Tuesday, March 22, 2011

NATALIE'S LOVE REVOLUTION

     Natalie Grant has one of the strongest female voices in Contemporary Christian Music.  Her latest offering LOVE REVOLUTION (2010, Curb Records) is comprised of seven worship songs and five pop songs.
     The album opens with two songs about finding one's identity.  On 'Love Revolution' she sings: "Fading/We're all fading/From who we've become and who we're meant to be/Dying/We're all dying/And wanna believe it's everyone but me/Oh great light of the world help us see/What can save us now."  'Daring to Be' sounds like pop being done by folks much younger than Grant, but she pulls it off.  On it she sings of discovering who she is: "Perfectly safe and complacent/Those are the words Your love's replaced/With fearless and brave, and courageous/Yeah, that's who I am today."
     'Human' is a mid tempo number about making a difference in our world by sharing: "A little love, a little kindness, a little light in this time of darkness."  'Beauty Mark'  has a funky groove to it and gets introspective: "Religious rock stars making a name/So churchified it is a crying shame/But I'll point the finger at nobody else but me/It's time to be the change we need."  'Someday our King will Come" has a rootsy Crystal Bowersox feel to it and is heavy on the percussion.  It is a song of hope for those times when everything seems to be falling apart.
     The worship songs are quite beautiful and rich lyrically and musically.  'Power of the Cross' speaks of the transforming power of Christ's work on the cross: "Once a stranger, now a child/Empty, now filled/Once condemned, now reconciled/Broken, now healed."  'Your Great Name' magnifies the Lord: "Jesus, worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us/Name above all names (Son of God and man)/You are high and lifted up/And all the world will praise/Your great Name."  'Desert Song' written by Brooke Fraser, is about knowing who God is and who you are in Him, and about praising God "when triumph is still on it's way."
     I'm giving LOVE REVOLUTION a 78%.  I recommend it to fans of the pop vocal stylings of Christina Aguilera and Rachael Lampa, and the contemporary worship stylings of Chris Tomlin.