Album Review - Faith+Hope+Love - Hillsong (Joint Style)

I was asked last week to be a guest contributor to the awesomeness of The Joint. That's a collaberative album review for those of you not in-the-know. The Joint reviews follow a standard format, so here's mine. Links to the others will be underneath.

Synopsis:

Disclosure: I listen to, and play, a lot of Hillsong music. Hardly a week goes by in our church that there’s not a Hillsong tune somewhere in the setlist. There’s so many of them! And while I listen to both live and studio albums, my preference (and Hillsong’s strength) is the live worship CD.

Faith+Hope+Love is right in Hillsong’s wheelhouse. This has everything one could want in a live worship album: intimate moments, worship anthems, and musical themeatic consistancy. You can put this in an feel like you are at a worship service, even though it was recorded at three different venues. What’s more, this album combines the talents of Hillsong’s main worship band with the youth band Hillsong United. So you wind up with the talents of “mates” like Joel Houston, J.D., Darlene Zchech, Reuben Morgan, Brooke Fraiser, Mia Fields, and Nigel Hendroff all on one record. It’s like a Hillsong All-Star game.

Bottom Line:

That said, there’s only a few songs that seriously “pop” out for me personally, but the record is consistantly good throughout, and has several songs easily converted to congregational worship. And there is enough musical variety here to please a great many people, and a great many worship moods. This album certainly keeps the bar high when it comes to live worship albums, and should be in anyone’s collection.

Rating: Four out of Five Stars

Must Haves:

“God One and Only.” – I’ll admit to being a bit of a United junkie, and this is the kind of worship anthem I like. “I Will Exalt You” – Two words: Brooke Fraiser. “Yahweh” – I’m a sucker for Reuben Morgan worship anthems, and this is a good one.

In Church:

As stated, we are very used to doing Hillsong and United songs, so some of these will be easy for us. “God One and Only” for sure. “Yahweh,” “Glow” stand out for me, but almost anything on the record will work in a worship setting.

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On Klampert.com by Joel Klampert:

3 words folks! Brooke Fraser Ligertwood. Seriously can she write a bad song? I swear I would listen to her sing menus at Dennys.While I came listening to this CD a tad worried I was so surprised that while I am sick of the Hillsong sound this CD was awesome. Pulled me right into worship and got me centered on Christ. Rueben Morgan, Brooke, and Joel are brilliant and they shine on this CD.This CD has a wall of sound kind of feel that makes you feel like you are right there worshiping with them. [Read more]

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On Worship City by Conner Byrd:

For fans of Hillsong United but wanting more congregationally friendly worship for “big church” this is such a solid release! Get you some! It’s got something for everyone and a great flow for a worship CD! [Read more]

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On Live to Worship by Alistair Vance

Have Hillsong hit the end of the road? [Read More]