Redman's at the top of his game!
Posted October 26, 2010
By zachicks,
Summary
My recommendation is that worship leaders and worshipers alike should buy this album. My three favorite songs, which I hope to use at my church, are "You Alone Can Rescue," "How Great is Your Faithfulness," and "Remembrance."
Overall Comments
I must say I've been following Redman for a long time--since the late 90s. His early albums were great. In the 2000s, Where Angels Fear to Tread was a powerful album for me, mostly because, well before it became famous, "Blessed Be Your Name" became a heart-song of mine as God took my wife and me through the valley of the shadow of death. After Angels came Beautiful News, and I must admit that I was disappointed in it. My expectations were probably too high, but too many songs seemed either unsingable, too bland, or attempting too much chordally/musically. We Shall Not Be Shaken is, in my mind, a few large leaps back up "great worship album" hill.
As I've said about every album Redman has put out, We Shall Not Be Shaken shows Redman to be a worship leader who actually reads His Bible. His songs, while existential, are filled with Bible quotes, Scriptural allusion, and theological depth. In this respect, he seems to be getting better with every subsequent album.
The production on this album is great...better than previous collections. There is a nice sonic variety within the pop/rock genre. Electric guitars aren't monochromatic. Some songs are piano-driven rather than guitar-driven. There are U2 and Coldplay overtones here and there, and I'm hearing a more noticeable use of sampling/programming/looping than what has been on previous albums. There are more mid- and up-tempo songs (which, personally, I find harder to write [with any substance] than slower songs). Redman's voice has never been a flashy one. In many ways, I view him as the Rich Mullins of modern worship, in the sense that his recordings are admired not because he's a virtuoso vocalist but because he writes incredible texts. And there's something refreshing about a "straight up" vocalist every once in a while. You can tell Redman is a worship leader rather than a performer. (I like Brenton Brown's recordings for a lot of those same reasons.)
Gospel-Centered, and God-Centered
I praise Redman and this album chiefly for its gospel-centeredness. Too many worship songs ignore the gospel, probably because the whole concept of gospel-as-entrance-ticket (but not as our ongoing source of sustenance and sanctification) is still pretty prevalent in evangelicalism. So, that Redman continually points to the life and work of Christ, and that he roots our worship in God's finished work in Jesus, are necessary correctives/emphases for mainstream evangelical worship. The album is a gospel-centered album...
Read the rest of this review at: http://www.zachicks.com/blog/2009/8/25/review-of-matt-redmans-new-album-we-shall-not-be-shaken.html View All Music And Book Reviews By zachicks | View zachicks's Profile
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