Passionate Worship
Posted July 28, 2014
By KevinDavis_NRT, Staff Reviewer
Passion's songs are some of the most popular in modern worship music, with many of their songs sung by millions in churches all across the country including recent staples "Whom Shall I Fear," "10,000 Reasons," "Lord, I Need You" and "One Thing Remains." The live releases drawn from each year's conferences have been highly anticipated since the first edition in 1998. The last few years have been the most successful with each release taking it up a notch with 2011's Here for You, 2012's White Flag and 2013's Let the Future Begin. 2014's Passion: Take It All marks the latest edition and features the most balanced lineup, with new standout songs by Chris Tomlin, Kristian Stanfill, Crowder, Matt Redman and Christy Nockels.
The opening track "Don't Ever Stop" featuring Chris Tomlin has an upbeat electronic dance music flow, similar to hit song "God's Great Dance Floor." I'm really engaged by Tomlin's emotional vocals and the deep, prayerful lyrics throughout the album. "Whatever is true, whatever is right… Lead me in the way everlasting" are Tomlin's cries of praise set to an up-tempo melody.
The beautiful vertical ballad "At the Cross (Love Ran Red)" is in a more classic corporate worship fashion. It is a moving offering of praise to Jesus: "At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life/ I'm in awe of You, where Your love ran red / And my sin washed white / I owe all to You, I owe all to Jesus."
"Let it Be Jesus" is a gorgeous offering by Christy Nockels to Jesus, proclaiming "For me to live is Christ, God I bring Your name above everything, let it be Jesus." Like her great songs "Healing in Your Hands" and "Waiting Here for You," you'll worship our King Jesus right along with Christy.
She also sings on "You Came to My Rescue," which is a great upbeat electronic dance tempo prayer song with Christy belting out "I was dead but now I breathe / Awaken to Your grace so free / In the power of Your cross / Now I live." What a great way to profess and thank the Lord directly by telling Him "You came to my rescue." You can sincerely pray these words along with Christy, and along with the up-tempo song proclaim "You've overwhelmed me with Your love / You set my feet to dancin' now."
"Never Gonna Let Me Go," "My Heart is Yours" and "This Grace" are led by Kristian Stanfill and each feature an engaging Brit-rock musical style. "My Heart is Yours" includes the sincere and emotive album title in the refrain "My heart is Yours / Take it all / My life in Your hands." "This Grace" is an emotive and poetic description of a beautiful picture of what Jesus did for us.
I can't get enough of Crowder's stand-out song "I Am." His emotive and distinct vocals take listeners on an emotional journey. The bridge is very stirring: "There's no space that His love can't reach / There's no place that we can't find peace / There's no end to Amazing Grace."
"Mercy" by Matt Redman is my favorite new worship anthem of the year, which I hope I'll be singing with fellow believers. The song is also on Redman's album Your Grace Found Me, and has a great worshipful chorus with Redman singing "Mercy, mercy, as endless as the sea. I'll sing Your hallelujah for all eternity." Then, amidst Coldplay-esque swelling guitars, Matt belts out an infectious bridge: "May I never lose the wonder, Oh, the wonder of Your mercy / May I sing Your hallelujah."
Closing Thoughts:
This is yet another solid entry in this great series. These passionate worship songs are sung with vocal sincerity and reverence with biblically based lyrics. There are several instantly sing-able and worshipful arrangements that you'll want to add to your Sunday morning setlist. I especially recommend "At the Cross (Love Ran Red)," "My Heart is Yours," "This Grace" and one of my top worship songs of the year, "Mercy." All of the songs are catchy, exciting and worshipful. Passion: Take it All is a must-have for your praise and worship collection.
Song to Download Now:
"Mercy" (Get it on iTunes here.) View All Music And Book Reviews By KevinDavis_NRT | View KevinDavis_NRT's Profile
|
