Review

I have a system. It starts when I get a box of CDs in the mail for review. I open the box, pull out the discs, and begin stripping away the cellophane. I look at the packaging, glance over the lyric sheet and production notes to see who was involved in the project, discover what the general sense the project appears to be. Usually, I will select one or two of the CDs to listen to in the car on my way to work in the morning. This way I can get a head start on things, jot down my first impressions on a post-it-note at the many stop lights along the way, and decide if I need to listen to this one a second time or not.

It’s NOT part of the plan to eject the disc in the parking lot at work and carry it upstairs to my office where I insert it in my CD-Rom drive and continue listening throughout the rest of the day. It’s NOT part of the plan to carry it back down to the car on the way home at the end of the day and repeat the same track over and over again because it’s just SO GOOD. What is also NOT supposed to happen is that I end up listening to the same CD over and over again to the neglect of the others in the stack. But, as you might have guessed, that is EXACTLY what happened to me when I placed the David Crowder Band CD in my car.

From the opening chords of “I Need Words” to the final chorus of Matt Redman’s “Undignified”, this CD took hold of me and wouldn’t let go. I’ll confess that the single track that sold it for me was “Thank You For Hearing Me”, a song that, in its simplicity, is one of the most powerful songs I’ve heard in a long time. In truth, this is the song that I couldn’t hear enough of, or sing enough times, or crank loud enough in my car while tears rolled down my cheeks. Perhaps even more shocking, is the fact that this single song, delicate, humble and yet powerfully worshipful, was penned by none other than Sinead O’Connor.

Now, I will be the first to admit that I know next to nothing about Ms. O’Conner or her profession of faith in Christ Jesus. But, if she could write a song that simply says, “Thank you for loving me/ Thank you for finding me/ Thank you for hearing me/ Thank you for healing me/ Thank you for loving me/ Thank you for saving me/ My Jesus I love thee/ I know thou art mine,” then I would venture to say that, if she hasn’t yet surrendered her life to Christ, this is certainly a step in the right direction. In fact, in some ways, it’s knowing that this song was formed in the heart of someone to whom many of us would label as “secular” that makes it all the more powerful and moving.

Of course, the gentlemen in the David Crowder Band are fine songwriters in their own right, or this review would end here. (No, we’re not done just yet) Songs like “I Need Words” express the awe and wonder of God’s power, grace and mercy in a way that is not easily forgotten. “I need words/ As wide as sky/ I need language/ Large as this longing inside/ And I need a voice/ Bigger than mine/ And I need a song to sing you/ That we’ve yet to find” sings Crowder with a conviction in his voice that is resolute and undeniable. While on the outside a song like “God Of Wrath” might seem a strange title for a worship song, Crowder and company paint a collage of God’s amazing qualities on a canvas of electric sound, concluding with the verse, “Blood through my veins for you/ I give my world to you/ All I am and all I have I lay it down for you/ Dancing ‘round with you/ Spinning ‘round with you/ Laughing loud with you, my love…”

Stylistically, David Crowder Band’s “Can You Hear Us?” falls somewhere between Delirious’ “King Of Fools” and Matt Redman’s “The Heart of Worship”, even going so far as to feature cover songs from both of these songwriters, but I would recommend this disc to anyone who loves great worship music. David Crowder’s initial offering found here on “Can You Hear Us?” is an astounding one, and the answer to the question emphatically is, “Yes, David, God hears you.”

Review by Keith Giles