This Is Our God
Posted September 12, 2008
By WorshipLeaderMag,
The most breathtaking moment on Hillsong's 17th live recoding is the final few seconds of the album. If you were there at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia, you would have seen the worship team leave the stage with only the name of Jesus displayed on the screen. Then you would have kept singing for two minutes in spontaneous praise. The final track "Everything" is a slow burning, yet explosive, worship anthem that closes with that unprompted worship moment caught for us to share. This is Hillsong. this is what they are about and why their music has touched millions around the globe. Passion isn't a name for them; it's their entity.
So yes, 17 releases, why do you need another one? The answer is that Hillsong leads the charge in everything creatively and musically related to music in the devotional arts. And yes, This Is Our God is in every way equal or better than all their previous work. Plus on this release the proverbial leadership torch has been passed from Darlene Zschech to Reuben Morgan and Joel Houston. The musicality may intimidate the kid-and-a-guitar leaders among us, but it will inspire them to higher musical excellence: you need to sit and work with these songs.
The choice to go live is not exactly one you can complain about, because what's the point? That's how the Aussies roll. So love it or hate it, you get slightly washed out mixes. But that is also the basis of their strength. You can tell there was very little post-recording and the integrity of the night has remained intact.
As far as songs for your service of worship, it is tough to pick a couple. Every one is spot on for passionate calls to praise, but here are the ones that are undoubtedly worth your attention: "Your Name High," "This Is Our God," "With Everything," and the simple yet striking in its lyric power, "You Are Here." When the thousands of voices gathered to proclaim these words "The same power that conquered the grave / lives in me. And your love that rescued the earth / lives in me," the earth must have stood still for a moment.
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from Worship Leader Magazine. Click here to visit WorshipLeader.com today! View All Music And Book Reviews By WorshipLeaderMag | View WorshipLeaderMag's Profile
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