Amid nearly 4.5 million career album sales, numerous awards and consistent chart-topping radio success in an unprecedented six-year span, Casting Crowns lead singer and songwriter Mark Hall has never strayed from the group’s main purpose: “Present discipleship through music.” The band’s message remains rooted in the youth ministry Hall has led on a weekly basis since 1999. The result with each new song collection is a fresh, relevant perspective on our journey with Christ. “Our main purpose, above all else, is to know Him more,” shares Hall.
It’s this unwavering pursuit that has inspired Casting Crowns’ latest release, Until The Whole World Hears, an offering of encouragement, challenge, hope and truth to a world in need of Jesus. “As we travel through our journey as Christians, we come to a realization there are lots of people out there who need to hear about Jesus,” Hall says. “Through our maturity, we begin to see the world as God sees the world and work with purpose to show people Jesus, until the whole world hears.”
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jtindie.com Review of Until the Whole World Hears| Posted November 18, 2009 Artist: Casting Crowns CD Title: Until The Whole World Hears Style: CCM / Pop-Worship Website:castingcrowns.com Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Playlist
1. Until the Whole World Hears
2. If We've Ever Needed You
3. Always Enough
4. Joyful, Joyful
5. At Your Feet
6. Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me)
7. Holy One
8. To Know You
9. Mercy
10. Jesus, Hold Me Now
11. Blessed Redeemer
12. Shadow Of Your Wings
When Dr Matt over at the Transformed Podcast posted in our group that Casting Crowns was offering a listening room experience of their soon to be releases (November 17th) Album "Until the Whole World Hears" over at yahoo music's Early Edition. I had a feeling I was going to be sitting here writing this review. I have always had a soft spot for Casting Crowns, even if I have a less than soft spot for the rest of the Pop Worship genre, and I was excited to be able to hear the New CD. After the first couple of songs I began to worry. The CD begins in a typical Casting Crowns Song, The Title song "Until the Whole World Hears" sounds like it belongs on their previous album "The Altar and the Door". As I said I began to worry that this Cd was going to be nothing more than a continuation of the previous album. This isn't quite the negative that it could be. Casting Crowns has a very set and distinctive sound that I find carrying through all of their albums. When done properly it gives the Band a signature sound. When done Improperly it simply makes all the songs sound the same. "Until the Whole World Hears" walks the thin line of "signature sound" while only crossing into the "What album is this again?" territory a couple of times.
That being said, The CD did redeem itself with songs that were just not the Casting Crowns sound. "Holy One" with a nice rockier beat and "Shadow of Your Wings" has a sound i can only describe as Rockabilly/punk meets Blue Rodeo (hows that for obscure musical references) sounds that makes it my instant favorite on the CD. The rest of the CD is filled with songs that are destined to be part of worship services all across the world. There is no discounting the fact that these songs are very well written and performed by a group of people who not only have the talent God has given them but (more importantly) the Gift to bring these songs to life.
I am sure that "Until the whole world hears" will be part of my music collection -- Eventually -- it isn't a CD that I will be running out to buy. There are simply to many songs on the CD that sound just like every other Casting Crowns song. This isn't a completely negative thing. Casting Crowns, live other artists (Third Day, Michael W Smith, Delirious) are simply so well know that their sound (for Good and Bad) Defines their Genre. The CD gave me everything I expected from a Casting Crowns CD. Perfectly produced music filled with life and emotion. I guess I just wanted to be surprised more than I was with single song on the CD that didn't sound like it was run through the Casting Crowns Cookie Cutter. The CD is a very well made album but I am only giving it a 3.5 stars out of 5.0. While this CD is technically better than many of the CD's that have gotten a higher score before it, I felt like I was listening to "The Altar and the Door" the Extended Cut.
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from JTindie.com. Click here to visit JTindie.com today!
Until The Whole World Hears| Posted November 14, 2011
Pretty good overall. I feel like the band has lot a little of the raw lyrical elements that marked their first two releases and in some ways have moved into more of a comfortable place in their musical career. Casting Crowns music is played very heavily on CCM radio so it's hard to say how i would rate this album if I wasn't so familiar with some of the songs. I think this is a good album and love the bands focus on Christ, but have to also agree that I miss some of the amazingly poetic and thought provoking lyrics that marked the bands early career.
Great album from a great group!| Posted September 05, 2010
My wife and I saw these guys (and girls) and got the new album. They are a very solid, down-to-earth group of people who love the Lord. Their music very clearly shows their mission and their love for God.
The new album, Until The Whole World Hears, is a great balance of conviction, redemption and worship. The music itself is a great mix of lively, rock and soft ballads with a bit of everything in between. We listened to the CD over and over on our way back from the concert and have had it running rather steady since then. Best of all, the band is committed to living out what they sing about and speak about. They are very passionate about getting involved and being active members of the body instead of passive members of the audience.
A great album with great songs from a great band on a great mission. We need more regular people like this living out their ministry for the body of Christ!
Singing Until The Whole World Hears| Posted September 01, 2010
Casting Crowns has made another great album. If We've Ever Needed You is a wonderful song. We all need Christ right now and always. We can do nothing without Him. Until The Whole World Hears is how every Christian should be. We need to be singing until the whole world hears!
Need to Change Style| Posted September 01, 2010
Casting Crowns has held a very popular stand in CCM. This is obvious for there lyrics used to have depth and their music creative.
With each album though they seem to have lost that skill. Their albums have lost the flare of Stained Glass Masquerade and Lifesong. They watered down CCM to be little than lyrics and music.
:)| Posted May 18, 2010
Sometime in 2001, I dipped my foot into the waters of contemporary Christian music
with 2 CDs; Jump5’s self-titled debut and Jars of Clay’s The Eleventh Hour. However, it
wasn’t until the summer of 2008 that I fell headfirst into crazy music fandom. Who and
what pushed me in? The who was God, via Casting Crowns. The what was their 3rd
album, The Altar and the Door. From then on, my mad rush into Christian music fandom
lead me to inspiration for lyrics, closeness to God, online friendships, and Christian
Music Review. That's right......Mark and company, you're the reason I'm even writing
this. (On a "darker" note, you're also the root of my Internet addiction!) Anyhoo, back to
giving a little back.......Until the Whole World Hears is a worship effort that is beautiful
lyrically and musically.
What you won't find on UTWWH is a rebuke song like those that Crowns has become
famous for. Instead, the album is tinged with humility; every song that speaks of
backsliding uses "I" and "we" instead of "they" and "you". How honest is that? Even the
title single is more of an anthem than a criticism. The song begins as a plea to Jesus
asking for the ability to be like Him and then rallies others to the same cause. Trivia-
that's Mark's home church (Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church in Georgia) joining in
the song near the end. This album also marks Crowns’s first project without their former
drummer, Andy Williams, famous for being bald, interestingly replaced this past
February by Brian Scoggins, a red head Lucy Ricardo would envy the color of if not the
afro style.
"Always Enough" is a sufficiency song borne from the death of a member of Mark's
congregation who was a soldier. It's not the first tragedy that's spawned a lyric, as long
time Crowns fans will recall "Praise You In This Storm". "At Your Feet", penned by Hall
and Jason Ingram, is a beautiful song of surrender and satisfaction at the feet of Jesus.
Listen closely; it's also Juan and Hector's album singing debuts. (Hi guys!) The desperate
cries of "If We've Ever Needed You" entreat God in a time of terrible crisis to be with us
more than ever. It's a song that no doubt finds its inspiration in the moral decay of the
world at large, and seems to be the theme of the Slow Faders Anonymous.
One of my favorite songs on this album is "Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me)" The
chorus (Living, He loved me/Dying, He saved me/Buried, He carried my sins far
away/Rising, He justified freely forever/One day He’s coming/Oh glorious day, oh
glorious day) is one of the best ways I've ever heard the life of Jesus summarized. "To
Know You" describes all the new feelings and longings a believer will have as a result of
knowing Jesus. Among them is the neverending effect of wanting to be ever closer.
"Joyful, Joyful" has WOW Hymns written all over it; it's a little faster tempo than you'd
expect. "Mercy" is a very simply arranged song that's mostly Megan with a little Mark
near the end, and "Blessed Redeemer" is unique in that Melodee contributes the vocals.
They're very well done, and not as some may believe, the token SPCMH songs (Society
For the Prevention of Cruelty to Mark Hall)
I was pleasantly surprised to find not one but two rockier songs on this album. "Holy
One" and "Shadow Of Your Wings" would be great songs for the next edition of Dance
Praise. I had a hard time not jumping out of my computer chair. Mark Hall really excels
at faster songs; but then, he's just one of those guys who can sing at any tempo and ace
it. A less than pleasant surprise? "Jesus Hold Me Now" is actually a rework of their
earlier song from Lifesong, "Prodigal" with a new chorus that makes it clear that the
person being appealed to is Jesus, not the earthly father of the singer. I'm sure there's a
good and Godly explanation for why they decided to do this, and someday when we
meet in heaven I'll have to take this back, but I was disappointed.
Think what you like about Casting Crowns. Be a CCM basher if you want to. I just can't
help finding something to like in every project they do. The genuine Christ-like love and
the raw honesty they display in their words AND actions are what keep me interested.
Amazing Album| Posted February 23, 2010
This is Casting Crowns' best album to date. I especially love "Always Enough" and "Glorious Day." This album is more worshipful and the lyrics are very direct, unlike Altar and the Door, which had way too many metaphors. This album has beautiful lyrics, many coming directly out of the Bible. Best Casting Crowns album!
Not bad, but not the best| Posted December 31, 2009
My family are big fans of Casting Crowns and have every CD made by them. This album isn't bad but I don't think it matches the previous albums they've put out. The title track is by far the best track on this album but there are also other tracks with a good message that tag along behind. Some of these songs include "Holy One" and "If We've Ever Needed You."
Horrible Album: Their Worst| Posted December 28, 2009
Highly disappointed. Why OH WHY do labels keep letting bands put out horrible albums. The entire album sounds completely rushed like an indie project that they pulled out of a closet- slapped a fancy cover on- and called it an album.
Most of the songs on here are covers of other songs from bands that did the songs better than CC could ever sing
then the last track? Don't even get me started- what is that?
His vocals sound horrible
the music sounds like it is in double time.
and does not mesh well with the vocals
The only track that I liked was the re-tooling of Joyful Joyful We adore thee.
The title track is a horrible try to get on to the radio.
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