Don Moen: Uncharted Territory
Posted March 31, 2012
By TCMRB,
Don Moen, the renowned worship leader, is releasing his first worship project in three years, Uncharted Territory. The album, I have heard, sounds like a lot of his old stuff, but I have never listened to any of his music before, so honestly I have no clue if it sounds like his old music. This album is filled with great, and encouraging lyrics, as well as melodies that remind me of a lot of the great 90s hits. With that being said, this album for some reason has not been able to keep me listening. I like some of the songs on the record, but after a while it starts to all kind of smear together. A lot of the components on the album are great, but the one thing that is lacking to me, is the fact that most of the songs are not very catchy. I never find myself singing any of these songs, which is unusual, in that usually there is at least one song on a CD that I get stuck in my head.
"You Will Be My Song" is probably one of my favorites on the album. It speaks of how God is always there for us, and knows exactly what is best for us. The lyrics are very encouraging, and are a great reminder in this pessimistic world. The song reminds me of a lot of Michael W. Smith's old hits; it definitely takes me back to when I first started listening to 90s Christian music. "Somebody's Praying For Me" follows that up with, what I believe, is the best song on the album. It is one of the more catchy songs on the album, with a great lyrics that talk about how great it is in the hard times of his life to know that somebody was praying for him. He talks about how he could really tell when someone was praying for him, and that it made a huge difference.
Moen did a cover of Jesus Culture's famous song, "Your Love Never Fails," as the fifth track on the record. I have loved this song every since I discovered it this past Summer, because of how great the lyrics are and the fact that the instrumentals behind it are especially strong. The song is all about how during the hard times in our lives, God is always there with us, and His love never changes. Moen did a pretty good job with this song, and is definitely one of the stronger songs on the album. "Lord Have Mercy" is another track that feels a little more like the 90s, and is a decent song. His voice sounds pretty good on this track, but it feels like it might be missing a little something.
"My Portion You Will Ever Be" is one of the top tracks near the end of the album that continues on the theme of the rest of the album, which is that God is there with us no matter what the situation may be. If there is one thing that Moen is great at, it is writing lyrics and encouraging people through his lyrics. This song, along with the others, is very uplifting to listen to.
One of my least favorite songs, is the next to last song, "Thank You Jesus." I really like the lyrics, but the beat and how it is delivered feel like those really cheesy 90s songs that got old to me after the first 100 times of hearing them. It has that signature organ and a little bit of a choir, and feels a little out of place to me. The last song, "Burn," recovers pretty well though, with a really slow song that feels like the right song to end the album with. The song talks about Christ leading us and making us His own and allowing us to serve Him.
I am so torn with this album, because there are some really good songs on it, but at the same time I do not find myself wanting to go back and listen to it other than the purpose of reviewing it. I think if you like Don Moen, 90s music, and maybe even Michael W. Smith, then you will probably like Uncharted Territory. It is not one of my top albums of the year, but it definitely has some great lyrics and a few pretty good songs on it as well. If you are on the fence about the album after reading this review, I suggest going and listing to some previews of it on iTunes. The highlight tracks, that I would suggest listening to are, "Somebody's Praying For Me," "Your Love Never Fails," and "You Will Be My Song."
Favorite Song: Somebody's Praying For Me
Favorite Lyrics: "We lift a song in the light of our need for You are able always in all things and in this moment we fall at your feet. Lord have mercy." (From the song "Lord Have Mercy")
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from The Christian Music Review Blog. Click here to visit today!
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