Third Day [MOVE]
Posted October 05, 2010
By christianmusicreview,
[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.
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