Michael Whitaker Smith was born on October 7, 1957 in
Kenova, West Virginia. In 1992 he was
named one of People magazine’s ‘Most Beautiful People’. His album WORSHIP AGAIN was released on
October 22nd, 2002 on Reunion Records. It was recorded at Southeast Christian Church
in Louisville, Kentucky, and was a follow-up to 2001’s very successful
WORSHIP. In 2003 Michael W. Smith won
Male Vocalist of the Year at the GMA Music Awards.
Track one is a flawless, rousing combination of Beaker’s
classic ‘Step by Step’ and a new Smith composition called ‘Forever we will
Sing’. The lyrics to the latter
unashamedly exalt Christ: “Hallelujah!/We honor You Lord Jesus/And forever we
will sing/Hallelujah!/For You alone are worthy/And forever we will
sing/Hallelujah! (4X) ‘You are the Lord’
was penned by Michael and his wife Debbie.
It is a beautiful song featuring Skip Cleavinger on the Irish
flute. It includes these words of
declaration: “Worthy, we stand/Saved by His hand/Great is Your Name/In all the
earth/Worthy alone/Christ on the throne/Your Kingdom will reign forever/You are
the Lord, Most high”.
‘The Wonderful Cross’ is credited to Chris Tomlin, Isaac
Watts, JD Walt, and Jesse Reeves. It is
now a congregational staple about the crucifixion and our response to it: “See
from His head, His hands, His feet/Sorrow and love flow mingled down/Did e’er
such love and sorrow meet/Or thorns compose so rich a crown/Oh the wonderful
cross (2X)/Bids me come and die and find/That I may truly live/Oh the wonderful
cross (2X)/All who gather here by grace draw near/And bless Your Name”. ‘Ancient Words’ is a tender ballad that
includes the use of pipes and reflects on the importance of Scripture: “Words
of life/Words of hope/Give us strength/Help us cope/In this world where’er we
roam/Ancient words will guide us home/Ancient words ever true/Changing me and
changing you/We have come with open hearts/O let the ancient words impart”.
Steve Merkel wrote ‘Lord Have Mercy’. This version features Sarah McIntosh on
vocals alongside Smith. It is a pretty
ballad of confession: “I have built an altar where I worship things of man/I
have taken journeys that have drawn me far from You/Now I am returning to your
mercies ever flowing/Pardon my transgressions/Help me love You again/Lord have
mercy/Christ have mercy/Lord have mercy on me”.
‘The Sacred Romance’ is a piano and string based instrumental a bit shy
of 2 minutes.
Michael W. and Debbie Smith wrote ‘I Can Hear Your Voice’
with their daughter Whitney. It sounds
like a lullaby and has a message of spiritual comfort: “I can hear Your voice
as You sing over me/It’s Your song of hope breathing life into me/I can feel
Your touch as I come close to You/And it heals my heart/You restore and
renew”. ‘I Give You my Heart’ is a well
known song of spiritual surrender: “Lord, I give You my heart/I give You my
soul/I live for You alone/Every breath that I take/Every moment I’m awake/Lord,
have Your way in me”.
Next up is Lenny LeBlanc’s 1991 love song to Father God,
‘There is none like You’. Witness these
words: “There is none like You/No one else can touch my heart like You do/I
could search for all eternity long and find/There is none like You”. Rich Mullins’ ‘I See You’, also from 1991,
follows. It is the longest track at just
under 7 minutes. It is moving and
inspirational. Nature lovers will
appreciate these words: “And the eagle flies and the rivers run/I look through
the night/And I can see the risin’ sun/And everywhere I go I see You (2X)/Well,
the grass will die and the flowers fall/But Your Word’s alive/Will be after
all”. The song features a cool electric
guitar solo.
Mark Imboden and Tammi Rhoton wrote ‘You are Holy (Prince of
Peace)’. It is a sunny pop song that
declares who Jesus Christ is: “You are Lord of Lords/You are King of Kings/You
are mighty God/Lord of everything/You’re Emmanuel/You’re the Great I Am/You’re
the Prince of Peace/Who is the Lamb/You’re the living God/You’re my saving
grace/You will reign forever/You are Ancient of Days/You are Alpha,
Omega/Beginning and End/You’re my Savior, Messiah/Redeemer and Friend”. Three studio cuts end off the album. The first is a version of ‘Lord Have Mercy’
featuring Michael’s long time friend, Amy Grant.
‘Here I Am to Worship’ is a splendid worship song penned by
Tim Hughes: “Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down/Here I am to say that
You’re my God/You’re altogether lovely/Altogether worthy/Altogether wonderful
to me.../I’ll never know how much it cost/To see my sin upon that cross”. ‘There She Stands’ is a co-write between
Smitty and Wes King. It is a highly
patriotic song with a Youtube video tribute to September 11th: “When
evil calls itself a martyr/When all your hopes come crashing down/Someone will
pull her from the rubble/There she stands/We’ve seen her flying torn and
tattered/We’ve seen her stand the test of time/And through it all the fools
have fallen/There she stands/By the dawn’s/Early light/And through the
fight/She stands”.
According to my Collins Pocket Webster’s Thesaurus, synonyms
for the verb ‘worship’ are: praise, adore, exalt, glorify, honor, pray to,
revere, venerate, love, idolize, and put on a pedestal. Keeping that in mind, I believe WORSHIP AGAIN
succeeds in its goal of giving much praise, glory, and honor to the Lord
God. As per usual, Michael W. Smith’s
vocals are amazing! The multiple
background vocalists and the accompanying vocalists add a great choir like feel
to this beautifully performed album. The
instrumentation is a real treat as well.
This is a worthy follow-up to Smitty’s 2001 WORSHIP project. My only beef is that there aren’t two or
three faster paced songs on the record for variety. I’m rating WORSHIP AGAIN 90%. For more info visit: www.michaelwsmith.com.