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Print INO Records, 2005 Pity the artists releasing Christian CDs in August, 2005, as the MercyMe machine rolls out yet another sure-to-be bestselling album. 90&9 was one of the first to receive a pre-release copy of MercyMe’s debut album, Almost There, in 2001. It was part of a stash of first CDs from many artists, and frankly, was lost in our mix. Then my cousin and her music-crazy husband visited, listened to many groups in the course of a weekend, and told me MercyMe was the superior group of the bunch. Within weeks “I Can Only Imagine” was the song on everybody’s radio. Now, Bart Millard, lead singer/ front man / songwriter for the group, has plunged into the praise and worship field by resurrecting (at least for Christian pop audiences) the classic hymns. “My wife and I grew up together in a church where we sang hymns every Sunday—there was no such thing as contemporary worship—these hymns were as contemporary as it got,” he said. As so many churches war over discarding hymnals for contemporary praise choruses, this CD proves it doesn’t matter if songs are brand-new or ancient. The real question to ask is—are they any good? If they’re not relevant to how people struggle, persevere, and build their faith in God, then they’re not any good and won’t last. “(We) were wondering if our son will have those songs in the future, because they’re just not sung much in churches today. It’s rare to even see a hymnal in a lot of the churches we play now. The praise and worship movement has been incredible, but so many of the songs are really incredibly similar, and the lyrics to many of them just pale in comparison to the hymns,” he shared. Most of the songs Millard sings have lasted. It doesn’t take a familiarity with hymnals to recognize the significance of “Power in the Blood:”
While every age can sing “‘Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus’” eternal lyrics:
Millard grew up with his “MawMaw” (to whom he writes verses before segueing into the chorus of “In The Sweet By and By” in “MawMaw’s Songs”) singing these songs to him. And what a list of songs she must have sang: “Just A Closer Walk With Thee,” “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” “Sweetest Name I Know.” Despite a host of musical contributions from talents as diverse as Derek Webb, Russ Taff, Anthony Evans, and even Vince Gill, this album feels intimate, the type that works its way into your consciousness because of its quiet power. Conveying that power was a conscious choice. “I didn’t want to reinvent the wheel with the arrangements, change melodies that were perfectly good to begin with or create completely new songs with the lyrics. The arrangements evolved naturally in the studio,” Millard said. “We also left some space in the record, too, as opposed to filling it all up with something or another. We didn’t want to over think or overproduce it, which happens a lot in Christian music.” Those choices are obvious from the clean, acoustic “The Old Rugged Cross” to the lively “Have A Little Talk with Jesus,” to the gentle “Softly and Tenderly.” Millard freshens the music on every song to the point that, while it maintains its original integrity, it still sounds original and welcome in the 21st Century. While you never sense the anointing, you do feel his sincerity in every song. This is Millard’s bridge album between his grandmother and her great-grandson. There should be no reason why listeners of all these generations couldn’t enjoy his selections for many years to come.
ninetyandnine.com © 2005, Kent d Curry --------- Kent d Curry is an executive editor of ninetyandnine.com. |
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