Geoff Moore was born on February 22, 1961 in Flint,
Michigan. In the mid-1980’s he put out
three solo albums including WHERE ARE THE OTHER NINE? Beginning in 1988 and ending in 1997 he
released seven studio albums with his band The Distance, including FOUNDATIONS
and HOME RUN. In 1999 he returned to his
solo career. 2007 saw him put out SPEAK
TO ME on Rocketown Records. The album
was nominated for a Dove Award for ‘Inspirational Album of the Year’. In the liner notes Geoff writes: “People
often ask how I have been able to enjoy my work so much and stay balanced
through such a long career. First, it’s
because of God’s unwavering, undying and unconditional love for me. Secondly, it’s because of the people that
have embodied that love and extended it to a guy who doesn’t deserve it”.
First up is the title track, ‘Speak to Me’, penned by Jim
Cooper and Phillip LaRue. This adult
rock song begins with these prayerful words: “Speak to me, Lord Jesus/Speak
with love and grace/For I am lacking Father/Please restore my faith/To the
place when I first met You/A fire bright and clear/Speak to me Lord Jesus/I am
listening/Cause Your words they give me life/And their hope keeps me alive/So
I’ll wait to hear Your voice”. ‘Your
Day’ focuses on trusting in God: “Oh, I can worry/I can pace and fret/I am
letting go to You/And rediscovering it’s true/Even today, Your mercies are
new/This is Your day/I’m going Your way/I can hardly wait to see/What You have
in store for me today”.
In 2005 Brad Paisley and Dolly Parton had a hit with the
Rivers Rutherford/George G. Teren III composition ‘When I Get Where I’m
Going’. Here, Geoff Moore covers the
lovely ballad about heaven with Christy Nockels: “I’m gonna land beside a lion
and run my fingers through his mane/Or I might find out what it’s like to ride
a drop of rain/Yeah, when I get where I’m going/There’ll be only happy tears/I
will shed my sin and struggle/I have carried all these years”. This cover version peaked at #14 on Billboard’s
Christian Songs chart. Joel Hanson of
PFR fame wrote ‘Captured’, an adult contemporary song of thanksgiving: “I heard
You singing in the silence of a simple melody/Words of love, oh I can hear
it/My Father is very fond of me/And I am loved by the Father/And I am loved by
the Son/And it is love that has captured/The heart of this grateful one”.
‘Every Single One’ is a tender song that will move you:
“Forty pairs of little eyes/Stared into this heart of mine/A memory burned
inside my soul/One that never has let go/I looked into the face of need/The
least of these looked back at me/I was unprepared and overwhelmed/With little
time and much to tell/I’ve seen Jesus standing all alone/I’ve seen Jesus/He was
young and He was old/I’ve seen Jesus in the eyes of all His daughters and sons/Every
single one”. Kendall Payne joins Geoff
on ‘He Knows my Name’, a praise and worship song from the mid-1990’s: “I have a
Maker/He formed my heart.../He’ll never leave me no matter where I go/He knows
my name/He knows my every thought/He sees each tear that falls/And hears me
when I call”.
Geoff co-wrote ‘That’s What Love Will Do’ with Ben
Glover. It offers these words of
testimony: “Love will always be there/Through every lost and broken dream/Love
is all you need/Love lifted me up/Opened the world to me/Time and time
again/You know love lifted the shame/The shame that laid hold to me/Time and
time again because that’s what love will do”.
A subdued version of the classic hymn ‘This is my Father’s World’
follows. It includes these words: “This
is my Father’s world/The birds their carols raise/The morning light, the lily
white/Declare their Maker’s praise/This is my Father’s world/I rest me in the
thought/Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas/His hand the wonders wrought”.
‘So Long, Farewell (The Blessing)’ is a rocker about
friendship: “Too soon, so fast/Time must fly the way it’s passed/And I’m
already missing you/So much to say/Of hopes and fears and prayers we’ve prayed/I’ll
be remembering you/The miles won’t keep us apart/When you’re in my heart.../So
long, farewell/Goodbye my friend/This is not the end/I’ll be there for you/God
make His face to shine on you and bring you peace/I pray this blessing for
you”. ‘Erase’, a co-write with Sam
Mizell, is a prayer: “Erase all that’s different between us/Until nothing ever
separates us/And we love like You love/And we ache when You ache/And our heart
is undone/By what makes Your heart break/And we hear what You hear and we see
what You see/And the difference is erased”.
A full band version of ‘Every Single One’ concludes things.
SPEAK TO ME is not Geoff Moore’s best album ever, but it’s
still a good one. Lighter rock and adult
contemporary sounds dominate this record, with a couple of praise and worship
tracks included as well. A main theme on
the album is enjoying intimacy with God and His love for us. God is hands down who we should be
pursuing. Other subjects on the album
include: caring for the poor, friendship, and heaven. I’m rating this one 86% and recommending it
to fans of Bryan Adams and Steven Curtis Chapman. For more info visit: www.geoffmoore.com and www.compassion.com.