (p. 167). 

Futureville’s Major Event

Though "Futureville" brims with lots of insightful truths, there are a couple of issues that give us some pause for thought.  In one of his new songs Southern Gospel artist Gordon Mote warns us not to make an attraction the main event and vice versa.  In reading Revelation 21, a passage that Jethani uses to make his case for Futureville, what will be the main event of God’s inaugural Kingdom?  Yes, it is true that God will bring about a restored creation, but what will be the major event that will be celebrated?  I am sure we would be so awed by the renewed Niagara Falls or the Great Wall of China or the Australian coral reefs that it would take quite an effort for us to close our gapping mouths.  But is the glorified Niagara Falls the major event of Futureville?  I am sure in Futureville, we will be free from poverty and the scarcity of resources, but are the gold paved streets what took the Apostle John’s breadth away? Gold might be precious to us; but to the residents of Futureville, it’s just pavement.  So, what on earth is the major event?

The major event, according to Revelation 21, is the wedding between the Bride (the church) and her husband (Jesus Christ).  And much of John’s time was spent in utter admiration of the Bride (the church).  If the church is the major attraction of Futureville, why was there no chapter devoted in talking about the church?   How does the Futureville church affect the way we live out as the church today?  And if the wedding between the church and Jesus Christ is what engrossed the Apostle in Revelation 21, why isn’t there a chapter on how this major event of Futureville affects us today?  In order to truly appreciate Futureville, we need to keep the major event central and the minor attractions peripheral.

Further, as much as one appreciates how Jethani tries to enable us to see how God’s future kingdom affects our present reality, one has to be careful of what theologians would call “over-realized” eschatology.  In one sense, for instance, there will be the abundance of health, wealth and prosperity in God’s future kingdom.  But, we need to be careful that not all such blessings are a reality on this side of Jesus’ second coming.  It is never the promise of God that we would be free from troubles before Futureville becomes a reality (John 16:33).  Contrary to what Jethani espouses, scarcity need not be a cause of gripping fear.  There are times God may even deliberately impoverish many of us ---- some of us who serve as missionaries may run out of financial support and others of us may lose our jobs because of the Gospel--- and yet it is still possible to be joyous in the Lord (see Phil.  4:10-13). Scarcity need not be the cause of paralyzing fear; rather, it’s the lack of a trust in a Sovereign God that is more often than not the culprit. 

Nevertheless, despite the quibbles, in a culture where we have so often domesticated God’s vision for the cosmos to fit our tiny pithy vision statements, “Futureville” is liberating for the soul.  It is a mind blowing book for those who have only thought that the Christian message is just confined within the church walls.  And most importantly, Jethani doesn’t just draw abstract concepts in the air that behooves the average reader.  But through well grounded real life stories and illustrations, Jethani takes our hands and let us feel the bricks and mortars of Futureville.

Jamie Grace “Ready to Fly” Album Review

 

Jamie Grace “Ready to Fly” Album Review
 

“And ooh there's something about the way Your sun shines on my face/ It's a love so true, I could never get enough of You/This feeling can't be wrong, I'm about to get my worship o/ Take me away, It's a beautiful day!” In listening to Jamie Grace singing these words, you can feel the zest of sunshine pinching at your face. You can definitely feel a bounce in each step as you skip out of the house.  Frankly, this is the type of song that can lift you up from any nocturnal depth to face the bright disposition a brand new day brings bursting forth with endless opportunities of serving God and others. “Ready to Fly” is the much anticipated follow-up to Grace’s debut “One Song at a Time.” Just as her debut yielded 4 Top 40 CCM with “Hold Me (Featuring TobyMac)” making all the way into top 5, “Ready to Fly” has already charted in the same territory with “Beautiful Day.”  And just like her debut, “Ready to Fly” is a preppy sunny record filled with lots hopeful songs deeply grounded in who God is as found in Scripture. 
 

Talk about talents galore, Jamie Grace is the poster girl.  She has dappled in acting and on the music front, she has had been a rapper, singer, songwriter and a multi-instrumentalist (being gifted on the piano, guitar, drums and ukulele).  Grace started out by recording cover songs and posting them on youtube.  Shortly after her videos were picked up by TobyMac where she was later offered a recording contract under Gotee Records.  Kicking off the proceedings is the prelude of “So Amazing” which functions as Grace’s statement of purpose of why she sings and writes her songs.  And giving her affirmation for her glorious agenda of wanting to sing about our amazing God is the sounds of some 80s sounding scratchy record songs. “Beautiful Day,” the lead single, has already lighted up our airwaves with lots of the song’s perky truisms and its peppy summer time grooves. 

 

 

Being 22 years-old, Grace is in a place where she has the privilege position of addressing teens without sounding like an uncool nagging auntie. Utilized in most dating scenes as a courteous kiss off, “let’s just be friends” is often viewed as abject rejection as one of the most demeaning kind.   However, Grace on “Just a Friend” turns it around by assuring her teenage fans that sometimes the person God has prepared for us is better than the person who just turned us down.  More Godly dating advice comes with the country tingled “White Boots.”  A paean to chastity, “White Boots” cranks up the western doe-se-doe twang on what is an irresistible country dance that you wish would never end.   While teenagers ready to leave home for college would find much to savor with the title cut “Ready to Fly.”  Stripped down with just the gentle strums of the acoustic guitar, the folky “Ready to Fly” is a big boost to the heart.

 

 

But not all is frothy and teen-centered, “Fighter” chronicles Grace’s bout with Tourette’s syndrome in 2003.   And for anyone has allow the worries associated with a sickness rent into the tired fabric of our lives, the various characters who have preserved in “Fighter” are a great company to keep.  “The Waiting” tailors well as a follow-up where every stanza is teardrop territory as Grace deals with the questions and the confusion that often come with waiting on God.  Here the lyrics are freight with sheer heartfelt honesty: “All of the questions, secret confessions/Lord You’ll make sense of it all/And I know you’ll show up/So I’m letting go of these thoughts that are taking control.”   With an album not governed by the weather of circumstances, no wonder Jamie Grace can fly into the sun with such an irresistible charm.

Krystal Keith "Whiskey and Lace" Album Review

 

Krystal Keith “Whiskey and Lace” Album Review

No album titular is more synoptic than Keith’s “Whiskey and Lace.”  If “whiskey” is representative of the more party-hearty personal of Keith, you will definitely hear her inebriating in some of the catchiest light-hearted boilers here.  However, just like Jekyll and Hyde, there’s also a “lace” clad side to Keith; one that is soft, sentimental and thoughtful.  And her tender side brims most poignantly through the way she croons a ballad.  Thus, in many ways, Keith doesn’t fall far away from the tree.  Just like her superstar dad Toby Keith who has been known to rule the radio airwaves with his big-boned masculine blusters such as “I Love This Bar,” “Who’s Your Daddy?” and “Beer for My Horses,” Keith also has a  teddy bear side when he deals with the affairs of the heart with “Does that Blue Moon Ever Shine on You?” and “We Were in Love.”  The younger Keith first came to attention when she was featured as a duet partner on her dad’s single “Mockingbird.”  Forbidden from pursuing a career in music until she finished college, Krystal Keith has kept her oath.  With a Communications degree under her belt and now married, “Whiskey and Lace” is her debut record released under her dad’s label.

While off springs of many superstars are keen to deviate as far away from their parents’ spotlights, this is not so with Krystal Keith.  Keith Senior not only gets to co-produce the album with Mark Wright (Gary Allan & Lee Ann Womack), he also gets a go of co-writing 4 out of the 10 cuts here.  The softer “lace-y” side of Krystal Keith has had received a bigger push when the record’s sophomore single “Daddy Dance with Me” has gone viral.  Written as a surprise for her dad, Krystal Keith has had a new corner of daddy-daughter songs since Bob Carlisle’s “Butterfly Kisses.”  Oozing with lots of “Chicken Soup for the Soul” moments, it’s a challenge not to fight back the tears as Keith says thank you to her dad: “Daddy don't let go/I want you to know I'll always need your love/Today I became his wife/But I'll be your baby girl for life.”   Toby Keith shows us to sing, albeit in a more supportive role rather than a full-fledged duet, with his daughter on “Beautiful Weakness.”  Sculpted with lots of inspirational lines, this well crafted big ballad coming from the pens of Mica Roberts and Sonya Rutledge, seriously deserves to a big hit.

“Cabo San Lucas,” written by Eddy Raven and Toby Keith, is easily the best among the quartet of songs contributed by daddy Keith.  However, if “Cabo San Lucas” sounds familiar, it’s because it first made its appearance on Toby’s 2008 “That Don’t Make Me a Bad Guy” album.  Despite its flamenco guitar breezing through its beautiful Spanish tilt, “Cabo San Lucas” falters in the sense that it doesn’t really have much of a story that goes with song. As far as her “whiskey” side is concerned, “Him and His Tattoo” finds Krystal finding her own voice on a track that zings with youthfulness about the folly of a spring break gone wrong.  The bluesy rock “Can’t Buy Me Money,” turns on the Beatles’ signature tune “Can’t Buy Me Love’ on its head with a realistic portrayal of a loving family struggling to make ends meet.

 The late Dennis Linde who has been known for penning songs for Elvis Presley, Alan Jackson and Dixie Chicks among others is represented here with “Muddy Waters.”  Though first recorded by Brother Phelps, “Muddy Waters” has all the quirkiness of Linde with its swampy chord changes and its intriguing narrative about the rants of a frustrated wife.  Keith belies her age and does a superb job in doing justice to this Linde classic.  Nathan Chapman (Taylor Swift & Shania Twain) gets one shot at producing “Get Your Redneck On.”  Considering Chapman’s repertoire, “Get Your Redneck On” is ironically the most country track here imbued with some rustic underpinnings that tethers to bluegrass.  “Whiskey and Lace” is by no means a perfect debut, but it shows promise.  Neither too uptight to be fun, engaging and catchy, yet when Keith slows down to deal with the deeper issues of life, this is where she finds her calling.    

Bethel Music “Discover Bethel Music” Album Review

Bethel Music “Discover Bethel Music” Album Review

There are many albums out there that are choked with worship tunes.  What is underserved is this:  few are the records that venture to create worship moments; moments where we can bare our naked souls before God in sheer honesty and in earnest contrition.  Bethel Music serves such a lacuna with their brand of worship. When this church team leads us in worship, it is a challenge for us to keep our hands to our side; it takes extreme restraint not to sing along; and yet it certainly doesn’t take much of an effort to enter into the holiest moments of worship.  Bethel Music is the worship ministry of Bethel Church in Redding, California.  Over the last four or five years, It has grown exponentially from being a local church ministry into a worldwide worship phenomenon.  Their song “Love Came Down” was featured on American Idol on their “Songs I Wish I’d Written Night,” while “One Thing Remains” was nominated at last year’s Dove Awards for “Song of the Year” and “Praise and Worship Song of the Year.”  Their latest triumph is that their single "Chasing You" and its ensuing album “Tides” topped both the US iTunes Inspirational Singles and Album Charts last year respectively.

“Discover Bethel Music” is the church worship team’s first compilation record.  As the titular suggests this is introductory foretaste into the first fruits of the church’s music for those who are uninitiated. Though there are no new songs, these 16 tracks are lifted from half a dozen of their albums going back to as early as 2008’s “Where You Go I Go: Live in Bethel Church in Redding, CA” to last year’s “Tides.”  These 16 songs also present to us a cross section of the best songs led and co-written by the church’s various worship leaders including worship pastors Brian and Jenn Johnson, Jeremy Riddle, Steffany Frizell Gretzinger, Amanda Cook, Matt Stinton and William Matthews. Even right at their burgeoning stages as a worship team, they have already exuded finesse for worship that is unhurried, contemplative and challenging.  Setting the ball rolling in terms of this CD and their career of worship staples is “Where You Go I Go.”  In our western culture where we are prized independence and self-sufficiency, the message of dependence on God of “Where You Go I Go” is so counter-cultural, yet it is so Biblically true and compelling.

Also lifted from their “Where You Go I Go: Live in Bethel Church in Redding, CA” is the Jenn Johnson’s “O Taste and See.”  With a pounding 80s soundings beat and a driving melody, Jenn Johnson incarnates each and every note of “O Taste and See” with her entire being.  Her passion is so intense that when she sings about savoring Jesus, she sings as if she would actually die of starvation if Jesus were out of her gasp.  This, my friends, is what true worship sounds like.  Jenn Johnson shows no sign of showing any restrain on last year’s anthemic ballad “For the Cross.” Though her hubby Brian sings the opening verse but when it is Jenn’s turn to shine in the chorus, she rips the song apart with such passionate love for our Savior’s finished work on the tree.  Though Jenn Johnson is the best among the female leads, Amanda Cook doesn’t trail too far behind with her lighter Brooke Frazier-esque vocals on the contemplative “I Will Exalt.”  Though the intro is a little on a tedious side, Steffany Frizell Gretzinger’s breathy take of “Closer” is the show stealer from their 2012’s “For the Sake of the World.”

 

To offset the often high energy, bass heavy and glossily produced ballads, Brian Johnson offers an almost unplugged acoustic take of one of the best songs on Christ’s incarnation “Love Came Down.” One of Bethel Music’s most recognizable cuts (which was also recently recorded by Phil Wickham) is the Jeremy Riddle hook-laden “This is Amazing Grace.”  And not to be missed also is their career defining “Hope’s Anthem” (here led by William Matthews) which has already been in heavy rotation across many churches of late.  If there’s any criticism about Bethel Music, it would be that one would like to see more interaction between the various worship leaders; rather than each leader taking charge of various songs, one would like to see more integration among the team.  Nevertheless, in a nutshell “Discover Bethel Music” ensembles many of the church group’s finest and most popular compositions on one disc. If you have never really own a Bethel Music CD, this is a great start to find out what the fuss is all about.      

Jake Hamilton and the Sound “Beautiful Rider” Album Review

To borrow words from Jake Hamilton’s own blog, Hamilton is the music and not merely the echo.  Our current worship music scene is inundated with clones who try to echo the successful sounds of trend setters such as Hillsong Live, Darlene Zschech, Matt Redman and Bethel Live.  Few have much to bring to the table in terms of songs that are arresting, refreshing and anointed enough to help us to see God in a new light. Jake Hamilton and the Sound is an anomaly.  Though Hamilton was once part of Jesus Culture, his own material is like nothing that has ever graced the worship music scene.  Combing his piano based neo-grunge balladry with some metallic rock guitar riffs, Hamilton and the Sound’s music is like a modernized version of Stryper with a swirling twist of Foo Fighters and Coldplay.   Further, in a sea of similar sounding smooth tenured worship, his slightly gravel-hewed tenor certainly grounds him as someone who could still testify to the goodness of God despite weathering through the seasons of life.

“Beautiful Rider” is Hamilton’s third solo outing and it’s also houses some of his finest compositions.  Two thumbs are raised as far as Hamilton’s mettle as a lyricist is concerned.  If you pay a close listening to album “Behold God is Great,” one can’t help but appreciate how Hamilton has weaved the words of God to Job into each line of this song.  And for those of us who can identify with Job in our sufferings, “Behold God is Great” would bring the same awe, comfort, fear and worship Job must had had felt when God first confronted him.  Hamilton not only showcases his stellar exegetical prowess with the Old Testament, on the title cut “Beautiful Rider” and “My Ballad to the Church of Laodicea” the Apocalypse is his controlling text.  Few preachers would even touch the book of Revelation, lest songwriters.  Yet, Hamilton treads where angels are afraid to skim with “Beautiful Rider” where the image of Jesus riding on the white house from Rev. 19:11-16 is at the song’s essence.  Featuring some distorted guitar riffs, a thick layered of scuffling drumming and Hamilton’s Skillet-esque screams, “My Ballad to the Church of Laodicea” is a no-nonsense wake up call to churches not to ravel in sloth and apathy.

Few worship songs catered much for the metallic rockers inside some of us.  Ratcheting up its intensity through its wailing guitars and some punchy guitars, despite its titular, “Slow Down” is anything but a decelerated paced prayer of surrender.  But not all is loud and louder:  “Just Beyond the Breaking” finds reveals a more intimate side of Hamilton.  Almost sounding like a roosty country piece with its plaintive smatterings of steel and strings, “Just Beyond the Breaking” is a beautiful meditative piece.  While the somehow more average sounding  “I Love Your Presence” is more in the Jesus Culture terrain of worship.  More left-of-center is the ultra catchy “Thank You” which contains a litany of thank-yous to Jesus springing over a bouncing Jason Mraz pop jazz lilt.    

In a culture where many worship songs are masquerading under trite and overwrought clichés, Jake Hamilton and the Sound’s “Beautiful Rider” is breadth of fresh air. This is a record that stretches us to consider beyond the “I-love-the-Lord” lyrics to make us think of how more obscure passages of Scripture can be a rich resource also in shaping our worship.  And for those who are tired of just the pop-anthemic style of worship, “Beautiful Rider” will help us to gallop into new pastures of worship, faith and truth.