Carstairs Considers....: Music Review: Worship by Michael W. Smith

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Music Review: Worship by Michael W. Smith

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Everything comes together to lead us in worship.

Cons: "Let it Rain" way too long and repetitive

The Bottom Line:

In modern worship

This is a classic release

Go buy it today

Michael W. Smith Leads Us in Amazing Worship

When the worship movement took off about 10 years ago, many established artists jumped on the band wagon by releasing worship oriented projects of their own. When Michael W. Smith announced the plans to release Worship, I figured it was another in the already long line. Being a Michael W. Smith fan, I had planned to get it when it came out. But then it started getting amazing reviews. Sure enough, they were all well deserved.

Instead of Michael doing standard studio covers of popular praise songs, he recorded this at a live concert. While he occasionally solos, he often invites the people who attended that night to sing along.

And Michael is backed by an all star choir. And I do mean all star. The choir consists of the likes of Shaun Groves, Ginny Owens, and Chris Rice from his own record label; Greg Long; Wes King; Cindy Morgan; Erin O'Donnell; Mark Shultz; Phillips, Craig, & Dean; and Amy Grant. As anyone who follows Christian music knows, that's quite an impressive line up of talent. Yet they never take over the show. Very few of these people actually have solos. In fact, if you didn't read the credits, you'd never know they were there.

While this may have been a live recording, the music is lush and wonderful as well. It almost all consists of the standard worship instruments of piano, keyboard, drums, guitar, and bass with a violin and viola jumping in occasionally.

And speaking of jumping in, while Michael does talk occasionally, it is never for long and always appropriate. The audience does often applaud between songs. But there is nothing here that will jar you as you listen to this disc.

So, what about the songs? Again, the selection is perfect. Some of the songs are praise choruses that were hot off the press at the time, while others go back 15 years of so. Since the disc was released in 2001, even the "newer" songs are now dated. But the lyrics are all still wonderful.

The disc opens with a couple of songs that are still favorites. "Forever" is an upbeat song taken right from Psalms. It's a great opener to catch our ear right off the bat. And I love the reminder of God's faithfulness. Things slow down for "The Heart of Worship," yet it's nice to have that at the beginning as well as the song reminds us that worship is about more then singing a song - it's about our actions and ultimately about God.

The violin first comes out on "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus." It plays the song through a couple times as a solo before every sings the familiar chorus. It's beautiful.

Things pick up again for "Open the Eyes of My Heart," a song of pure praise, but slow down again for "Above All." I hadn't heard this song too much before I bought the disc, but I love it now. It's a song that glorifies Jesus and gives Him the honor He is due for His sacrifice for us. The viola comes in on the second time through the song.

The viola has a solo on the bridge between "Above All" and "Breathe." The transition is almost a minute long and worth every second. I had just begun to really hear "Breathe" at the time I got the disc, but I love the song of pure reliance upon God.

Then comes "Let It Rain." This is the only track I don't care for on the disc. It's over five and a half minutes of Michael, then the choir, then everyone singing "Let it rain/Let it rain/Open the floodgates of Heaven." Yes, those are the only lyrics of the song. I'm not a fan of songs that get repeated over and over again, especially if they have very few lyrics. Part way through, Darren Whitehead reads from Psalm 97, but it's not enough to save the track in my opinion.

Ironically enough, I don't have that problem with "Awesome God." In the three minutes they spend repeating the chorus of the Rich Mullins classic, they easily could have sung the entire song. Yet I love the song so much I honestly don't care.

And Michael W. Smith includes a new version of his classic praise song "Agnus Dei." He originally recorded it on his 1990 release Go West, Young Man. It was later covered by Third Day on the Exodus CD and Amy Grant on her third Christmas CD. This version opens with the viola again. Once the choir starts singing, it's piano and guitar heavy, however. It's a very mellow version that really allows you to focus on the simple words giving God praise.

All told, there are 11 tracks that make up the live portion of the disc. But we aren't done yet. It actually concludes with two studio recordings. One of them is a studio version of "Above All." The second is an all new song, "Purified," co-written by Michael and his wife Debbie. It's a prayer to worship God in His holiness. Both of these tracks are still focuses on piano, guitar, and drums, making them fit perfectly with the rest of the disc.

Even all these years after its first release, Worship is still able to make my spirit soar in worship. Michael W. Smith deserves a lot of credit for all the time he put into making sure this disc does exactly what it sets out to do.

CD Length: 1:07:27

Tracks:

1. Forever

2. The Heart of Worship

3. Draw Me Close

4. Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

5. Open the Eyes of My Heart

6. Above All

7. Breathe

8. Let it Rain

9. Agnus Dei

10. Awesome God