My #8 Album

of 2008

Released in 2007 on Hillsong Records

To next album

on 2008 awards

     I strongly associate this album with Saturday night church.  I got this album in 2008, and more than any other album, I listened to this one to and from church on Saturday nights in 2008 and even into 2009.  Conversely, I rarely listened to it at other times, thus the strong association with Saturday night church.  So when I put this album on now, it transports me into worship mode immediately. 

Hillsong London is a praise & worship group.  This album used the songs from their album Jesus Is, re-recorded the live vocals in the studio, and put all new music tracks to it.

To next album

on 2008 awards

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     The album begins with a smooth, rolling beat...it’s a chill kind of sound, even though the beat is rather fast.  I guess it’s this evening sound that has made it my album of choice for evening worship.

     Dance music has been my favorite music of late, but within dance music I strongly prefer electronic beat, high energy, trance kinds of sounds.  This album is dance music, but with quite different styles from what I’m used to.  I don’t even know how to describe the styles.

    The second song starts with a kind of funky electronic sound, but the chorus--”All I need is You”-- is smooth and flowing, keeping with the chill-sound of the opening track.  The third song, “Let The Whole World” begins with a sound that reminds me of the rubbery electronic sound popular in American pop music around 1984-85.  But once again, once it gets to the chorus, I tend to forget about that sound and again feel the chill groove.

     The fifth song also begins with an electronic sound that sounds very mid-80s, and this one keeps up with an 80s sound throughout the song, being less chill and more pop, yet with a definite danceable beat.  The sixth song starts with a kind of vocorder male rap line, but then goes into a smooth female vocal.  This song kind of shifts back and forth between the funky rap part and the flowing chill singing.

     After track six, the album loses the funky bits and the 80s throwbacks and goes into an entirely chill mood.  The seventh song is in the same vein as the album’s opener, with a rather fast beat over a chill sound.  For the last minute of this 7-minute track, the beat disappears and there is some ambient electronics as the song blends into the one that follows, which is my favorite on the album, “Above All.”  After another minute of the ambient electronics, a slower but more definitive dance beat begins, making what is for me the perfect dance track.  After some gentle singing by the female vocalist, some trance-like electronics begin, and then she breaks into this beautiful chorus, “Our God reigns, our God reigns!”  This is the climax of the whole album for me.  So beautiful!!!

     The ninth song, “The Greatest Gift,” is slightly faster than the previous one, this one with a male vocal and without the beautiful trance electronics of the previous song.  However, it is still a pretty song and very much in the same chill groove as the previous two songs.  Toward the end of the song, there is a strong presence of strings in the chorus with dance beat, then the song closes without a beat, with the vocal and strings only.  “Mercy’s pouring down on me....”

     For the last three songs, the album takes on a different mood.  These final songs are all instrumental, with orchestra as the focus.  The first of the group is “How Great Is Our God,” the popular song by Chris Tomlin.  It starts with a slow chill beat and some background narration, a bit of Gregorian chant thrown in the background, and then the beat stops and the song becomes entirely orchestral, eventually building to a grand symphonic chorus. 

     The final two songs are completely orchestral and sound to me more like movie music scores...much more background music than foreground music.

     It took me awhile to really latch on to this album since the dance styles were different than I am accustomed to, but once I got used to them, I was hooked.  No other dance album in my collection sounds quite like this, giving it a unique spot that brings me back to the album again and again.  It’s the album for evening worship times, for chill grooves with great lyrics that help me connect with God.  I am certain it will be one to stand the test of time.

<<- Click on the button to hear “Above All,” the song on the album that is my style of music more than any of the others.