Review

I find Lindell Cooley's "Freedom" to be incredibly diverse. In his liner notes, Cooley confesses, "the retro influence is because I'm old". This listener's ears hear traces of the Staple Singers, Hall and Oates, Journey, Billy Preston, Lionel Ritchie, and that's just after the first four songs!

Believe me, at first I wasn't sure this diversity was going to work. This is not a fluid project, as styles collide, but it does have great songs. Lindell Cooley is a veteran at both worship leading, having spent over a decade leading Brownsville Assembly of God, as well as a recording artist with 15 albums under his belt. He knows what he is doing. These songs have radio written all over them. It's a small, tight knit band of guitar, bass, drum and Cooley on keys, backed up by his team of vocalists, all mixed together to come up with a big sound.

The strength of the album is in the songs. Up first is the old Joseph Pace classic "I Will Bless the Lord at All Times". Soulful strutting to the B3 Hammond, this is how Lindell gets his groove on. An electric guitar begins Delirious' "Rain Down", effectively going to the other end of the musical spectrum.

The gentle rocking of piano as it moves through an E - E/G# - A - B progression is how "There is a River" begins. This song is co-written by Cooley, as are four other of the 13 songs. With its simple, repeatable verse and chorus, this is an excellent song to work into a worship service. The instrumentation on the album is excellent, but it doesn't depend on that for its power.

One of my favorite songs is "Sing Hallelujah", with its 'bVI - bVII - i' minor progression. This song really rocks and after you think it's all over, it breaks it down into a funky refrain.

Whether it's taking a song, like "Sing Hallelujah", which someone else wrote, and giving it a fresh punch, or arranging his own songs, Lindell Cooley truly knows how to the heart of man and God. He has led some of the most dynamic worship services in the past, and is another that is called to be both worship leader and pastor. "Freedom" is Cooley's expression of all that's inside him, and we are the richer for it.

Review by: John Ausmus