Review

Aaron Shust is the 2007 Dove award winner for Best New Artist and Song of the Year. But, in an even more astute judgment by that organization, Aaron Shust is Dove's Songwriter of the Year.

Aaron doesn't have any throwaway lyrics. After I listened to his songs several times, I took out the booklet that came with the CD. Reading it, I found stories for each of the songs, as well as the lyrics. It's always good to give the lyrics. Otherwise, people are left wondering what is being sung. If the song is a trite little pop song then there's not too much danger in the general populace going around creating the hooks and lines that are part of each song, but which they cannot distinguish.

When the song contains Christian theology, well, that's a whole different matter, isn't it? I think, in this arena, it's really important that people know what you're singing about. So, thank you for the lyrics, and the stories, Aaron.

As I said, Aaron doesn't have any cheap lines. They're all meaty and full of intent. They're also full of the God's Word. Take, for example, "Like I Never Felt Before". It's straight out of Hebrews 12. A great cloud of witnesses becomes "all the athletes from days gone by". The song begins "Been training all this time, I'm at the starting line. A marathon I'm gonna have to run in such a way as if to win the prize. And I believe, even though I can't see, all the athletes from days gone by are in the stadium surrounding me".

That's a snippet of one of 12 songs that are all like that. 12 songs that say, over and over, who God is, and what He's done, and what the author feels about it all. And crafted in a way that the listener can relate to.

Want more? "Calloused and bruised, dazed and confused, my spirit is left wanting something more than my selfish hopes and my selfish dreams. I'm lying with my face down on the floor. I'm crying out for more". Can you see yourself in this one? What hope do we have, apart from hope in God, that isn't totally self -serving. Most readers would nod their heads and ascent to that. I know I would. But the truth of the matter is that we all give way too much of our day over to our own hopes and dreams. And for a singer to own that, say that he recognizes his own sin, utterly destroyed by the consequence of it, to the point of being humbled and laid out on the floor, it helps all of us claim it in our own lives, as well.

Not every song on this album will be an easy fit for the Sunday morning worship service. Most of these songs will serve you well as private devotional songs. One, though, that is beautiful for corporate worship is "The Name of Jesus". It's easy to sing, poignantly valid with a fresh arrangement.

Shust has a great song sung from God to us, although it's not a prophetic song. "Runaway" shows the Father's love for us in all that He's done to win us. "I would leave my world behind, give up everything that's mine if I could know you".

I could go on and on. As I first listened to this album, I wouldn't say that I was overwhelmed by it. I was looking for that one big song that made my heart sing, and I didn't find it in there. But something happened when I got to know Aaron Shust through his writing. He's a man of integrity. You find these guys in every walk of life, the plumber, the high school teacher, the auto mechanic. But this guy happens to play and sing, and write. You can tell that he goes over his songs with a fine tooth comp, making sure every word is exactly what he wants to say. And I admire that.

The musicianship does not pale by comparison, either. In the same way that he works his lyrics, Shust also makes some excellent choices with his instrumentation. He reminds me of Chris Falson, in that he doesn't have sameness from song to song. He even brings in horns! Well produced and executed.

I didn't know anything about Aaron Shust before I put this CD on, but I have found a man who is passionate and forthright about Jesus, and who writes and sings and plays about it very well.

Review John Ausmus