Author's Note: So it seems I've managed to get my hands on a few pre-releases of noteworthy upcoming albums in the Christian music sphere, thanks to Sparrow Records. Kudos to them for giving an "indie" reviewer a shot. Of course, to borrow a ridiculously overused cliché, "With great power comes great responsibility", and suddenly I'm finding myself working to deadlines to get these albums reviewed before their release date. Needless to say, since two of the five albums I received last weekend release tomorrow, I'm already going to miss the self-imposed deadline on one of them! But I appreciate the opportunity all the same.

Reviewing worship albums can be a tricky thing. As easy as it may be for my to critique songs that are written by my fellow Christians with an audience of other humans in mind, I become somewhat tongue-tied when dealing with worship leaders who are generally only listed as the "artist" on a particular CD for the purposes of keeping with the artist/album naming convention. After all, worship songs are written as a tool for humans to focus on the presence and power of God - how am I supposed to critique that? I suppose I can still talk about the same things I always talk about - whether the music is enjoyable to listen to and whether the album achieves its apparent purpose - but man, the folks at Sixsteps Records have really thrown down the gauntlet with this particular recording - a collage of live worship songs from Passion's OneDay '03 event, which was held in Sherman, Texas and drew in over 20,000 college students and young adults for a day of praise and worship that they'll likely never forget.

What is Passion, exactly? It's not an artist. It's not a specific person or group of people, as far as I can tell. And I don't think it's the name of a church. The best way I can describe it is as a movement, a ministry. And while I couldn't quote their mission statement offhand or anything, I know that they're very passionate about bringing young Christians to a place of worship. They've been holding yearly events which I guess you could call concerts, except that the emphasis isn't on performance when leading others in worship - so to some, it might seem a bit dubious to release recordings from each of these events in CD format. Worship music is insanely popular among Christian consumers these days, so the cynical among us might assume that this is being done to make a quick buck off of recognizable names like Matt Redman, the David Crowder Band, and other associated worship leaders whose songs are being sung in contemporary churches today. After all, we've seen several compilations from just about every CCM record label that boast a unique-in-name-only recording of "The Heart of Worship" or "God of Wonders" or what have you. So what makes these Passion recordings different? Why should I care?

Perhaps you had to have been there. Perhaps this is intended as a keepsake, a reminder to those who made the trek to this event not to let their "conference high" fade out. I couldn't tell you what the speakers at this event spoke about, because I wasn't there, but I'd surmise that it's aptly summed up in this set of 13 songs. Music has power, and beyond the element of having clearly recognizable lyrics that speak to the glory and beauty of our Lord, the vast majority of today's worship songs have a certain "hook" to them that lodges them in our brains and makes them easily playable on Christian radio. There's something there to make us remember. Rather than just cashing in on yet another regurgitation of the same old thing, this record comes across as a very genuine snapshot of a people captured by something other than themselves. Most of the songs are going to be new to most listeners, so the "familiarity" factor really only goes as far as some of these singers' voices. I can definitely respect that approach - though it certainly doesn't hurt that this record also serves as a sampler of some of these artists' upcoming albums.

But with that level of unfamiliarity, some flaws are introduced. For those of us who haven't been to the event and don't get warm fuzzy feelings during the intro to each song, this record is going to seem disjointed despite some very valiant attempts to string the different songs together. Also, while I can respect the restraint in not overdubbing too much, there are a few moments that don't translate as well to personal listening/worship as they did to the live event - a passionate shout here or a call for audience participation there can seem out of place at times. But aside from one oddity, there aren't any duds to be found on this record - they're all solid and heartfelt worship songs that we haven't already heard played out in our churches. (I for one enjoy the chance to learn new worship songs before my church gets to them.)

So let's get into the meat of it, eh?

O Praise Him (All This for a King)
The aforementioned David Crowder Band gets things underway without much room for opening fanfare (wouldn't make sense to open such a record with uproarious applause anyway), offering up a tasty track from their forthcoming album, Illuminate. I rather like hearing an unexpected element such as a synthesizer in a worship band, and even though it doesn't get to do too much in this case other than blip around in the background, it still gives the band a distinct sound. The lyrics here are pretty much what you'd expect from your average rock-oriented worship song - predictable, repetitive, and easy to learn, especially since the song runs for over five minutes. Normally that would be a minus, but when you're feeding an audience a lot of new material, it's actually helpful to give them refrains that they can join in on instantly. The DCB does just that here, giving us a simple but fun song with enough repeating sections that it's no wonder they had to have their fans help them choose between the three titles that keep cropping up as repeated lines. (For the record, they compromised between two of those titles.) Who knows - this could well be the next "Our Love Is Loud". I might even like it more than that song.

O Come Let Us Adore Him
Matt Redman, probably the most widely recognizable name associated with the project, throws us a real curveball here with a percussion-driven, almost tribal rendition of a well-known Christmas carol. It's just the last portion of "O Come All Ye Faithful" repeated again and again with varying lines such as "We give you all the glory" inserted to change things up. Given that this event happened in May, I have to admit I'm a bit confused as to the inclusion of this song. It also doesn't really help the flow of the album when placed at track #2. I'm sure it made for an interesting segue between two of Mr. Redman's songs in his set, but I guess I'd have placed it farther back in the track listing here. I think I'd have actually preferred a Redman original, to tell you the truth.

Holy Is the Lord
The warm and familiar voice of Chris Tomlin takes over here for a fairly strong mid-tempo song that will likely be on his upcoming album. (Perhaps I've developed an affinity for Chris because he's written some modern classics that haven't been overkilled - at least not yet.) There's a definite theme of the Earth declaring God's glory that crops up again and again on this record, and it's very strong in this tune, echoing his song "Famous One" as it seeks to magnify the Lord's renown, though rhythmically this one plays it much more straight. Once again, the easily learnable chorus that would normally be a weakness is a strength here, as it allows Tomlin to fade out near the end of the song and leave the massive congregation singing their hearts out. Lots of worship leaders do that, but he seems to especially enjoy that slow build from a quiet verse to a heavenly chorus, which eventually recedes to nothing but voices.

Come Let Us Return to the Lord
Matt Redman takes the mic again for this original song (I'm suspecting these tracks aren't actually arranged in the order that they were played). Even if you don't know for sure who's supposed to be on this record when you first pop it in (I didn't because I just had a plastic CD sleeve with song titles), this one has a very distinct Redman stamp on it. It's a call to repentance and reverence, much like his past works "Let My Words Be Few" and "The Heart of Worship". While it may not immediately seem as tuneful as those other songs, it's got little bits of musicality to it that help it to stand out, such as the unexpected chord when the chorus transitions to the verse, and even the lyrics celebrate this sort of subtle artistry as Matt sings, "With a song in minor key, Lord we are returning." (Oh my gosh, he said "minor key"... I thought this was Christian music!) The only real flaw to this song is that Matt's vocals get a little rough at times... I think it's great that a live worship recording wouldn't feel the need to be all pristine and everything, but there is one rather uncomfortable moment when he gets excited and starts shouting. Not too big of a deal because it's still a well-done song.

All the Earth
I'm not really familiar with Charlie Hall's material (his new album is the other disc I'm supposed to have reviewed before it comes out tomorrow!), so this was actually the first song of his that I ever heard. He seems to have an affinity for the piano - this song starts off with a bouncy intro that reminds me of Train's minor hit "Something More", except a little more upbeat and less melancholy. Charlie's voice isn't terribly different from Chris Tomlin's or David Crowder's, but the songs chosen to represent his work here have a distinct focus on God commissioning His children to bring healing to the land. There's almost an infectious joy in the chorus: "Run like the river/Dance like the summer/Joy is in my heart/You have satisfied my soul." It's hard to explain, but I get the feeling that this joy isn't intended just to give us the fuzzies, but to spread to a dying world around us that needs it. Charlie speaks for a little bit in the middle of the song, and while his intentions are admirable, it admittedly gets a little awkward as things turn political - he asks the audience to think of a country and pray for that country, and then he starts singing the names of random countries that have been in the news recently. I guess it's like how I react to U2 when Bono goes off on a political rant in the middle of a concert - it kinda bugs me, but I'll try to look past the delivery and see the good intentions beneath.

Sing to the King
Newcomer Candi Pearson takes the lead for this Darlene Zschech-sounding number - I guess I say that because it's got a very clean, polished female vocal upfront and the title reminds me of "Shout to the Lord". The music is more upbeat than that, though, employing a highly radio-friendly tune and a little bit of U2-inspired ringing guitar (it's amazing how many worship leaders have latched onto that sound these days). I don't know - it's a solid song, albeit somewhat pedestrian, and admittedly I'm not connecting with it as much because Candi's voice is very much one of those AC, performance-oriented types. It seems like if you were there and didn't know the song, it would be very difficult to follow along even once you started to pick it up, simply due to Candi's singing style. I'm all for great vocalists, but what works on a studio recording isn't always so great when leading worship, because you have to consider the participation factor.

Blessed Be Your Name
Matt Redman makes his third and final appearance here with a familiar song from his latest album Where Angels Fear to Tread. Leave it to Matt to not take the easy way out when writing a worship song - this one was inspired by Job and focuses on praising God in difficult times - not just because He'll reach in and pull you out and make everything OK, but because we recognize that in His wisdom, the difficulties have been brought on to show us something valuable about who God is. On this record, it might be easy to confuse this song's chorus with Tomlin's "Holy Is the Lord", but the ending vamp of "You give and take away, blessed be Your name" still gives it enough power to make it a standout (even if I miss the Gospel-tinged vocals from the album version).

Knees to the Earth
What's this... do I smell single? The cheering audience fades out before this quiet acoustic song, which was recorded by Watermark, and I have to wonder if this one really was recorded in front of an audience, because it's hard to tell until their applause bleeds back in at the end. I'll be honest - I've never been a fan of Watermark. I might have to rethink that now, because Nathan and Christy Nockels have written a lovely song about prayer that manages to bridge the gap between the deeply personal and the universally relatable. You can tell it was borne out of a time of personal soul-searching for the couple, and Christy's vocals are spot-on without being as perky as Candi's. It works in a worship context, even though I have to say once again that the participation factor is suspiciously low here.

Sending
Charlie Hall revs things up again with another taste of his new album On the Road to Beautiful... actually, this is the last track from said album. It might just work better in a live setting than it does on the album - while it still remains the mild synthesized touches of the studio version, the rocking energy of the chorus is a bit more believable in this setting. The chorus is definitely one of those that will get stuck in your head - it's a rousing cry of "You're my greatest desire/Jesus, Your name is our greatest song." The line "Send us with fire to go love the world" makes this a prime candidate for a theme song for quite a few missionary groups next summer.

Take My Life
If there's one thing that I don't like about Chris Tomlin, it's when he takes words from a worship song that I recognize, puts them to a very similar tune, and then takes the song off in a less interesting direction than the original song. He did that on his last album with "Come Let Us Worship and Bow Down", this time he's tinkered with the hymn "Take My Life and Let It Be". What results is a song that seems slow and monotonous at first (actually, I never thought the hymn was all that exciting either, but perhaps I'm missing the point), but builds to a fairly decent crescendo, thanks to a simple piano melody and the usual audience-participation factor. Seems like it was a very moving and vulnerable moment for those who were actually present - and yet Chris Tomlin isn't one of those worship leaders who contrives things to purposefully tug at your heartstrings. I can respect that.

Stars
This record could've used more of the David Crowder Band. They're not the most original act out there, but I keep coming back to the fact that they've got just enough quirks to stand out as a worship band that isn't trying to be trendy. The final track from Illuminate shows up here - a gentle acoustic number that was most likely played near or after nightfall for maximum effect, since David and co. quietly ponder the majesty of God's creation and how it is that we can effectively reflect that majesty to others (this is pretty much the theme of the DCB's new album). There's a low-key but sweet violin featured here, and overall this feels more like a song to reflect on than a song for everyone to sing along with (since I doubt anyone there knew it), but it's a nice contemplative moment late in the album. Having several different artists play their own songs has helped this album to be more diverse than your standard worship fare, so I can't complain.

Revolution Cry
Another relatively new worship leader (or at least I'm assuming) by the name of Steve Fee takes the stage as the album heads towards its home stretch (by now, it's surpassed an hour, but strangely, it has never gotten too repetitive in the process). What's interesting about this song is that it was written by someone you've probably never heard of - or at least not in the sense of being a worship leader. It was written by Jason Wade, lead singer of the mainstream band Lifehouse (the band actually recorded it during their early days when they were known as Blyss). I suppose the song could have circulated in Southern California Vineyard churches, but even so, I've gotta hand it to the Passion folks for featuring a song from such an unexpected source. It's an upbeat rock song that cries out for change, and while Steve and his band have a little more of a straight-laced take on it than Lifehouse did, it still works well as a feisty pseudo-title track from the album (which is officially titled Sacred Revolution; can't believe I forgot to mention that earlier). The only thing that mars the song is when Steve starts grandstanding in the middle of it - "Every revolution needs a revolutionary - and His name is Jesus!" (Insert loud cheers.)

Not to Us
Interestingly, the album's last track may well be its most upbeat (though Charlie Hall's "Sending" comes in a close second). Chris Tomlin does his best Delirious? impression as he gets the guitars going on this song, the title track from his latest album. Somehow it always struck me as ironic that a song so specifically focused on getting our attention off of ourselves and on to God would be so insistently centered around ringing rock guitars... but hey, it's a well-written song, so we can overlook that. Chris extends the song to over six minutes, opting to once again use his tried-and-true method of having the audience repeat part of the song and fading out slowly. He may be predictable, but he's also effective.

Overall, I'm rather satisfied with how listenable of a record this is. It may not be the boundary-pushing, all-encompassing artistic worship album that I'm hoping will materialize someday, but it features quite a few songs that achieve a delicate balance between being enjoyable to listen to and easy to learn. Most of the worship leaders featured here are top-notch, even though in this setting it's less about skill and more about knowing how to restrain oneself and go with God's agenda. I won't pretend to know what that agenda is, but putting the focus on Him and on how we can be used to spark a revolution in a dying world can't be a bad start. To that end, this album is successful, despite any technicalities that might cause me to raise critical objections. I look forward to hearing future OneDay events captured in time as this one was. I'll consider the '03 edition to be a 3.5 start effort, rounded up to 4 because I want to stress that while far from ideal, this is an above average effort.

ALBUM WORTH:
O Praise Him (All This for a King) $2
O Come Let Us Adore Him -$.50
Holy Is the Lord $.50
Come Let Us Return to the Lord $1
All the Earth $.50
Sing to the King $0
Blessed Be Your Name $1.50
Knees to the Earth $1.50
Sending $2
Take My Life $1
Stars $1.50
Revolution Cry $1
Not to Us $1.50
TOTAL: $13

Website: http://www.268generation.com

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Reading or Studying