Third Day's soul-stirring 11th studio album, Move, offers 12 tracks that are reminiscent of the acclaimed band's Time record.
Produced by Paul Moak (Mat Kearney, Matt Maher) and recorded in the band’s new, Atlanta-based, state-of-the-art studio "The Quarry" and Moak’s well known "The Smoakstack," the 12-track offering has been described by early listeners as "visceral and gritty; reminiscent of the acclaimed band’s Time record."
Musically, Move delivers songs that are rootsy, soulful and riveting, taking full advantage of Third Day’s longstanding rock influence. Yet the sound retains an edgy authenticity that’s incredibly timely as heard in the raw and addictive, "Make Your Move." Additional highlight tracks include the worshipful "Children of God," "Gone," "Surrender" and "Follow Me There." Each song is lyrically inspiring with hints at Third Day’s southern roots from the slide guitar and hand claps, reminiscent of Tom Petty, to the layers of smokey vocals.
It’s hard not to believe once a listener is enveloped within the driving drums and exuberant delivery of gospel-tinged "Follow Me There" or challenged by the guitar-picking, hand-clapping, in-your-face classic, "Surrender."
Still, songs like the worshipful "Children of God" and "Trust in Jesus," recall the band’s deep connections to offerings birthed from the heart of the church. And on tracks like "Sound of Your Voice," it’s as if Third Day’s members momentarily forget the audience is even listening and are simply singing praise from the deepest shadows of their own souls.
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Third Day [MOVE]| Posted October 05, 2010 [MAIN REVIEW]
Third Day delivers its soul-stirring 11th studio album, MOVE, showcasing members Mac Powell, Mark Lee, Tai Anderson and David Carr at their melodic and lyrical best, peering insightfully at life within the church as well as pointedly seeking to understand the needs and questions of those without faith. It’s an often difficult balance to achieve, but Third Day succeeds in speaking candidly and hopefully to listeners of every stripe, challenging each not just to a place of faith – but a place of faith in action. Third Day released their debut/self-titled album back in 1995. Since that release they have become on of the biggest names in the Christian music industry. Fans flocked to their 1999 release Time and the 2000 worship release, Offerings. Third Day’s last album Revelation was recently certified Gold and is a stellar album with hit songs “Call My Name,” “Revelation” and “Born Again.”
The project leads with the first single “Lift Up Your Face,” which features The Blind Boys of Alabama. Mac Powell, the band’s charismatic lead vocalist, explains, “The country is going through hard times, and there are doubts and insecurity. The message of “Lift Up Your Face” is our message of encouragement – not just to listeners though—to us as well. It’s a message we all need to hear and I think that really sums up a lot of what we were going for with this record.” Musically, MOVE delivers songs that are rootsy, soulful and riveting, taking full advantage of Third Day’s longstanding rock influence. Yet the sound retains an edgy authenticity that’s incredibly timely as heard in the raw and addictive, “Make Your Move.” Additional highlight tracks include the worshipful “Children of God,” “Gone,” “Surrender” and “Follow Me There.” Each song is lyrically inspiring with hints at Third Day’s southern roots.
“Trust In Jesus” is my favorite song on the album. One of my favorite aspects of Third Day’s music is how they tend to have very spiritual lyrics. This song declares boldly what it means to be a follower of Jesus and is a thesis statement of faith. I love how the first four songs build to this declaration that “one of these days we all will stand before the Lord, and give a reason for everything we’ve done…and what I’ve done is trust in Jesus, my Great Deliverer, my Strong Defender, the Son of God, I trust in Jesus, Blessed Redeemer, my Lord forever, the Holy One, What are you gonna do when your time is come and your life is done, what are you gonna say at the judgment throne, I already know, the only thing that I can say…I trust in Jesus.” I get goose bumps when I listen to this amazing song and sing along at the top of my lungs. The tempo slows down for the rest of the album and includes more bold testimony with the great song “What Have You Got To Lose” and the closing song “Don’t Give Up Hope.”
I recently listened to every song ever released by Third Day to determine where to rank this album among Third Day’s incredibly impressive catalog of albums and songs. For me, MOVE is the most impressive Third Day album since their debut album and Time. MOVE has some of Third Day’s best “southern” rock songs ever in “Surrender” and “Make Your Move.” From a worship standpoint, “Children of God” and “Trust In Jesus” are incredible anthems of faith. Those four stand-out songs are among my all-time favorite songs by Third Day along with “Thief,” “I’ve Always Loved You,” “Your Love Oh Lord,” “You Are Mine,” “Revelation” and “Offering.”
CLOSING THOUGHTS
I am amazed by this Third Day record. I'm so glad they went back to their roots. I liked Revelation and the cool rock songs, but I became a “Gomer” with the southern gospel-rock and passion of songs like "Thief," "Love Song" and "Forever." If you are a long-time fan of Third Day, be very excited about MOVE. If you became a fan with Offerings or Revelation here's your chance to learn what has made Third Day the premier rock band in all of Christian music. The music is catchy, and every song rocks. For me, what makes this album so special is the unashamed Gospel message and Mac Powell's vocals have never been more passionate. MOVE gets 5 stars from this writer.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10 (95%, A)
Review written by: Kevin Davis | Review can also be found here.
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from ChristianMusicReview.org. Click here to visit ChristianMusicReview.org today!
Move| Posted November 25, 2010
I find it a great album actually, you can still find Third Day style in it, I believe it's some kind of "CD2" from the album Revelation, I enjoy it a lot.
I often like almost every praise song, but of course I have my favorites. I'll Be Your Miracle y a great song, great rhythm, really exalting and full of confidence. But the song Trust In Jesus is different, its a praise so beautiful, so deep, so personal, like Michael W. Smith's "Grace".
Praise and Worship with a HEAVY Southern Rock Sound| Posted October 31, 2010
As a fan of Third Day who first watched them perform in Medford, Oregon way back in October of 1996 I must give my 2 cents on Third Day's new album MOVE:
The choir, the orchestra, the HEAVY southern rock sound, the great addition of a banjo, the brilliant praise and worship, the amazing voice of Mac Powell and the catchy hooks of Dr Mark Lee makes this Third Day album THE best! I am personally a fan of the albums "Wherever You Are" "TIME" and "Revelation" so this album is an excellent mix of the three. I also must point out that's it's wonderful that "JESUS" is back in "Christian rock music." So many bands in the Christian industry have simply become inspirational bands so it's nice that Third Day doesn't hesitate on mentioning Jesus in their music.
David Carr and Tai Anderson have the perfect sound on this record! The bass and the drums always stand out and the mix is just perfect. It honestly reminds me of the great rhythm section featured on Jars of Clay's "Much Afraid" album.
Dr. Mark Lee shines on this album! I honestly think he has more of those little guitar solos then on any other Third Day album.
Mac Powell...can the guy get any better? Honestly, this is by far the best work he has ever done! His voice is more southerner then ever and his writing is some of the best work he has ever done.
And the choir....WOW! This is something new for Third Day and it works! Now you would think that a choir and a southern rock sound wouldn't work but it honestly sounds great!
Children of God, Surrender and Trust in Jesus are by far the greatest Third Day songs ever recorded! Adding the children's choir on Children of God was a nice little treat and gave the song a wonderful ending. I also must point out that the last portion of "Surrender" reminded me of one of Metallica's songs with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (yes, I like all kinds of music).
As for the bad (and every album has it) a couple of the songs sound the same and a few of the songs end very abruptly. The idea of adding the Blind Boys of Alabama on Lift Up Your Face is just okay with me, I do love the song but the Blind Boys just don't match up with the sound.
All in all this albums just works, some of the meatiest stuff Third Day has ever put out (TIME is a close second). If you enjoy Audio Adrenaline, Switchfoot, Jars of Clay, Styx, U2, Bon Jovi, or Lynyrd Skynyrd then you will love this album!
One finale note: Third Day is coming up on nearly 20 years of Christian Music Ministry, something that very few bands have accomplished (Petra, Newsboys, uuummm...). Here is my question, will Third Day end the Ministry as the headliner or will they keep on going until they are performing for little crowds as has-beens? The song "Gone" makes you wonder.
Truly a piece of Art| Posted October 26, 2010
The guys from Third Day really went all out on this album, I've always been a huge Third Day fan, but this definitely tops the cake!
Everyone keeps saying they went back to their southern rock roots.... well, i have to say they are correct! With Mac Powell's murky voice and awesome background guitar riffs you can't help but to love it! I think my favorite on the album is "Surrender", it brings an amazing Bon-Jovi feel to the record!
Two huge thumbs up in my opinion!
With the release of Revelation in 2008, Third Day marked out the sound direction that the veteran rock quartet would take. It seems Revelation was just an introduction of what to expect from Move, as the band returns to their traditional southern rock sound. With a flavour and atmosphere similar to that of Needtobreathe , this album will please the ear of all southern rock and country fans.
The album kicks off with the lead single "Lift Up Your Face" an edgy rock song that is probably the most aggressive off the album. It was co-written by the Rinehart brothers Bear and Bo, from Needtobreathe. This is also my favourite song off the album because of its excellent guitar solo and the perfect vocal performance from Mac Powell, as he cries out "Salvation is calling your name!". The song is definetley set in dark circumstances but is more focused on finding God's light in dark times.
Another highlight is "Surrender", which sounds similar to Needtobreathe's song "Lay 'Em Down", with the twangy country guitar intro. It's also got an amazing guitar solo with banjos and clapping during the chorus. This is probably the funnest song off the album.
Third Day also include some worshipful tracks such as "Children Of God". This song choruses that because of Jesus' death and resurrection on the cross, we are now redeemed and can be called children of God. The only criticism of this song is its placement in terms of track listing. It was an annoying contrast to have this song placed at Track 3 between the two heavier songs "Make Your Move" and "Surrender". It was hard for me to adjust and it was even harder when the children's choir was singing solo at the conclusion of the song.
Third Day has put in a big effort with this album because even the softer songs don't sound bland or cliche. "Trust In Jesus" is an encouragement to all Christians with lyrics like "Trust in Jesus, My Great Deliverer, My strong Defender". "Gone" is a catchy acoustic song featuring the unique voice of Bear Rinehart and for me is a standout. "Sound of Your Voice" features a female vocalist in Kerrie Roberts and sounds similar to "Born Again" off Revelation but just doesn't have that same spark. "What Have You Got To Lose" is the soft rock ballad off the album and another highlight. It's a song that encourages everyone to lay their sins and burdens down at the foot of the cross as Mac Powell sings "Let go of all you have, only then can life be found."
The band says that they didn't just want to create "Revelation Part 2" with this album, but on first listen it sounds as if they have. But after a few listens those thoughts will be wiped from your mind when you realise the beauty of this album, both lyrically and musically. I usually steer clear of southern rock/ country but this album has changed my mind. This is a must have for southern rock fans and long time fans of Third Day. I think everyone agrees on one thing; Move is Third Day at its very best.
Third Day, Move| Posted October 20, 2010
The lead singer has a very strong bass voice and you feel like he is personally singing these songs to you. Because his voice is so strong, you feel like he is really trying to have you understand the lyrics.
Totally Incredible!| Posted October 20, 2010
Well, yesterday was the official release date for Third Day's new album, Move. It is amazing! I was a bit worried because Revelation was so great, I thought, "How are they going to follow up on THAT?" But Move is extraordinary! You MUST pick it up at the store or download it on iTunes - iTunes actually has some bonus stuff so be sure to check that out. Kudos, guys! Excellent stuff! Praise the Lord!
Third Day's Move| Posted October 18, 2010
Excellent!!! Love the southern gospel sound. Third Day has been my favorite for years and they do not disappoint on this cd! A wonderful mix of the southern rock hits and some worshipful songs.
Move| Posted October 17, 2010
Loved it!!!! As usual, Third Day did not disappoint! Their love for the Lord is evident in their music and they have an awesome way of delivering the message.
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