Natalie Grant [Love Revolution]
Posted August 10, 2010
By KevinDavis_NRT, Staff Reviewer
Powerhouse vocalist, social activist & founder of the Home Foundation to rescue victims of human trafficking, working mom, entrepreneur and four-time GMA Female Vocalist of the Year, Natalie Grant will be releasing her eighth album, Love Revolution, on Curb Records on August 24, 2010. Grant is also thrilled to announce her latest and greatest “revolution” – her second pregnancy with husband/producer Bernie Herms. This will be the Grant’s third child, following the birth of the couple’s twins Bella & Gracie in 2007. “Daring To Be” is yet another great up tempo opening song in the style of “I Will Not Be Moved” and is one of the musical highlights of the album. The pulsing beat sets the tone perfectly for the challenging and personal lyrics “I’ve waving goodbye to my pretty little life, taking Your hand and crossing that line…shout it out loud, I’m not ashamed, diving in now, I’m so not afraid, hello to all that You see and everything You make me…I’m daring to be.” The electronic musical arrangement will have you turning up the volume and jamming along with this great song.
Title track “Love Revolution” keeps the musical flow going as Natalie frames the mission-minded focus of the album “Oh Great light of the world help us see, what can save us now, hands are reaching out, walls are falling down…it’s a love revolution.” Natalie is entering her 5th year as Founder and Chairman of her non-profit The Home Foundation, which helps build restoration homes for survivors of human trafficking. Natalie also continues to serve as a mentor and inspiration to young girls coping with self-esteem and eating disorder issues, helping them to heal and to achieve positive futures. Through her new record title, Natalie Grant shares her passion for the need for a “Love Revolution” in our culture and across the world today. “We need to have a revolution with our own heart,” she says. “So many people these days are waving banners of their faith, but the God that they are preaching about and talking about I don’t recognize. Love transforms. We don’t go around pointing our finger and telling people how they are supposed to live. We’ve gotten so confused with religion and politics. I often ask, shouldn’t we be living out an example Jesus gave us to follow?” The album’s first single, “Greatness of Our God,” is a ballad recognizing our fragile existence in view of God’s incomprehensible greatness. The song, written by Reuben Morgan, Jason Ingram and Stuart Garrard, and is also on the latest Hillsong LIVE album. In the song called “Human,” co-written by American Idol’s Jordin Sparks, the influence of change is heard through lyrics such as: “We’ve gotta do better than this, cause we’ve only got one chance to make a difference….”
Another musical and lyrical highlight is “Beauty Mark,” where Natalie sings: “Lookin’ the part just to play the game, Cookie cutter faith that looks the same, Religious rock stars making a name, So Church-ified it is a crying shame. But I’ll point the finger at nobody else but me. It’s time to be the change we need.” “Power Of The Cross,” “Desert Song,” “Your Great Name” and “You Deserve” are a great set of vertical worship songs which really showcase Natalie’s excellent vocals. All four songs are completely worshipful and focused on the reason why we are mission-minded, which is in gratitude for our salvation from Jesus. “Someday Our King Will Come” has a great gospel-feel including a gospel choir and picks the tempo back up reminding me of classic songs by Sandi Patty and CeCe Winans. The album closes with the worshipful ballad “Song To The King” which has a very personal feel and testimony from Natalie, and is one of the vocal highlights of the album along with an acoustic version of “Your Great Name.”
CLOSING THOUGHTS
I really like how Natalie doesn’t play it safe or get overly cliche in her lyrics and for me, this album is a great mix of worship and pop. In my opinion, this is Natalie’s best overall album and one of my top 10 albums of the year. I like every song and don’t skip any of them and this album is in heavy rotation for me. I fully expect several GMA nominations including artist, female vocalist and pop album of the year. View All Music And Book Reviews By KevinDavis_NRT | View KevinDavis_NRT's Profile
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