The Word of God in Worship
Written: Dec 12 '07
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Gentle, folk-tinged worship music taken straight from scripture
Cons: it's not completely authentic Americana, which would have been a real revelation
The Bottom Line: Glory Revealed: The Word of God in Worship is a wonderful worship recording, especially for those looking for a more subdued, folksy sound in their worship music
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| bob_tomato's Full Review: Glory Revealed 083061082321 |
There's not a single percussion instrument on this album - well, except for the boxes.
Talk about making a joyful noise…
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Glory Revealed: The Word of God in Worship
Third Day's Mac Powell was flipping burgers when he agreed to participate in the creation of Glory Revealed. You can't get much folksier than that.
Glory Revealed is a collection of new worship songs performed in an Americana folk style by several leading Christian music artists, including Powell, Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W. Smith, David Crowder, Shane & Shane, Brian Littrell, and others. Each song is based directly upon biblical passages; each lyric is either a direct quote or a close paraphrase of the original scriptures.
Some might notice that there's not a drum to be found anywhere on this recording - except for those boxes Shawn Lewis of Hyper Static Union plays with brushes in a couple tunes. The instrumentation for the album is steeped in Americana - acoustic guitar, mandolin, dobro, fiddle, banjo, bass, harmonica and tight vocal harmonies. Drums aren't a necessity for quality acoustic folk music - there is a pulse that naturally flows from the interplay of guitars and voices in these songs. These songs do move, due to the obvious pop roots of the songwriters, but the acoustic settings give the music at least a patina of folk authenticity. So, for those who prefer their worship music to be gentler, but not necessarily less energetic, Glory Revealed will quickly become a favorite.
One of the best recommendations for this album is that these songs are so very effective in worship, and so very easy to perform. For a church that is limited in instrumentation, these songs work well with a few voices and a guitar, because that's really all they are to begin with. The songwriting is solid, the lyrics are biblical, and the music is familiar and fun. Because the songs are so organic in nature, I think they would prove popular in a wide variety of churches, no matter what the usual musical preference of the church might be.
The title song is my personal favorite: first of all, I love Candi Pearson-Shelton's voice - clear, clean and not given to over emoting or over singing. With lyrics from Isaiah 40: 3-5, the song is driven by mandolin, fiddle and a stronger bass presence than the other songs (that's my personal preference for stronger percussion showing itself), and the bridge simply soars…
go up to a high mountain
Lift up your voice with strength
Saying, see your God, behold He comes with power
To The Only God is yet another classic from Chris Tomlin, performed here by David Crowder and Shane & Shane. The Shane's backing vocals sound really good behind Crowder's lead, and I love the tight harmonies that Tomlin built in with the open chording at the end of the last phrase. They also sound terrific when joined with the voices of Candi Pearson-Shelton and Mac Powell to provide background vocals for Michael W. Smith leading Come Worship the King (Jude 25)…
Splendor and majesty
Power and authority
Are His from the beginning
His they are and His they evermore shall be
The observant might have caught the name of a Backstreet Boy at the top of this review - yes, that is BSB Brian Littrell soloing You Alone to close out the album, a song he wrote with Mac Powell. It's interesting to hear Littrell's voice without the BSB vocal "posing" - he sings this song fairly straight, and I think he sounds great against this folk setting. Littrell also sings as part of a trio (himself, Mac Powell and Steven Curtis Chapman) for the album's radio "hit" By His Wounds. Less is more, for though this song features only the vocals and a single guitar, mandolin and fiddle, it has a tremendous amount of impact. It's a beautiful, powerful song, adding much to an already strong album.
Glory Revealed: The Word of God in Worship is a wonderful worship recording, especially for those looking for a more subdued, folksy sound in their worship music. All the songs are either direct Scripture, or they are very close paraphrases of the original text - this places the songs on a solid theological foundation. I strongly recommend Glory Revealed as a necessary addition to any worship music collection.
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Various Artists - Glory Revealed: The Word of God in Worship
Originally released 2007 by Reunion Records, Provident Label Group - a unit of Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Track Listing - Artist
He Will Rejoice - Trevor Morgan / By His Wounds - Mac Powell, Steven Curtis Chapman, Brian Littrell, Mark Hall / Waters Gone By - Shawn Lewis / To The Only God - David Crowder and Shane & Shane / Glory Revealed - Candi Pearson-Shelton / Altar of God - Josh Bates / Come, Worship the King - Michael W. Smith with Shane & Shane / Who is Like You - Tim Neufeld / Restore to Me - Mac Powell and Candi Pearson-Shelton / You Alone - Brian Littrell
Recommended:
Yes
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bob_tomato
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