Cons: A couple that I don’t quite connect with
The Bottom Line:
More encouragement
New music from Matthew West
Sure to please his fans
Go All In on Matthew West’s Newest CD
Over his last three releases, Matthew West has released
songs inspired by stories and e-mails he’s gotten from fans. Now that
this trio is over, he is returning to writing some songs based on his own
life. All In still provides
lots of songs with encouragement as well as the more personal songs.
The disc starts out with the title track. It actually
reminds me of Steven Curtis Chapman’s “Dive” as Matthew sings about going “All
In” in living for God. It’s a fun upbeat anthem to start things off.
We get a couple of tracks of encouragement next as Matthew
reminds us that God uses “Broken Things.” From there he sings that “Mercy
is a Song.” Both songs are great since they focus on the fact that God’s
mercy and grace are what makes us valuable to Him. It’s a reminder I need
more often. Plus they are both fun, mid-tempo tracks.
But for pure fun, it’s hard to top “Amen.” I’m sure
I’m getting strange looks at stop lights while listening to this song, but I
don’t care. You can’t listen to this song and not move.
Seriously. We are still talking about the grace of God here, and between
the lyrics and the upbeat music, you will be smiling, I guarantee it.
Several songs on this disc are taken directly from Matthew’s
personal life, and “The Sound of a Life Changing” is one of them. This
song talks about the call on his life he heard at a Steven Curtis Chapman
concert and how he hopes his music is now changing lives in the same way.
It really is a great song to remind us that you never know how God is using
you.
Unfortunately, some of the songs don’t work as well as they
could. In many cases, I want to like them, but they just don’t work for
me. One of these is “Jesus & You,” a tribute to his wife. It’s
probably because I’m single, but it just doesn’t connect with me. I do
connect a bit more with “Becoming Me,” a tribute to moms, but it’s still not
the strongest song on the disc. His daughter Lulu sings near the end of
the song, and she’s got a great voice. It’s the real highlight of the
song. (And no, this isn’t the only time
his kids appear on the disc.)
I really truly had to look at the lyrics to “Power Love
Sound Mind.” I love the idea behind it, taken from the scripture that say
God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear but of “Power Love Sound Mind.” He
speaks/sings the verses and the chorus is a hard rock driving song that fits
the reminder. At first, it felt like the chorus was making light of the
problems talked about in the first verse. Don’t get me wrong, God will
help you to overcome PTSD and anxiety and grief. It just feels a bit like
“if you have enough faith, you’ll get well” without trying to show God’s power
and love in these situations. However, looking at the second verse, which
talks about the choice of trusting God despite our circumstances helps put it
in perspective for me. Then there’s the
bridge, “The power that conquered death/Is now alive in me.” That also puts it in perspective. Of course, that fact that this was the theme
of my pastor’s sermon this week, also helped put it in perspective.
I was fully on board with “Dream Again” early on. It’s
a typical Matthew West encouragement track that reminds us God isn’t through
with our story just because bad things have happened in the past. Then we
got to the bridge, which is Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for
you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.”
As comforting as those words are, they are usually taken completely out of
context, and that’s what Matthew West has done here. However, the rest of the song? Absolutely amazing! And the fact that he quiets it down for the
final lines of the song is absolutely perfect.
I do like the rest of the song except for the bridge.
He does close things out on a strong note. “You Are
Know” reminds us that, even when we feel like we are being overlooked, God
still knows and loves us.
Stylistically, this fits well with Matthew’s other
releases. It’s got the up tempo pop/rock vibe that his fans, including
me, love.
There are 14 tracks here, so a couple of missteps don’t take
away from the disc overall. I always enjoy Matthew’s releases, and All In is no exception.
CD Length: 51:56
Tracks:
1. All In
2. Broken Things
3. Mercy is a Song
4. Amen
5. The Sound of a Life Changing
6. Something Greater
7. Jesus & You
8. The Beautiful Things We Miss
9. 1 Song
10. Power Love Sound Mind
11. Never Ever Give UP
12. Dream Again
13. Becoming Me
14. You Are Known
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