Question:
What do you guys think of this album? I think a couple songs are awesome, and the rest are the same ol', same ol' of the rest of Tomlin's stuff.
How Can I Keep From Singing
8/10
Great song, when I have it on in my car... I can't keep from singing along! Haha, I guess this song serves its purpose.
Made To Worship
5/10
Never was impressed with this song. Especially as a worship song, it's really self-focused.
Let God Arise
6/10
I had high hopes when I heard the music for this song, and then the verses are great. But the chorus hits, and in my opinion, it sucks.
Everlasting God
6/10
I like this song a lot. But Brenton Brown's original is WAY better. Tomlin kinda ruined it.
Glory In The Highest
4/10
This song can be completely summed up in its title. Which isn't a good thing here I don't think.
Awesome Is The Lord Most High
9/10
I gave this a 10/10 on Passion's CD. Great song, but I like the live sound a lot more on this song, and I don't like some of the chord changes Tomlin added on this CD.
Glorious
3/10
Never liked this song. Very cliche, extremely high, and nothing special.
Uncreated One
10/10
WOW! This is a gem! Awesome lyrics, pretty music, and a song that I'll be sure to introduce pronto!
Rejoice
7/10
Decently good. Again, nothing remarkable though.
Let Your Mercy Reign
5/10
Nothing special... Recurring theme.
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
10/10
Incredibly reverential version of this song. And I love the verses that they choose from the hymn. The chorus is great, and a great way to end any CD.
Overall rating: 6.5/10
Worth it for the good songs, especially if you don't have Passion's Everything Glorious. If you have that CD, get your hands on Uncreated One and My Chains Are Gone (worshiptogether.com has had these recently), and wait for the sale price.
Answer:
Here is JesusFreakHideout.com's review of the new one (2 1/2 stars out of 5)
Chris Tomlin follows up his critically and commercially successful album Arriving with See The Morning, his fourth studio album for SixSteps/Sparrow Records. With the gold-selling Arriving still a respectable sales presence on CCM charts two years after its debut, how does Chris Tomlin follow up his most successful project yet? For better or worse, with more of the same…
With most of his well-known songs firmly entrenched within church services nationwide, it seems that Chris Tomlin has stumbled upon a songwriting formula that thrives on predictability and conformity, rather than innovation. Tomlin's songs are so ubiquitous and inherently formulaic that hearing an entire album of all-new material still rendered me with an uncanny sense of familiarity. Although innovation might have been too much to ask of this project, this sense of formulaic unoriginality, combined with consistently unexceptional songwriting, was more than enough to sink See The Morning.
As a worship album, See The Morning is unassuming at best, and downright predictable at its worst. The songs on the album sound pleasant enough at first listen, but soon all blend together due to their unwavering adherence to existing formulas. Since they all rise and fall out of the same mid-tempo worship mold, there is nothing here that will stick out after one or two listens. Some songs are also unnecessarily repetitive, as "Glorious" and "Glory In The Highest" rely a bit too heavily on their title refrains to carry the chorus forward. While Arriving was blessed with a handful of amazing singles, there isn't anything as powerful as "How Great Is Our God" or as captivating as "Holy Is The Lord" on this album.
Lyrically, See The Morning is likewise unremarkable as Tomlin spouts out undistinguished refrains of awesomeness and glory towards our Creator ("Our God reigns," "How Awesome is the Lord Most High," etc). The fact that most songs can be encapsulated neatly within their titles says a lot about the level of lyrical depth within this album. The bottom line is, we've heard this all before. Worship music isn't especially known for its creativity, but the problem with repetition this blatant is that See The Morning loses its impact with each successive listen. That Chris Tomlin resorted to giving his listeners uninspired (and seemingly re-written) versions of the same songs is disappointing to say the least, and frustrating when you know that he is capable of more.
Ultimately, this is the sound of the reigning Dove artist of the year resting on his laurels and refusing to expand beyond the predictable formula that has garnered him success (including five Dove awards) in the first place. Disappointing as it is however, this album will still no doubt still be consumed by most worship music fans looking for something safe to place in their CD players long after their copies of Arriving have been set aside due to overbearing familiarity.
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Though See the Morning does sound like Arriving. I still think it's great worship music. Yes, there is no "How Great is Our God" but there are still some powerful songs that will really aid the worship experience. One can pick apart Tomlin's style all they want, but I still think his heart is revealed in this record and I will definitely be using some of the songs on this record.
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I agree that Uncreated One and Amazing Grace/My Chains are Gone are the best two on the album. Definitely on my list of to do's.
"Made To Worship" has me wondering. I at first thought it was a bit "self focused", but the younger demographic in our congregation has been clamoring for me to add it since it started being played regularly on Christian radio.
It's one that I will probably run the lyrics by the pastor for a ruling before we consider it. Pretty easy to play for sure.
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It's one that I will probably run the lyrics by the pastor for a ruling before we consider it. Pretty easy to play for sure. This is a great suggestion that I didn't want to go un-noticed. I think it should be a regular practice to have lyrics reviewed by church leadership before they are used in the context of corporate worship. After all, they are going to be the ones that have to answer to complaints.
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Am I the only person that really liked this album? In fact, we have Made to Worship in the setlist today. I'm pretty excited about it.
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I think it is a great album and a wonderful listen.
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Originally Posted by InLovingEmery Though See the Morning does sound like Arriving. I still think it's great worship music. Yes, there is no "How Great is Our God" but there are still some powerful songs that will really aid the worship experience. One can pick apart Tomlin's style all they want, but I still think his heart is revealed in this record and I will definitely be using some of the songs on this record.
Amen. What saddens me is to see brothers in Christ cut down one another because they don't like the music, the style, delivery, etc. - which is all subjective anyway. We will never fully know anyone's heart, but after reading his book and knowing what's important to him, I don't feel right in criticizing him. In fact, I don't know if I have a right to criticize any other brother who is following Christ.
I don't know about some of you, but I wrote a couple of songs that I felt I was being prompted to write (very strongly). They aren't the best musically and won't sell a ton of records, but I'm certain they came from God.
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Originally Posted by Hopeful Amen. What saddens me is to see brothers in Christ cut down one another because they don't like the music, the style, delivery, etc. - which is all subjective anyway. We will never fully know anyone's heart, but after reading his book and knowing what's important to him, I don't feel right in criticizing him. In fact, I don't know if I have a right to criticize any other brother who is following Christ.
I don't know about some of you, but I wrote a couple of songs that I felt I was being prompted to write (very strongly). They aren't the best musically and won't sell a ton of records, but I'm certain they came from God.
First of all, most criticism is fine, if not beneficial. We are not cutting down Chris Tomlin. I am saying I have seen him do much better work. It's not wrong that he did worse work, it's just a fact. I'm not judging his heart at all. I know his heart is in the right place, and many of the songs that I might criticize could very well be used by the Spirit to speak to many people, and communicate many people's heart to God in worship. If you can't criticize someone, then you can't compliment them either. And with most of Tomlin's work, I would definitely compliment him. The reason I am rating his work is to show what I think would be helpful songs for people to introduce in their worship services, and what would not. This issue is almost always brought up when someone criticizes a song that someone writes. It is definitely subjective opinions, and that has to be kept in mind. But these songs are not Scripture!!! They are not inspired, in the truest meaning of the word. As a worship leader, I appreciate it when others suggest songs or albums that are good to introduce, and also when they warn me not to buy an album or use a song for certain reasons.
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Originally Posted by Tony This is a great suggestion that I didn't want to go un-noticed. I think it should be a regular practice to have lyrics reviewed by church leadership before they are used in the context of corporate worship. After all, they are going to be the ones that have to answer to complaints.
Thanks Tony. You are right. He get's most of the complaints so I gave him first right of refusal. I demo'd "Made To Worship" for him this morning. Kind of weird. Just me in his office with my guitar and him sitting at his desk listening. He loved it and blessed it to introduce as soon as we are ready. I am going to write the charts and get the band ramped up on it later this week. I think I will do this with all new songs from now on. It's better to find out something is causing concern BEFORE everyone takes the time to learn it than to invest the time and get a thumbs down after the debut.
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Originally Posted by Matt4JC First of all, most criticism is fine, if not beneficial. We are not cutting down Chris Tomlin. I am saying I have seen him do much better work. It's not wrong that he did worse work, it's just a fact. I'm not judging his heart at all. I know his heart is in the right place, and many of the songs that I might criticize could very well be used by the Spirit to speak to many people, and communicate many people's heart to God in worship. If you can't criticize someone, then you can't compliment them either. And with most of Tomlin's work, I would definitely compliment him. The reason I am rating his work is to show what I think would be helpful songs for people to introduce in their worship services, and what would not. This issue is almost always brought up when someone criticizes a song that someone writes. It is definitely subjective opinions, and that has to be kept in mind. But these songs are not Scripture!!! They are not inspired, in the truest meaning of the word. As a worship leader, I appreciate it when others suggest songs or albums that are good to introduce, and also when they warn me not to buy an album or use a song for certain reasons.
I totally agree with you.
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Originally Posted by psalm63adam I totally agree with you.
+1
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I think Chris Tomlin did exactly what he needed to do with this release. He has some very strong songs on it. He has touched the "feel" of most of his work on one song or another. It sounds "sort of like" Arriving which is good to keep those fans interested but he stretches a little in a few different directions. At this point in his career, this is the CD he needed to make. It may not be as edgy and groundbreaking as people would like.....but hey, it is very solid.
And now officially....I like it!!!
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Originally Posted by Hopeful Amen. What saddens me is to see brothers in Christ cut down one another because they don't like the music, the style, delivery, etc. - which is all subjective anyway. So voicing ones "subjective" opinion is cutting a brother down?
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Originally Posted by Matt4JC Made To Worship
5/10
Never was impressed with this song. Especially as a worship song, it's really self-focused. I'm not necessarily defending the lyrics to the song (since I don't have them in front of me and I can only remember about third of them), but in my mind the song doesn't seem to be any more self-focused than amazing grace. Both worship God by speaking of what God has done and is doing, and both were written in the first person.