Album Reviewed: see the morning

Almost any artist, secular or Christian, death metal or worship, reach a peak in their creative/musical journies. For most artists, its typically around the 2nd or 3rd album. An impressive first record gets an artist noticed, but most often the follow up, or third album, is their best effort. The band/artist has matured and developed "their sound" from the first try. They still have the "fresh" factor that older, more experienced groups don't have; after a while, coming up with truly original ideas that don't copy off of ones previous efforts must be difficult.

Once an artist has peaked, most of them recede again to more mediocre songwriting. Only a handful of all-time great artists can claim a continuing history of superb music and songwriting. Even U2, widely considered (including your humble blogger) the greatest of all modern rock groups, are on the downside of their career. They haven't released an album in a decade that could match the amazing production from the 80's.

And so we come to Chris Tomlin. I assumed that Mr. Tomlin's album "Arriving" was his peak as a songwriter; the songs were so good, the consistency and level of writing so high, that I doubted it could be matched in any follow-ups.

Then I heard "See the Morning". And I realized that if you have a gift from God, and an annointing from the Spirit to craft songs of worship and praise, than you could conceivably pen glorious songs for the indefinite future (David wrote over 100 Psalms, right?). Chris Tomlin, clearly, has that gift.

Musically, the album delivers a serious rock influx from your typical worship session. Most songs are kickstarted with an electric guitar riff, and barely a song passes without a crescendo of drums. Lyrically, See the Morning follows in the footsteps of Arriving. These are songs to God, about God. The theme of God's glory, grandeur, greatness (and any other g-words you can think of) emerges as a unified whole of praise to Him. This is not Matt Redman searching his soul or Robin Mark transporting scripture into songs about God in our life. Tomlin writes songs about God and centered around His glory.

I'm probably doing a poor job of desribing that subtle difference; after all, worship is, by definition, to glorify something. But different worship styles work for different times/services/churches/people. For example, I recently heard an album from Covenant Life Church (head pastor: Josh "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" Harris). Without exception, each song described man's fallen state, God's grace, and how thankful we are to Him. An excellent theme, to be sure; this is clearly the primary theological basis for the church. Tomlin focuses on the faithfulness and glory of God, which for most people, is the easiest theme to really "enter into".

To steal from the liner notes,

"See the morning...Our God is as faithful as the rising sun. The morning is a place of hope, a place of worship...I pray that these songs help you "see the morning". If you find yourself in the dark night of hardship, grief, or circumstance, know that the morning is coming. And if you find yourself in the best of times, praise God for the morning! Can you see it? Jesus is the Light of the World, the Birght and Morning Star! Let God arise!"

Wow. On to the highlights:

• Track 3, Let God Arise. Each fun but mostly forgettable verse leads to a pre-chorus with my all-time favorite musical effect: the slowly increasing build up of crashing drums, leading into a wall of sound for the glorious chorus. If the bridge, "Our God is, a God who, Saves" repeated four times over the grandest pounding drum build-up imaginable, doesn't get you absolutely fired up with Praise... well, thats a shame.
• Track 5, Glory in the Highest. The first "worship" as opposed to "praise" song on the album (my distinction lies purely in the tempo: fast=praise, worship=slow. easy!). A beautiful piano intro/verses, nice light chorus...and than at around 2:00, the song transitions using the seemingly omnipresent drum build-up to .... majesty. Just an incredible wall of pounding drums, guitar, and vocals screaming "Glory in the Highest", and heaven in my mind sounds just like that. Worth buying the CD for that moment alone.
• Track 6, Awesome is the Lord Most High and Track 7, Glorious. Both previously released on the last Passion CD, and both congregational songs of praise that will surely be sung nationwide.
• Track 9, Rejoice. Understanding the mercy, love, and grace of God should lead to one emotion on our part: joy. We rejoice because of who God is.
  
• Track 11, Amazing Grace. Yes, that Amazing Grace. An amazing song, but also played amazingly often, and sometimes I tune the song out because of over-familiarity (not a good trait, on my part). But Tomlin adds in a wonderful new chorus based on John Newton's story: he was a former slave trader before being rescued by God. So Tomlin's new chorus starts with "My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God my savior, has rescued me". A beautiful end to the album.

God's blessing is all over this album. For the second CD in a row, almost every song feels crafted and imbedded with true, passionate worship of our God. I can't recommend this highly enough.

Finally, here's a quick video of "Glory In The Highest" to get you excited until you can buy See The Morning: