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V PageContents: Townes Van Zandt, Various Artists, The Velvet UndergroundTownes Van Zandt has his own pageVarious ArtistsCity On A Hill(2000)For an album full of largely generic Christian Contemporary Music from America's finest Contemporary Christian artists, City On A Hill is surprisingly worthwhile. The material is mostly written by the pair of Christian musicians who created the project, tailoring songs for artists such as Third Day's Mac Powell and Sixpence None The Richer's Leigh Nash. With strong artists such as Jars of Clay, Third Day and FFH dominating the album, it mostly works well. There are plenty of times when younger listeners will wish that they dropped the orchestrations and rocked out occasionally. It's also apparent, with the vocals at the front of the mix, how important a slightly idiosyncratic singer is; Dan Haseltine and Mac Powell are able to lift their tracks out of the genericisms that some of the lesser tracks display. Adding immeasurably to the importance of the album is lead-off track 'God of Wonders', easily one of the finest worship songs of the 21st century. It's a simple enough song, but the intricacies of the arrangement take it to another level. The tag team of vocalists led by Mac Powell, the beautiful verse melody and the chiming guitar arpeggios are all wonderful examples of creativity within the parameters of CCM. Even the orchestra's simple quotation of 'Holy, Holy, Holy' in the coda adds weight to the song. 'God of Wonders' is followed by 'The Stone', a wonderful Jars of Clay song that's only found on this compilation; stripped back, with plenty of space for harmonies, it's tailor made for the group. Based around a simple piano chord progression and the messianic lyric "the stone that the builders rejected/has become the corner stone", it's easily one of the group's finest recordings. After such an auspicious start there's only one place for this album to go, even though it's a relatively coherent compilation. The rest of the album's a mixed bag; some tracks are enjoyable, while others are painfully generic. Gene Eugene, who passed away before the album was released, may be a legendary alternative producer and accomplished pianist, but his singing voice is uncannily similar to Phil Collins and he should have been kept away from the ballads. Other painful tracks include the turgid 'Precious Jesus', which crawls along at a ridiculously slow pace. Conversely, the pairing of Newsboy Peter Furler with Sonic Flood is surprisingly effective; replacing the weak link from Sonic Flood with the most talented Newsboy creates a tolerable band, and it's easily the edgiest track on the album. Third Day's title track is the only other track that could be described as even vaguely abrasive, but it's predictable and not particularly inspiring. FFH's two tracks are strong enough for me to want to hear more from them, and Jars of Clay's 'This Road' is a pleasant enough closer. Such a large concentration of mellowed out CCM is one place isn't necessarily a good idea, but there's some really good material here, and if you're a fan of modern worship City On A Hill might be worth a look. 
Velvet Underground have their own page |
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Written 2001-2007, Graham Fyfe
