My #4 Album

in 2009

Released

in 2009 on

Go Global

This page was first posted March 21, 2010. A new hit counter was added July 15, 2012.  Before the reset, this page had 280 hits.

DreamLab was  begun by Paul Buono, whose stage name is Magellan.  It is not a group, but  a project that puts out albums using various studio musicians.  DreamLab put out 4 albums in 2007 & 2008.

    This is my fifth of five DreamLab albums, all of which have come out since 2007, and my fourth to make my Annual Music Awards.  This is probably the best DreamLab album yet, but I’d say that’s because the songs are all written by veteran, accomplished songwriters, such as Chris Tomlin, Matt & Beth Redman, Tim Hughes, Reuben Morgan, and Graham Kendrick.  Yes, these are all popular worship songs sung in churches everywhere, but DreamLab gives them a beautiful touch.

    If you’ve been following my Annual Music Awards over the years, you know this is hardly my first album of popular worship songs put to electronic dance music.  In the 1990s, Nitro Praise released a whole series of albums that did just that, and on my 2007 list was e-Praise, a side project of Ultrabeat.  The e-Praise album was recorded quite a few years earlier, so the songs were already worn out by the time I got it.  With Worship Revolutions, I get more up-to-date songs (though some are still rather old, such as “Breathe” and “Here I Am To Worship”).

Not only are the songs more up-to-date, but also I like DreamLab’s general sound better than Nitro Praise, which leaned heavily on house music, or e-Praise, which though my style more than Nitro Praise, doesn’t hit my taste as closely as DreamLab does.

    With the combination of songs that I like--I like every one of the worship songs chosen here--and the sounds of DreamLab which are right down my line, it’s no surprise that this is the highest ranking dance music praise & worship album of the Annual Music Awards.

    At the right, you see the song list from this album, with songwriters and singers listed.  Some of the vocalists are rather well-known names in contemporary Christian music, such as Rachael Lampa and Tammy Trent, while most are lesser known, yet most of them have recorded either their own solo albums or have recorded as part of a group.  For example, Brandon Peffer, Ashley Jett, and Jeremy Noel are part of the group Palisade, but appear here individually; likewise with Ben Kolarcik of Across The Sky and Stephen Reter of Even Isaac.

    With most--if not all--of these artists, their own albums do not have the kind of music I like, but I like the vocals they do here.  For example, I really like Rachael Lampa’s voice, so I was delighted to see that she was a vocalist on one of the songs here (“Mighty To Save”).  By far, my favorite album of hers is Blur, which is her remix album, something done for her--or to her, she might think, since she has no interest in dance music.  Since I don’t like her own albums but I like her voice, her appearance on here gives me the best of both worlds--her voice with the electronic beat sounds that I love.

Rachael Lampa sings “Mighty To Save”

B. Reith sings “Majestic”

Lara Landon begins the album with “Breathe”

Krissy Nordhoff teams up with Brandon Peffer on “Revelation Song”

    The album opens with the second oldest song of the set, “Breathe,” but it gets the freshest re-interpretation.  At first, the track sounds like I would expect this song to be done electronically, but soon a minor key electronic riff develops that puts a new and strikingly beautiful twist to the song.  At 7:12, this clocks in as the longest song on the album, every second of it inviting.

    “Majestic” follows and contrasts with a sweet, lifting sound that fits the jubilant worship of this song: 

“The heavens declare Your praise, the oceans cry out to You, the mountains they bow down before You, so I join with the earth and I give my praise to You.”

    The tempo slows down for “Mighty To Save,” but the power remains.  The next song, “Revelation Song,” begins with the quietness that “Mighty To Save” leaves off with, but the chorus belts into a soaring vocal with full dance beat.  The following song, “Amazing Love,” is similar in structure.

    I don’t know how many versions of “Blessed Be Your Name” that I have--probably a dozen.  Fortunately, I like the song,

Jeremy Noel, Ashley Jett, and Brandon Peffer of Palisade

even though it got worn out by about 2006 as far as being sung in church goes.  As many versions as I have of the song, though, I think this is my only dance version, and certainly having it in this format brings this song back to life from its worn out state.  The lyrics in this song are powerful and valuable reminders to worship God in all situations; I really like the lyrics as well as the tune, so I’m glad to have a new version of the song.

    “Here I Am To Worship” is another worn out song from early in the ‘00s, and though it’s nice to have a new version, it’s not my first electronic version, as it is on

Tammy Trent is the vocalist  on “Hosanna”

the e-Praise album, so it’s not as refreshing of a remake as “Blessed Be Your Name” is for me.

    Several songs on here I was not familiar with when I got this album:  “Revelation Song,” ‘Hosanna,” and “You Amaze Me,” so it was nice to have three new tunes.

    A highlight for me on the album is that new-for-me song, “Hosanna,” sung by Tammy Trent.   It begins with a slow, gently crawling tempo that hints of something about ready to explode.  It continues this anticipation through a verse, a chorus, and another verse, and then finally lets loose as it hinted it would, with a full dance beat and powerful chorus, “Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!”  The bridge, though, is even more powerful, with such emotion that it often sends tingles down my spine.  I listen to this song more than any other song on the album.  It is majestic, glorious...a tremendous song for worshiping God.

    The album ends with something lyrically appropriate to end an album with, “Forever,” sung by Jeremy Noel of Palisade and Adrea LaRoche.

Adrea LaRoche teams up with Ben Kolarcik on “Here I Am To Worship” and with Jeremy Noel on “Forever”

“Forever God is faithful, forever God is strong, forever God is with us, forever...and ever!”

    One thing I want to mention about this album is that the songs are intermixed, so one song flows right into the next without interruption, giving it a very smooth flow, enabling non-stop worship...and non-stop dancing if you want to dance before the Lord with this.  As for a dance beat, it tends to be in just the choruses, which is a factor of the songs themselves--worship songs tend to have quiet verses with weaker melodies followed by loud, powerful choruses with strong melodies.  In order to keep the integrity of the songs, the verses tend to not have a dance beat.  However, the electronics are beautiful throughout, so you could say this is an “electronica” album rather than a dance album.

    As I mentioned before, I like every song on this album, and I like the sound of the album.  I imagine this will be my favorite praise & worship album for a long time.  I’m surprised it only made it to #4 on my list; I figured it would be #1 or at least #2 (hard to top Bon Voyage).  I guess I just wasn’t in the mood for praise & worship songs as much this year.  But when I am, this album is the one I grab far more than any other.

Click the Play button <<-  to hear “Breathe”