Some Old Music Reviews

I decided to drop the music review page to simplify the blog some.  So here are some older reviews of albums.  They were from my first foray into blogging.  Shortly after starting this blog, I changed my approach.  So here they are.

Redemption Songs by Jars of Clay.  This CD was inevitable.  In their work with the City on a Hill projects they reworked some hymns such as The Comforter Has Come & Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.  Artists and worship leaders are creating new arraignments or music to accompany these time-tested words.  This comes from the desire of the Emerging Church to treasure our tradition even as we live in touch with the world around us.

This CD is unique.  Jars of Clay has put their own unique sound over these words from our common heritage as followers of Jesus.  Some of the songs like God Be Merciful to Me (Psalm 51), and On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand come from the music ministry of Reformed University Fellowship.  Others, like It is Well with My Soul and I Need Thee Every Hour, have music, and sometimes refrains, written by Jars of Clay.  The overwhelming focus of this disc is Redemption.  This is music for sinners who need to be reminded of God’s overwhelming love expressed in Jesus.  It is remarkably focused on the weight of our sin, and therefore the glory of our redemption.  This is something grotesquely missing in most ‘worship’ music today (well, the last 100 years or so).

The songs tend to be sad, yet hopeful as a result.  They carry the signature Jars of Clay folksy rock sound.  They give a new life to these grand old songs, and a new audience.   As such it is a valuable resource.  It is useful for reminding this sinner of my new life in Christ.  It gives words to the longings and frustrations of my heart.  This is not pop fluff.  The arraignments help the impact of the words instead of detracting from the meaning of the words.  In their desire to move into the future without forsaking our heritage, Jars of Clay has done us a great service.  They offer the church a more substantial form of Christianity than is typically found on our bookshelves and CD racks.

Nothing is Sound by Switchfoot.  This is a great follow-up to their double platinum smash.  Lyrically it continues in a similar vein.  They talk about the lie of materialism (Lonely Nation), the things we substitute for love (Easier than Love) and our tendency to dig cisterns instead of going to the spring of living water (Happy is a Yuppy Word).  They also talk about how we are woefully bent and wounded (The Setting Sun, The Fatal Wound).  As such, it has a dark feel to it.

But there is hope in the mix in songs like Stars, and The Shadow Proves the Sunshine.

This sounds a bit like John Owen’s take on resisting temptation.  “The pouring of contempt upon the great men and great things of the world, with all the enjoyments of it.  He hath discovered the nakedness of all earthly things, in overturning, overturning, overturning, both men and things, to make way for the things that cannot be shaken.”

Musically the overall feel to me is more aggressive.  I do miss the prominence of the bass (though Lonely Nation has a great bass line).  Or maybe I need to hook up the subwoofer.

Kickin’ music- YES!

Memorable lines- YES!  (”We are slaves of what we want”, “I’ve got a wound that does not heal”)

Buy it- YES! 

The Beautiful Letdown by Switchfoot– this was a pleasant surprise.  I had heard only one or two of their songs on the radio.  They reminded me of a less angry version of Kings X.  This disc moves between harder music and a more pop sound.  Their world view comes through loud and clear.  The Beautiful Letdown has the feel of Ecclesiastes.  Meant to Live has the ache for something more than this world has to offer.  This sets the thematic pace for the album.  They point to hope in Christ in songs like Redemption, even as songs like Gone and The Beautiful Letdown focus on the futility of living for this world, and living as strangers and aliens.  This moves beyond the typical teen angst to ask some more powerful questions- and provide answers.  And it has kick-butt music with stuck-in-your head lyrics.  Go to Wal-Mart and get this for under $10, NOW.

Devotion by the Newsboys– I expected this to be Adoration Part 2.  At first I was disappointed.  But I am disappointed no more.  This disc is a great hybrid of Thrive and Adoration.  3 songs are by others (Blessed be Your Name, Name Above All Names & When the Tears Fall).  Their version of the Matt Redman song, Blessed be Your Name, features help by Rebecca St. James.  It is spunkier than other others.  Taking a cue from Job, it deals with the commitment to praise God even when life is difficult.  Other songs of longing are The Orphan and Landslide of Love.  They put forth a ‘real-world’ Christianity.  God of Nations, Name Above All Names, and Strong Tower direct our devotion to our God.  This is an encouraging and enjoyable collection of songs.  There are plenty of stick-in-your head lyrics, and some kickin’ music.

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb by U2– this was the first U2 album I have purchased upon its release since Achtung Baby!  At first I wondered if I should have waited.  But time showed me wrong.  Bono, as usual, wrestles with the difference between what we already possess in Christ and what we have not yet received.  He seems impatient, expecting too much of the not-yet in the now (Love and Peace or Else, All Because of You).  He also struggles with mixture of joy and pain in earthly relationships in haunting songs like Miracle Drug, A Man and a Woman and Sometimes Your Can’t Make it on Your Own. 

Adam Clayton has some great bass lines.  But the focus is on the lyrics.  One of the keywords that Bono repeats is ‘knees’.  In Vertigo, he cries “Your love is teaching me how, how to kneel…”.  In Love and Peace or Else he confesses “I don’t know if I can take it; I’m not easy on my knees; here’s my heart you can break it.”  In City of Blinding Lights he hopes “Blessings are not just for the ones who kneel… luckily” since he has trouble bowing the heart.  In a song, presumably written to a daughter, we find “I kneel because ‘cos I want you some more; I want the lot of what you got; and I want nothing that your not.”

Bono has moved past his personal cynicism of the 1990’s.  Elevation and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb seem focused on the rebuilding of his faith.  Asking YHWH to break his heart is the cry of a more mature faith.  All this and some good guitar and bass work.  I am willing to kneel.