1 To Our God
2 Our Father
3 Everything To You (Spontaneous)
4 This Is Amazing Grace
5 You Have Won Me
6 I Really Love You (Spontaneous)
7 Who You Are
8 Forgiven
9 In Your Light
10 Freedom
11 Closer
12 This Is What You Do
13 For The Sake Of The World
Based at Bethel Church in Redding, California, the Bethel worship movement released their latest CD/DVD 'The Loft Sessions' in January and previously released 'Be Lifted High' in 2011.
Bethel Music is also home to worship leaders including Kim Walker-Smith, Chris Quilala and Jeremy Riddle in addition to the Jesus Culture music group and hosts the Jesus Culture Encounter Conferences.
Now they are back with a new live album titled 'For The Sake Of The World'. Produced by Brian Johnson, Ian McIntosh and Jeffrey Kunde, the album also features Chris Quilala on drums; Brian Johnson and Kunde on Acoustic Guitar; Mike Pope and Kunde... Read More Based at Bethel Church in Redding, California, the Bethel worship movement released their latest CD/DVD 'The Loft Sessions' in January and previously released 'Be Lifted High' in 2011.
Bethel Music is also home to worship leaders including Kim Walker-Smith, Chris Quilala and Jeremy Riddle in addition to the Jesus Culture music group and hosts the Jesus Culture Encounter Conferences.
Now they are back with a new live album titled 'For The Sake Of The World'. Produced by Brian Johnson, Ian McIntosh and Jeffrey Kunde, the album also features Chris Quilala on drums; Brian Johnson and Kunde on Acoustic Guitar; Mike Pope and Kunde on Electric Guitar; Brandon Aaronson and Mackenzie on bass; McIntosh on Keys; and additional percussion, violin, cello, lap steel and background vocalists.
To Our God is a strange start, it opens up with a very slow beat and quiet reflective chords and similarly quiet strings. But once we get to the later part of the song, it bursts into a wonderful crescendo of praise to God, with the band singing the wonderful lines "It is great, Glorious, Glorious, Shout His Name, Glorious, Glorious". You can't help but want to join in the worship.
With a slower beat and a tone of music that could easily be mistake for an Arcade Fire track, the second song opens with the Lord's Prayer "Our Father In Heaven, hallowed be Your name". As with the first track, the song builds and builds into a wall of noise that drags you into a spirit of worship.
The more I listen to this album the more I feel that it is a simple, yet powerful, heart-cry. The album seems to stay away from the fast paced drums and rock guitars that have become well used over the last ten years on worship albums. Instead this album has tended to lean towards the more atmospheric sound, with a raw outpouring of worship to God in these thirteen new songs.
Tracks like This is Amazing Grace looks at the theme of Grace, as you would expect from the title. But it looks at what that Grace has done for us. I love the lines "You would lay down your life, that I will be set free... Jesus all that you have done for me, done for me." With some great vocals, this is a brilliant worship song.
The tempo is lifted in 'You Have Won Me' with some nifty guitar work. But it still doesn't fall into that punk rock worship category. The song gradually builds throughout with some nice guitar tones that keep the sound of the album moving forward. There a few 'Spontaneous' moments from the live event on this album, with the track I Really Love You being a moment on the album that just lets the music and the words wash over you like a river of God's Holy Spirit.
The quiet, reflective 'Who You Are' once again makes use of some lovely orchestral synth sounds which add a tense atmospheric feel to the song. Another new song for me is 'Forgiven' with its steady tempo and simple chorus "I am forgiven, at the foot of the cross, I am excepted by the power of your love, my every mistake is washed. I am Forgiven". It's sure to be a new favourite among worship leaders.
In Your Light is the happy song of the album, it has taken nine tracks to get there, but this is a song about the gladness of God's love, and is one of the more upbeat numbers on the album. The dancing songs seem to come at the latter part of the album with the track Freedom being another one with a catchy chorus. "I'm Free, I'm Free, to dance and sing. I'm Free, I'm Free to worship you", brilliant stuff.
It strange to say this, but the album leaves the biggest anthem right till the end. Title track 'For The Sake of The World' is a song all about us being a light, not for us as Christians but, as the title says, for the sake of the world. We love God, we show God's love, for the sake of every person in this hurting world. A truly epic end to a truly epic album.
This album for me lets the worshipper be washed anew with the love of God by the reflective music that at times keeps a low key but then at other times builds it into a wall of praise. I found myself just lost in worship and actually forgetting I was writing a review! If an album can grasp me like that, and stop me in my tracks, then it must be a good one. So get this album, worship God, and then go out and change the world.
Review by Jono Davies
LTTM Rating 5 Out of 5 Stars Standout Tracks To Our God
For The Sake of The Earth
This Is Amazing Grace
The new live full-length CD/DVD from Bethel Music, titled 'For The Sake Of The World' was released this week and currently sits at number 42 on the iTunes UK main album chart. Recorded live at Bethel Church (Redding, California)…
The new live album from Bethel Music will be titled 'For The Sake Of The World' and released on 1st October 2012. The California based worship ministry, who are currently in the middle of their first ever UK tour, recorded the…
