If you haven't read my review for Volume 1 of Third Day's greatest hits compilation, I suggest that you go check that out first, just to give some context for what's going to be a much more negative review. To quickly summarize, this Christian "Southern Rock" band was one of my favorite groups in the late 90's and right around the turn of the century, and for the most part, I enjoyed their record label's attempt to chronicle their first five years of success in CCM. But now it's time to cover Chronology, Vol. 2, which covers the much more mainstream stylings of their work from 2001 up until the present, and this is where the gloves unfortunately have to come off.

It's easy to look back at how Third Day's music has (d)evolved over the years and pinpoint the exact point where they started to go wrong. Unlike most bands, though, it wasn't the release of an album that marked such a turning point, but rather, the overwhelming reaction to an album that unexpectedly won them a bunch of new fans. That album was 2000's Offerings: A Worship Album, which was the last one covered on the first volume, which wasn't a bad piece of work, if a bit disjointed. It's the fact that it garnered them a bunch of new fans who were generally into more adult contemporary "worship"-type Christian music and who expected Third Day to mostly stick to that style. The band certainly tried to continue putting out well-rounded rock albums, but now there was that temptation to repeat what caused them to succeed. With one exception, it's managed to drag down each of the five albums they've released within the last six years (save for Wire, which tried to have more mainstream appeal and which was greeted with a resounding chilly reception, because frankly it just wasn't that great of a rock album).

None of that's to say that Third Day's just in it to sell as many albums as possible. I believe that these guys are nothing if not genuine - and judging from some of their comments on the DVD documentary that occupies the second disc of this release, they genuinely seemed to believe that more massive numbers of people in their fan base meant that they were blessing more people, and should continue to try to do what was working for them in that regard. I think that's a common misconception in Christian music in general - the more people you've got coming to your concerts, the faster and farther you're spreading the message, and that can't be a bad thing, right? I think it can if it's replacing a thoughtful approach with a rote one, and while Third Day has always had their simplistic worship songs sitting alongside more varied subject matter on their albums, it does feel like the simple ideas are getting recycled while the songs written from a more interesting perspective are fewer and farther between. You'll find songs on Third Day's more recent albums that are perhaps evoke the same amount of emotion from listeners as "Love Song" or "Thief" did back in the day, but you won't find songs as well-written as those. These days it's just simple encouragement, simple phrases of worship, and more and more polish and less edge on their "rock" sound as the years go by. It's discouraging to a fan like me who remembers when the band was young and full of life and energy - they could slow down for a meditative song of praise, but that wasn't their default mode.

All of those issues aside, I can safely say that there are still enough solid songs which can be culled from the albums Come Together, Offerings II: All I Have to Give, Wire, and Wherever You Are to make a solid latter-day best-of for the band. (Thankfully there's nothing from the abysmal Christmas Offerings, though there are a few head-scratching non-album tracks that made the cut this time around.) So what's the problem with Chronology, Vol. 2, then? Well, they did an absolutely awful job of picking the songs this time (and the versions of the songs, in some cases, which I guess is in keeping with my complaints about Vol. 1). The most satisfying rockers from each album (in my opinion) are nowhere to be found, or presented in live versions (complete with gratuitous applause grafted in that often doesn't sound natural given the song being played) with the life sucked out of them, and it's not like any of those songs were terribly obscure - most were singles and/or fan favorites that showed up in many a setlist. Vol. 2 also bucks the trend of arranging the songs in chronological order, and presents things in more of a scattershot fashion, making this walk down memory lane a bit disorienting. I wouldn't say that I hate all of the worship songs and inspirational ballads from this era, but I feel that this collection represents the side of Third Day that fans twice my age love them for, instead of trying to bridge the gap between the more long-standing fans and the more recent ones. Simply put, these guys have sold out. I'm sure they did so with the best of intentions, but that doesn't change the fact that they've only gained a larger fan base by diluting the effect that their music once had.

Come on Back to Me
Never mind your worries, never mind your fears
They can only take you far from me...
A strong guitar riff kicks off the project by planting us right in the middle of this era of Third Day's history, with the lead single from 2004's Wire. It was enough of a convincing return to 'rock" for most fans that it deserves its place here, even if it doesn't quite have a strong enough chorus to really stand out to me. There are a good two or three tracks from Wire that I think best this one, and aren't represented here.

Show Me Your Glory
I caught a glimpse of Your splendor in the corner of my eye
The most beautiful thing I've ever seen...
If we were going chronologically, it'd make sense to put this classic worship song early in the track listing, since it was the lead single from 2001's Come Together, but since we're going out of order instead, it really seems too soon to slow things down. I still really love this one - it goes against Third Day's "earthier" sound from their earlier days by making prominent use of floating, angelic keyboards, but it unfolds into a powerful performance all the same, complete with a brief but memorable guitar solo. I like this one better than anything on either of the Offerings albums, and I don't think there would be any question as to whether it belonged on this compilation.

You Are So Good to Me
You ride upon the clouds
You lead me to the truth
You are the Spirit inside me...
When Third Day first presented their cover of a song by the indie Christian bands Waterdeep and 100 Portraits that gained notoriety after showing up on the underground praise album Enter the Worship Circle, I thought they had made it a little too poppy for its own good, but I still enjoyed it. It's a good sing-along, with its chorus of "You are beautiful, my sweet, sweet song", and it's great to see Third Day going to such an unexpected source for cover songs. Unfortunately, whatever marginal enjoyment I got out of this one on 2003's Offerings II is severely diluted by the presentation of it as a live version on this disc. It feels limp, and as usual, there are way too many interjections from Mac, and breaks to let the audience sing, which of course we can't hear very well due to the shoddy sound quality. If I were there, as part of that crowd, I'd relish the experience of singing along, but I don't find any usefulness in presenting this inferior version on a CD. I don't need the spoken prompts, Mac. I know how the song goes.

Rockstar
Living lifestyles of the rich and famous
Turning all heads in the music scene
Flying in my own jet plane to Vegas
Riding in a big black limousine...
The second entry from Wire precitably covers the tired topic of wanting to be celebrity at the cost of one's own personality. It's fast-paced, fun, and a total blast as far as the music goes, and tells us absolutely nothing we don't already know as far as the lyrics go. It's ironic to me that this ever became a hit - the band apparently didn't realize that their adjustment of their sound to fit what a more massive audience wanted from them was basically their own version of falling into the same trap that the fictional rock singer in this song fell into. I suppose they were briefly making an attempt to avoid that trap when they recorded Wire, but it obviously didn't stick.

Mountain of God
I confess, from time to time I lose my way
But You are always there to bring me back again...
The first song we get to hear from 2005's Wherever You Are is... seriously? A plodding ballad from its back half? That record, like pretty much all of Third Day's record from this era, got pretty boring past about track 7 or 8. This one gives us the inspired pairing of Mac Powell with critical darling Ashley Cleveland, who has more than enough grit and fire in her own voice to give Mac a run for his money. Unfortunately, neither voice can save the song from predictable blandness. Is this really the first song that fans are gonna think of when they remember that album? Shouldn't "Cry Out to Jesus" or "Tunnel" have appeared much sooner?

Sing a Song
I want to live my life for You, Lord
Lord, for You I want to live my life
I want to praise the name of Jesus
Pray above all things You're glorified...
One simplistic sing-along from Offerings II really should have been enough. Instead we get this rather elementary and repetitive song about singing a song to the Lord. Some nice guitar licks here, but this was one of the worst possible ways to lead off that album, and while I appreciate that this one isn't being presented as a live version, it's still remarkably boring for a song that's supposed to be a lot of fun. Was this one ever a hit? Really? I guess I shouldn't be surprised - songs like this are why I tuned out from Christian radio a few years back, and it's unfortunate that so many of 'em are coming from CCM heavyweights whose music I used to respect.

Come Together
You can call me a dreamer
But these dreams will come true
Yes, I am a firm believer
In the things that we can do...
This one was another no-brainer - a theme song about unity that successfully managed to marry Third Day's rambling, semi-Southern-fried style with some of the keyboard experimentation that they did on the Come Together album. It's still not one of my favorites from that album, but I enjoy it enough. Instead of just wistfully pining over the eventual day of Christ's return like a lot of Christian music does, it actually tries to pose a challenge to believers, to learn how to get along and make something good out of the community they've got instead of sitting around and waiting haplessly for "the end times".

God of Wonders
Early in the morning
I will celebrate the light
And when I stumble in the darkness
I will call Your name by night...
This song is certainly a classic, though whether it's a Third Day classic is a matter of some debate. Its original version was a collaboration with Caedmon's Call that appeared on the communal worship album City on a Hill in 2000, and it became a mainstay of concerts for both bands shortly thereafter. Third Day's live version tended to come off sounding more powerful to my ears than Caedmon's Call, so I don't mind hearing a live version from one of their shows here, especially since dc Talk alum Michael Tait shows up to do a duet vocal. That's an intriguing enough pairing of voices. Unfortunately, this version (the same one we heard on Offerings II) is massively dragged down by the audience - the amount of cheering and screaming that you can hear in the background is just uncomfortable to my ears, because it sounds like they're all ga-ga over the combination of star power and a recognizable hit song, and it's more about celebrity worship than anything else. I can't presume to know the reason for the audience's excitement, but someone should have considered more carefully how to mix this version. At this point I'm just plain tired of hearing endless versions of this song anyway - cover versions never seem to carry the same sense of genuineness and attention to subtle detail that the original version (with its excellent arrangement for the multiple vocalists involved) had.

Cry Out to Jesus
For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on
They lost all of their faith in love
They've done all they can to make it right again
Still it's not enough...
This is the sensitive, AC-leaning ballad that Third Day produced out of the ashes of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, hoping to help comfort its victims, but speaking more broadly about trials and tribulations in general, so that it would also apply to the rest of their fans. I found no fault in the album version of that song - it was predictable, but genuine and affecting. But it makes no sense to have this one, too, presented as a live version. There's nothing different about the arrangement, and once again we have the "cheering crowd" problem, which just makes it seem all the more insensitive. I'm not saying fans can't get excited over a song that has meant something to them emotionally, but the only reason for choosing this inferior arrangement seems to me to be to enforce that, "See? Lots of people really do come to Third Day concerts to get blessed! Tens of thousands of fans can't be wrong!"

Creed
I believe what I believe
It's what makes me who I am
I did not make it - no, it is making me
It is the very truth of God, and not the invention of any man...
I can think of few better sources of inspiration for a Christian musician to turn to than the late Rich Mullins - a well-timed cover of one of his classic songs will usually make me smile. For the most part, I admire Third Day for trying to rework his dulcimer-laden take on the Apostles' Creed as a Southern rocker. But then I think about it, and it's really not that great of a performance. The slow guitar intro is lackluster and feels out of place, and Mac feels like we won't recognize the song if he doesn't name-drop Mullins - perhaps another example of using "star power" to rile up the audience rather than simply a solid performance. But right in the middle of this track is where Third Day's playing off of the audience in the middle of a song of praise becomes the most troubling - the band intentionally pauses to let the line "And on the third day, He rose again" ring out loud and clear, and of course that gets a huge response from the audience, because "Dood, Third Day's name is in the song! How cool is that?" I suppose it was cool before you dropped a huge anvil on my head to make sure I noticed it, guys.

Tunnel
I won't pretend to know what you're thinking
I can't begin to know what you're going through
I won't deny the pain that you're feeling
But I'm gonna try and give a little hope to you...
I enjoy this one. Solid intro riff, solid guitar solo, strong drumming, simple but encouraging message, good way to start off Wherever You Are. I'm not sure whether this one was ever "officially" a hit, but Third Day made a playful video out of it all the same, tying together various clips of them performing and goofing around over the years, and it's obviously an emotional high point for them when they look back on the last few years, so I think that alone justifies its placement here. This one should have shown up much earlier in the track listing, but whatever.

I Believe
If I had the strength to move a mountain
Would you be amazed by all of my abilities
I guess it would not mean much if I didn't have love
And this is what I really want you all to see...
Now here's a song that I know had to be present because it was a big single for the band (even getting them a little bit of mainstream exposure, though that may have been short-lived), but I really wish it didn't have to be here because I think it's the absolute worst song that Third Day has ever allowed to make the cut for an album. When Wire first came out, I characterized this blatant crossover attempt as a generic commercial for love, and I'm sticking to my guns. It's fine to break down a description of what you believe and why in terms that a non-Christian can understand it, but they've simplified it so much here that I feel the need to point out to them that it's not just Christians who believe in things like love and having a persistent faith in something and all that good stuff. And I can understand not wanting to get into the nitty-gritty of what makes Christianity different in a song that's just meant to be a feel-good radio hit, but you know what, either say something meaningful about your faith, or just write about something else like romantic love where it's OK if what you're saying is total fluff. Don't give me any of this halfway crap - whatever you're writing about, make it interesting. This song represents the absolute lowest point of Third Day's misunderstanding of their own purpose as a band.

Nothing Compares
I see all the people wasting all their time
Building up their riches for a life that's fine...
We finish off the "main" portion of the album with the concluding track from Come Together - this one didn't stand out much to me in the midst of better songs of praise and devotion when that album came out, and while it's become a bit of an anthem for many Third Day fans since then, it still does nothing for me. I am very thankful, however, that they chose not to give us the live version of this one from Offerings II, complete with Mac's long-winded, momentum-killing speech right when the song was leading into its bridge.

Blessed Assurance
Perfect submission, perfect delight
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love...
This is a rather low-key, reverent take on a classic hymn, which Mac tells his live audience most of them probably know from growing up in church before leading them through it. It's nice enough - I'm a fan of the original hymn, and I don't think the powerful lyrics of classic hymns like this one will ever die. But isn't this supposed to be Third Day's greatest hits? Why do we have a previously unreleased version of a cover song being foisted upon us now? This was never a hit. I can understand the placement of a well-done cover song (like the original version of "You Are Good to Me" would have been), but this is not a track that Third Day is well-known for, it doesn't have a previously released version that makes it rarity fans have wanting to get their hands on, and they really do nothing to make it their own. This is here as fan-bait, pure and simple - it's for those who would otherwise say "I have all these tracks" and not buy the album.

Movin' On Up
Well I was blind, but now I can see
You made a believer out of me...
Now it's time for the obligatory non-album entries that Third Day did for a few movie soundtracks. The first of the two is a cover of a Primal Scream track from the early 90's, which is far more Southern-fried and all-around fun than most of their album material has been over the past few years, but which to my ears, doesn't have much more depth than the theme song to The Jeffersons. (Which I'm only referencing because I know y'all are wondering if it's the same song. It's not. Though that would have been amusing.) This one originally made its appearance on the soundtrack to The Second Chance, a surprisingly powerful movie starring Michael W. Smith that came out in early 2006 and was apparently seen in theaters by nobody. While my personal preference might lean far more towards rock than hip-hop and Gospel, I have to say that producer Steve Taylor (who I normally have tons of respect for) was severely misguided for including 100% non-ethnic rock tracks like this one on the album, while not representing the world of Christian hip-hop at all (despite having Grits or someone who sounded a lot like them in the movie trailer). I suppose this beats some of MWS's attempts to sound Gospel-y, and Ruben Studdard's laughably bad take on "I Surrender All" as far as the soundtrack goes, but really, was this a notable moment in Third Day history? I think not.

I See Love
Some see a prisoner, alone before His judge
With no one to defend Him
Some see a victim, beaten and abused
With all the world against Him...
This track is a rather predictable, middle-of-the-road-CCM-rock take on the ways that a bunch of different people view Jesus, which concludes that those singing the song simply see "love" when they look at His sacrifice, rather than a crazy man or a fool with political aspirations or whatever. It's a collaboration between Third Day, Steven Curtis Chapman, and MercyMe's lead singer Bart Millard, which first appeared on the unbelievably putrid movie tie-in disc The Passion of the Christ: Songs, a disaster on such an epic scale that not even Lauryn Hill could manage to sound good on it. The less said about that disc, the better. As far as this song goes, it's passable, but a bit too preoccupied with its own stunt casting, as evidence by the switching of the lead vocal several times just to make sure we get all giddy over hearing three CCM heavyweights at the mic. If Third Day can't even carry the weight of the song on their own, then I don't see why it belongs on an album that is supposedly their greatest hits.

I Can Feel It
I keep on searching for Your presence in this place
I see your hand at work, I feel Your touch of grace
Sometimes it falls like rain upon this thirsty land
Sometimes You gently stir the heart of every man...
This song was freakin' awesome in its original version on Wherever You Are. It seriously rocked, far more than anything on Wire, or shoot, even Come Together. It was totally out of place on that album, but it had the sort of musical passion that you rarely hear on middle-of-the-road CCM records any more. And then they went and ruined it by giving us another lackluster live version. Mac talks forever over the guitar intro, knowing that he can get a crowd in the band's hometown of Atlanta all excited by reminding them that they're there because of Jesus (we know that, dude, it's the premise of the concert), and when the band finally gets into it, it just doesn't leap from the speakers the way that the album version does. What's truly hilarious is the return to the chorus after the bridge, when once again bad mixing makes it sound like absolutely no one is paying attention to the band any more as Mac tries to give them a turn at the mic. The passionate cry of "I can FEEEEEEEEEEEEEL it!" turns into "I can... *sound of crickets chirping*... it!" I am so embarrassed for them at this point. They so should have stuck with the album version.

Carry Me Home
My back is breaking, my mouth is dry
I pray You'll come and rescue me tonight...
Here's one rarity whose presence might be justifiable, because it was a single that got the band some attention while they were in between albums in 2001. It's not one that I ever took the time to familiarize myself with, since it never showed up on one of their albums - in that sense, it's kind of the analogue of the songs from the Southern Tracks EP that appeared on Chronology, Vol. 1. It's actually a chunkier rocker with a good amount of palm muting and all-around grit, and I'd actually enjoy it quite a bit if not for the auto-pilot lyrics about going through a valley and wondering whether God has left you to die - I'm pretty sure they've covered this topic on at least two or three songs since then. I suppose the real issue is that they repeated themselves thematically later, and that's not this song's fault, but it does diminish my enjoyment of it a bit. For those who don't care about lyrics, they'll enjoy this - the song rocks with as much convincing energy as the old Third Day we once knew and loved. It's not the greatest way to end Vol. 2, but at least fans finally have it on a full album. Sort of.

If there's something good that I can say about Chronology, Vol. 2, it's that the band and the label made every effort to involve the fans in creating a multimedia package that they'd get a lot out of. This band clearly loves their fans, and it shows in the willingness to collect bootleg concert videos from various eras (including the early 90's - perhaps the most amusing performance is of an extremely old song not on any album ever released by a label, where the band is playing in a tiny local church in Georgia, and we get a rare glimpse of Mac Powell with no facial hair). There's also a segment called "Third Day's Biggest Fan", which collects videos sent in by fans trying to prove how much they love Third Day - it's as bad as watching some of the most inane stuff ever posted on YouTube, mind you, but I'm sure you'll squee with delight if you're one of the fans whose 45 seconds or so of goofing around made the cut. (I shudder to think of what didn't make the cut.) Most enjoyable is the hour-long documentary covering the group's humble beginnings in '92, some of their ups and downs with record deals and not knowing where to go next along the way (I have to give them credit for sticking together and maintaining the same five-guy lineup since their label debut in '96, since few bands can seem to do that these days). You can definitely see the point where their career growth becomes a lot less organic and more calculated about 2/3 of the way through, but it's still a wonderful glimpse at their individual personalities (which I wish showed up more in their songwriting) and a good reminder of a band that I used to love and wish I still could love.

I'll say this much - these guys are trying their best through their music to love God with all of their hearts, and there ain't nothing wrong with that, until you remember that we're also supposed to love God with all of our minds, and I think the "mind" part is where they've slacked off lately. The fans do kind of bite the hand that feeds them whenever the band tries to explore a bit, but I still think it's the band's fault there - if they believe in what they're trying to achieve, they should stick to their guns and not worry about whether millions of people will follow them. At this point I don't see this band exhibiting much of a willingness to explore, so 2008 or 2009 or whenever their next proper album comes out is probably going to me what makes it or breaks it for me as a fan on the bubble.

There are enough glaring omissions this time around that I'm not going to discuss them all in detail, because it would take too long (and I've already done that), but if I had to come up with a track listing for this album myself, I'd have probably made sure to include Come Together's "40 Days" and "Get On", Wire's title track, "I've Got a Feeling", and "'Til the Day I Die", just to more accurately represent this band's ability to come up with decent rock songs. I'd also have kicked some of the less convincing worship ballads in favor of Wherever You Are's "Communion" and Offerings II's "May Your Wonders Never Cease" (though neither of those were ever hits, or even singles, as far as I can tell). I suppose I can quibble over personal preferences and most Third Day fans would probably disagree with me, but in any case, the songs that were chosen here do a major disservice to a band that is still managing to at least put out average-to-decent albums. I can't recommend this scattershot collection to anybody but the most hardcore of the existing fans. New fans could easily become acquainted with them by purchasing Chronology, Vol. 1, and only really miss a few highlights, but Chronology, Vol. 2 will totally give them the wrong picture.

ALBUM WORTH:
Come on Back to Me $.50
Show Me Your Glory $1.50
You Are So Good to Me $0
Rockstar $.50
Mountain of God $.50
Sing a Song $0
Come Together $1
God of Wonders $.50
Cry Out to Jesus $1
Creed $1
Tunnel $1
I Believe -$.50
Nothing Compares $0
Blessed Assurance $.50
Movin' On Up $1
I See Love $.50
I Can Feel It $.50
Carry Me Home $1
BONUS DVD $1.50
TOTAL: $11

Band Members:
Mac Powell: Lead vocals, guitar
Mark Lee: Guitar, backing vocals
Brad Avery: Guitar
David Carr: Drums
Tai Anderson: Bass

Website: http://www.thirdday.com

Recommended: No