Were those really just buckets? Dangit. Well, it still sounds pretty cool. It's not often I can get hooked on a song by a rhythm (although I like the other parts of that one too).Yeah...the lyrics and message are definitely part of the package. Which I respect, for what it's worth, but I'd enjoy an album a bit more exotic musically more.
That song has a brilliant melody. Also, it's lyrics probably qualify for the "not directly worship, but accomplishes the same thing" category that you mentioned. Not all of Iona's stuff is that rhythmic, so it's not a guarantee that liking that song means you'd like all their stuff... but that one is one of my favorites. The live version from
Heaven's Bright Sun uses more conventional (and louder drums), but I actually like it better because it has more momentum. Actually, both of Iona's live albums are well worth hearing - they're one of the few bands that I think may be better live than on CD. They have a live DVD that just came out - I haven't gotten around to buying it yet because I heard they had some problem with the picture quality and had to manufacture another batch.
Oh, and I think I just figured out how to play "Wings of the Morning" on the zither.
I wish I just randomly had a zither lying around. But I believe what you're hearing on the recording is a manipulated guitar.
That might be a bit of an overstatement, but that sounds about right. I like about half of Jars' more worshippy tunes ("Jealous Kind", "Love Song", "Amazing Grace", etc), and I also like some of U2, Ashley Cleveland, and Switchfoot's forays into that territory. And of course, there's always stuff like Chasing Furies and early Caedmon's, which isn't quite worship but seems to achieve some of the same things - I tend to like that type of stuff much more than more straightforward worship stuff.
The lyrical style's just so overdone these days that I think it's hard to appreciate even the early examples from before it was trendy. Nevertheless, I will always have a soft spot for such a song
if it is well done. Cliches are only cliches to me when they get repeated a lot. Much as I rip on the modern worship trend, I am still a worship leader in the very unprofessional sense, and I am always on the lookout for well-crafted songs that will work in such a setting. The trick is that not every song with worshipful lyrics works in a group setting, so I do think that it takes skill to write such songs
well, but if good writing is thrown out the window, then just about any idiot can go through the motions and make a hit worship album, given the right label backing.
I could never figure out what the big deal was with Common Children (now THERE's something I could never say on the Northern board...).
I guess it's not everyday you hear a Christian rock band with a chorus that says "I hate myself". (I never heard that song, but the concept wasn't a big deal to me at the time; I was already a marginal Sixpence fan.)
I don't think I've ever heard Christine Glass. Would it be worth my effort to track down her first album?
I'm not sure. Maybe I'll Pub a few songs one of these days. You have to keep in mind that it was my college self who loved that album to death, largely because "Crazy All Around" was so irresistably catchy, and that's nothing that a bunch of other mid-90's bohemian chick rock troubadors couldn't have come up with. I liked that album mostly for its sense of vulnerability and its textures. First few listens, I didn't think it was upbeat enough and I thought the production was too thin and so forth, but it ended up being one of the first albums that taught me to appreciate a more subtle approach that doesn't go for the obvious slam-bang chorus every time. It has its share of throwaway CCM songs, but also some really intriguing ones like "You Want"... I don't know, it's probably mostly nostalgia that causes me to speak highly of that album, but even to someone who considers it mediocre, it's gotta be better than her dull second album, or the putrescence that was GlassByrd's debut.
