| 27th
April, 2005
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"Morgan
is a masterful lyricist, understanding how to compress
deep and beautiful thoughts of God and His majesty
into concise lines without ever understating the intention
or tripping over clichés."
|
JUSTIN
MICHAEL
Artist: Reuben Morgan
Title: World Through Your Eyes
Label: Fivelines
Debut is a funny word. It generally means this is
the first. In this case, the first album by Reuben Morgan.
Of course, you only have to check the song words on the screen
each Sunday in charismatic churches to realise that Reuben
Morgan is a name synonymous with the best in modern congregational
music.
Morgan is a masterful lyricist, understanding how to compress
deep and beautiful thoughts of God and His majesty into concise
lines without ever understating the intention or tripping
over clichés. He has been doing it for years with the
Hillsong team, and now he has brought this same intention
and craftsmanship to a record that will happily spin during
dinner, stay with you on a dark day and inspire you when the
stars are out at night.
World Through Your Eyes is the debut solo release
for Morgan. It follows years of traveling around the world
ministering at worship conferences and churches with the Hillsong
team as well as multiple live recordings garnering multiple
ARIA gold records.
This collection is a step in the studio direction for Morgan.
Gone are the live choir and congregation clapping along. Gone
are the multiple front-line singers. These are pure expressionist
colours with a studio gloss.
From the prayer of the title track through the simple statements
of God’s love in The Fear, the driving Gloria
and the Massive Attack treatment given to the reworking of
All I Am this is an album to be treasured.
Paul Mabury’s production (Jive Express, Brooke Fraser)
is new to say the least. Masterful and refreshing would do
better however. With washes of guitar, clever layering of
loops and melodic ideas that do more than just fill the gaps,
this is far from worship-music-by-numbers.
This is essentially a worship album from the studio and as
such has a tendency to flatline as an entire listen. I found
myself willing it to just rock for a few minutes. However,
this is a minor draw back. World Through Your Eyes
will find it’s way comfortably into every record collection
and will do much more than just play in your car on a Sunday.
Eighty-five per cent.
Justin
Michael can be heard weekday mornings on Geelong-based radio
station 96.3 Rhema FM - www.rhemafm.org.au.
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