Review

In the world of modern Christian worship music the Passion organization is pretty well known, and even those who are not familiar with the organization itself are probably familiar with the worship leaders who are affiliated with it. Worship artists such as Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Charlie Hall and David Crowder have been gracing us year after year, album after album, with collections of largely useable and always listenable worship songs through the Passion CDs.

This time around, on their new CD "Everything Glorious", the gang at Passion hasn't wandered far from the formula that has made the previous albums so successful - a few songs from Tomlin and Hall, a little bit less of Redman and Crowder, and finally a smattering of single songs from one or two other artists. Not that the formula is necessarily a bad thing, it's just that the album pretty much plays out like the last three or four CDs from Passion. But who says that every new worship CD needs to be groundbreaking and have a huge "wow" factor? After all, the winged creatures mentioned in the book of Revelation are singing "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." over and over - for eternity! When you think about it, that eternal worship service doesn't exactly speak for the need of a constant stream of "groundbreaking material."

A close examination of the individual songs on "Everything Glorious" does reveal that the disc is not a repeat of the past, but rather a fresh and rich trove of worship music. The songs are deep and moving, and for the most part useable in a congregational setting. Listeners will recognize most of Charlie Hall's and David Crowder's songs from their recent albums, while fans of Chris Tomlin will likely be excited to hear new songs that are presumably glimpses into his next solo project.

"Everything Glorious" may not blow you away, but who cares? All most of us want out of a worship CD is authentic, relevant expressions of worship, and once again Passion delivers the goods.

Review By Jeremy Dunn