Review

WOW . . . and I’m not referring to another compilation album, I’m referring to my first impression of the new release from Vineyard Music Group, If You Say Go. Could this be the same VMG that has put out a string of middle of the road worship albums over the past few years? It’s commonly held that anything good produced by the Vineyard has come from Great Britain recently. Well that is not true any longer. It appears that VMG USA has come back with a vengeance, with a passionate, powerful and stirring worship album. Driving beats, passionate vocals, rocking electric guitars and most importantly . . . great songs.

Opening with the Michael Pritzl song, "Invitacion Fountain," a plaintiff appeal to the needy and weak to come to the Father, this recording gets off to a solid start. Next comes "Creation," with a stirring lead vocal by Lisa Kieffer that draws you to look to God our creator. Then comes a great new rendition of the classic Vineyard tune, "Father of Lights." A great idea reintroducing classic songs to a new generation of worshippers.

I won’t review each song, but I will tell you I would be hard pressed to find anything to criticize about this album. Not that this would be my goal, but when evaluating a product you look for the weak spots. I honestly can say I found none. It has strength from beginning to end. The production values are great; the vocals crisp, passionate and effective; the songs are strong and powerful . . . causing one to be drawn into a place of worship.

In my opinion this is great worship music. It is filled with the nuances of today, so it might catch some Vineyard aficionados a bit off guard. This is not sleepy Vineyard, instead it is more like ‘awake oh sleeper’ Hopefully the sleeping giant has awakened for good and will regain its footing as a major contributor to the worship movement in this generation, as it has so effectively done in generations past.

Review by Carl Tuttle