Passion The Best of Passion [So Far] (sixsteps/EMI) Released December 2006 reviewed by Russ Breimeier

Sounds like … the pop/rock styled modern worship of Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, David Crowder Band, Charlie Hall, and others, joined by an enthusiastic and sizable college-aged audience of worshipers.

At a glance … Passion has been long regarded as a touchstone in the growth of modern worship music, and this generously packaged two-disc collection does a great job in compiling the last ten years of highlights.

Passion might be the biggest thing in Christian music these days; in ten years, the college-oriented worship ministry has yielded nine albums that have sold more than 1.5 million total copies. And that doesn't include the individual successes of participating worship artists like Chris Tomlin, David Crowder Band, Charlie Hall, and Matt Redman, all of whose songs have been a driving force in the rapid rise of modern worship music over the last decade.

Thus it's only fitting to offer a compilation like The Best of Passion [So Far]—22 of its 30 songs are among the CCLI's Top 500 used in churches today. The two-disc collection spans the history of the Passion albums with more than 150 minutes worth of music, bookended with two unreleased recordings. It doesn't skimp on the packaging either, including a booklet with memories for each track from Passion founder Louie Giglio, as well as some photos.

Particularly striking are the earlier tracks, which shows Passion responsible for bringing other worship leaders' songs to light with definitive covers like "Better Is One Day" (from Redman's pre-Passion days), "You're Worthy of My Praise," and "You Are My King (Amazing Love)." In time, Tomlin, Crowder, and Hall would develop enough to rely more on their songwriting, and it's worth noting that the Passion conferences were often the place where new worship standards like "How Great Is Our God," "Enough," and "O Praise Him (All This for a King)" debuted or gained popularity.

The only drawback here is whether the collection is truly necessary. The songs are already featured on numerous other worship albums, and when the inevitable best-of compilations from Tomlin, Crowder, and Hall arrive in a few years, they're going to look and sound almost identical to this. Nevertheless, as Passion prepares to take its ministry worldwide, this collection offers a wealth of music that reflects the modern worship movement better than most.

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Passion The Best of Passion [So Far] (sixsteps/EMI) Released December 2006 reviewed by Russ Breimeier