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Waterdeep Waterdeep, beloved jam-band of the college crowd, has a new worship album out. Reminiscent of the days of Petra Praise, with You are So Good to Me we've now got Waterdeep Worship. I was skeptical. After all, hadn't Waterdeep always been about worship? If it wasn't Waterdeep I'd almost think it was a marketing ploy. 'You are So Good to Me,' the opening track, starts with a soft acoustic guitar and swells into a rolling, sing-along chorus. Music is the metaphor for God's beauty: "You are beautiful my sweet, sweet song," and later, "you are my strong melody, you are my dancing rhythm. . ." It's a good song, and a "real" worship tune from what I hear--what with being sung in churches and all. Unfortunately, the next several songs don't move much beyond this. It's almost formulaic: start with a soft guitar intro, build to an energetic, sing-along chorus, and bam!--you've got a worship song. It isn't until 'Rest In You,' with its quirky electric guitar and keyboard combo, that things really start going right. More complex both in lyrical and musical structure, it's one of the standout songs on the disc. 'You Are Lovely,' the first radio single, features Fernando Ortega on guest vocals. Don Chaffer picks up cello for a strong duet with Ortega on verse two. Opening and closing with the line, "Lord when you lift your voice it's like no other voice I know," it's a song tailored to the Adult Contemporary/Inspirational crowd. Following is the haunting 'When the Cold Wind Blows all Around.' Soft guitars mix with Lori Chaffer's voice, asking, "When the cold wind blows all around, will you still love me?" Enter the electric guitar. 'Those Who Trust' opens with a catchy guitar riff and a jam-band feel. Travis Brockway, Waterdeep's new bassist, plays a key role grounding the song musically. It's classic Waterdeep, circa To Chase Away the Birds. Towards the end of the album, with songs like 'Big Enough to Hold Me' and 'You Are With Me,' Waterdeep shows that they really do know how to craft a worship song without making it sound like all the others. I'm still not sure what to make of Waterdeep Worship, or how exactly this CD differs from other "ordinary" Christian CD's, but after listening to it I'm not sure I really care to figure it out. A strong disc from a strong band, if they want to call it a worship CD, that's fine by me. (Jeremy K.) |
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