Timeless Truths in Fresh Arrangements
2022 marks the 25th anniversary for the musical group Selah, and they are celebrating with a couple of different projects. The first of these is Greatest Hymns Volume 3, and all fans of this trio will be thrilled with it.
This is actually the first of Selah’s Greatest Hymns releases that I’ve bought. That’s because the first two were greatest hits releases. Yes, the tracks were all hymns, but they were arrangements that Selah had previous released. That’s not the case here. All 13 tracks are hymns that Selah hasn’t recorded before.
Any fan of the trio will know what to expect here, and they won’t be disappointed. We get arrangements that are simple yet beautiful. The harmonies are fantastic. Typically, we get piano and strings with some other instruments brought in as needed. There is nothing flashy or groundbreaking here. But that’s what makes these arrangements so great. While being beautiful to listen to, we get to reflect on the timeless truths captured by these lyrics over the centuries.
The disc starts out with a medley of “For the Beauty of the Earth” and “This is My Father’s World.” Thematically, the songs go together perfectly. Ironically, I’ve never much cared for the first song, but “This is My Father’s World” is a hymn I just love. Fortunately, that is the hymn that gets the majority of the time here. This is a song with strings in addition to piano, and the result is beautiful.
Fanny Crosby’s “Blessed Assurance” comes next. It’s a simple arrangement with just piano, but the harmonies are gorgeous.
We get a couple of tracks that brings in Gospel influences, and “Put Your Hand in the Hand” is the first of these. I feel like I should know this hymn, but it doesn’t seem familiar. We have quite a bit of fun and more instruments on this one. They return to the Gospel feel with the disc closer, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” I was only familiar with the chorus of this one, and it’s fun to get more of it.
“Precious Memories” is a hymn I’m totally unfamiliar with. It is a beautiful, contemplative piece, but I’m struggling to connect with it, most likely because I didn’t already know it. I feel the same way with “Stand By Me,” which comes later in the disc.
We get some modern hymns with the “Twila Paris Medley.” Since I’m a fan of Twila’s music, I really like this collection. Okay, so I would have considered them more praise choruses, but that’s just semantics. They’ve picked some true classics here, and I like how they combined them.
When I saw “Praise the Lord” on the track list, my immediate thought was The Imperials’ classic. That is indeed the song we get here. I’m not sure how I feel about it being considered a hymn, probably because I’ve never sung it in church or really heard it talked about in that way before. Having said that, I absolutely love the song, and the arrangement here is fantastic, so I’m not really complaining about it being included.
I was mostly familiar with the chorus if “Oh, How I Love Jesus,” but I know I’ve sung some verses over the years. I am really glad to get it here. “Rock of Ages” is another favorite of mine, so it was nice to see Selah tackle it and add a new chorus to it. I’ve really grown to appreciate “The Love of God” over the years, and I like their version as well. And “What Wondrous Love is This” is properly dramatic. It sounds great.
As much as I love the individual tracks, it could have used a little more variety stylistically. I know, I’m being picky. The songs really do sound fantastic. I just know that Selah has more range than they are showing here. But truly, this is a minor complaint. And at almost an hour of music, there is plenty here to love.
Overall, this is a release that Selah’s fans will be happy
to add to their collection. So if that
is you, or you enjoy classic hymns in general, be sure to check out Greatest Hymns, Volume 3.
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