Life.Church Worship “God So Good” Album Review

Prime Cuts: To God be the Glory, Grand Design, The Artist

Overall Grade: 4/5

Put your headphones on and let the music of Life.Church Worship blast right through.  Within the first few seconds, you will experience what singing for the glory of God is all about.  Their vertical praises not only exude passion and truth, they sing as if their lives are an reenactment of every word they sing.  This Oklahoma-based worship band truly exemplify  the credo that to live is Christ.   Life.Church Worship "God So Good" is the team's sophomore effort for DREAM Worship and it's a vast improvement from their debut album "Fully Devoted."  Besides the fact that the worship leaders are more transparent in their singing, this time round the songs possess more poetic and Biblical depths.  

Life.Church Worship is a ministry of Life.Church, a multi-site church meeting at 33 physical locations in 10 states and globally at Church Online.  Life.Church is currently the largest church in America and they also own the YouVersion Bible app.  Under the church's musical umbrella is also the band SWITCH who recently landed on the #1 spot on the Billboard Christian Hot AC / CHR chart for 8 straight weeks with their hit single "Symphony (Featuring Dillon Chase)."  

By eschewing those simplistic love songs thinly disguised as worship songs, Life.Church invests time to craft lyrics that are actually poetic and Biblical. Case in point being the excellent "Grand Design." Easily the best song on the record, "Grand Design"  marvels at God's creation deeply indebted to Psalm 139.  But it's the line that says: "Maker of this heart of mine/You make dust your grand design" that really seals the song's excellence.   "The Artist," which brims with gratitude to God for his creation, calls to mind Pat Barrett's "Clay and Canvas" scans the clunky and over-sentimentalised lyrics.  Not to be missed is "To God be the Glory" which has a stately hymn-like structure that is glorious.

In our culture of impatience, "I Won't Move" is so counter-cultural yet so Biblical.  This piano-ballad beckons us to take a step back and let God work on our behalf.  Speaking of ballads, the ultra-slow-and-long "When I Say Jesus" has a nice introduction but the song morphs into oblivion halfway through.  You can't get more theologically rich than the Cross-centered "Death of Death;" the ballad boasts the fabulous line: "The Victor never lost His crown/Cause hell and grave can't hold him down."  Meanwhile, the bouncy synth-bop "Life to Me" and the swirling disco-induced "On Fire" are geared more for those whose taste lean towards Plantboom or Hillsong Y&F. 

"God So Good" is by no means perfect.  But it's a vast improvement from their debut.  The lyrics are spiritually more mature and they are executed with more poetic and theological nuances.  Also, when Life.Church Worship sings with so much conviction the words "Who can compare to the Lord Almighty/There's nothing and no one that stands in his way/Who can compare to the Lord Almighty/He's awesome in power, He's mighty to save," you can't help but sing with them. 

 

 

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