Music Review: Awesome God - A Tribute to Rich Mullins by Various Artists

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Classic songs get enough of a tweak to make them sound fresh.

Cons: Rich wasn't around to hear them.

The Bottom Line:

Great artist's tribute

By many talented friends

Great songs remade here

Celebrating Rich

Rich Mullins was an extremely well loved Christian musician. Unfortunately, he was killed in an auto accident back in 1997. As a way to deal with their grief and celebrate his musical legacy, several of his friends in the Christian music community came together a year later and released Awesome God as a tribute. While there are a couple missteps, it is a wonderful project.

The disc opens with Michael W. Smith doing the title track. Since this is probably Rich's best known song, it's obvious why it is included. And Michael does an excellent job with it. Not surprising (since Michael is a piano player), the track starts out with a quiet piano version of the famous chorus. This leads into Michael singing the first verse quietly by himself. In fact, he leaves out the echoes of "Our God is an Awesome God" in the first verse. The song doesn't really build until the second time the chorus is sung. But crescendo it does. While Rich's version will always be the definitive, this one is right behind it in my book.

And that's the thing about this disc. Most of the songs are absolutely classic on their own. And the artists covering them know it. Yes, they make the songs their own. But they don't do mess with what we already love. It probably does help that Rich's long time producer Reed Arvin had a hand in this release as well.

Several of my favorites make the disc. "Verge of a Miracle" is covered by Billy Crockett. And if you are asking who that is, well, so am I. But I'll tell you this, he does a great job. He slows the song down slightly, which makes it even more emotional, tender, and immediate.

From reading the list, I knew there was one perfect match on this CD. Chris Rice chose to cover "Calling Out Your Name," and it couldn't be any better. Chris gives it his folk/pop treatment. Yes, it is missing the hammer dulcimer that makes the original so memorable, but I find I don't miss it. Chris's guitar playing more then makes up for it.

At the time this disc came out, I wasn't a Jars of Clay fan. (Don't worry, I've since seen the error of my ways.) Even so, I liked their version of "If I Stand." Now, I love it even more. It's softer then their normal rock sound, but it is still unmistakably Jars rock, especially on the choruses.

When I first bought this CD, I was still unsure just how much I liked Rich's music myself. There were some songs I knew I loved. But Rich's music could often be hard to understand. A perfect example of that is "Jacob and 2 Women" (also known as "The World as Best as I Remember It"). Even after listening to this song for 15 years, I still don't know what it is about. Yes, part of it is definitely about Jacob, Leah, and Rachel from Genesis. Yet part of is seems to be a modern story of some sort. I gave up trying to understand it years ago. But I love it. And you know why? It makes me smile. Folk singer Carolyn Arends gives it an acoustic makeover here with simple guitar and strings. And I love it just as much as the original.

I mentioned a couple missteps in the first paragraph. They are enough to take off one star, even with as much as I love the majority of the tracks. Conveniently, they are all right together. Billy Sprague and Kevin Max chose to cover a couple lesser known songs from his first CD. Frankly, I'm not a big fan of "A Place to Stand" and especially "Save Me." These versions are certainly fine. Even Kevin's almost rock take on "Save Me" works. But they also don't do anything to make me rethink my opinion on the songs.

The one version that doesn't work for me at all is Ashley Cleveland's "I See You," which is a shame because I normally love that song. It's mostly a stylistic preference. I'm not a fan of the female rockers who growl out their lyrics, and Ashley comes from that school of music. She also really slows down the song, so it feels like it is crawling along.

The group Caedmon's Call was just starting at the time and had work closely with Rich, so it is appropriate that they close out the disc. They end with a live version of "Step by Step." It's not fancy or original, but listening to all those voices sing together is very moving.

Speaking of moving, each artist writes a brief (most are only a paragraph or two) about what Rich's life and music has meant to them. Since these were some of his friends, it makes for emotional reading. It still chokes me up 10 years later.

Rich Mullins truly was a gifted poet and musician. Awesome God is a great way for his many fans to celebrate his legacy with several of his professional friends.

CD Length: 48:27

Tracks:

1. Awesome God - Michael W. Smith

2. Jacob and 2 Women - Carolyn Arends

3. Verge of a Miracle - Billy Crockett

4. Hold Me Jesus - Amy Grant

5. Calling Out Your Name - Chris Rice

6. Elijah - Gary Chapman

7. If I Stand - Jars of Clay

8. A Place to Stand - Billy Sprague

9. Save Me - Kevin Max

10. I See You - Ashley Cleveland

11. Step by Step - Caedmon's Call