It's unclear what makes Absolute Modern Worship more "modern" than its 2004 predecessor, Absolute Worship. Both are two-disc collections of previously released worshipful pop/rock featuring Christian artists that have yet to achieve the success that warrants inclusion in the best-selling WoW Hits and Worship series. The newer Absolute series, which is selling fairly well, is not geared to present the best in Christian music, but the best of the up-and-comers on the smaller "distributed" record labels like Rocketown, Curb, INO, and Fervent.

Thus, the biggest name in this collection is probably Chris Rice, featuring his seven-year-old song (though nonetheless beautifully rendered) "And Your Praise Goes On." Among the other highlights are Watermark's similarly classic and gentle original "Gloria," Selah's majestic "Wonderful, Merciful Saviour," and Ten Shekel Shirt's popular "Meet with Me." But there's also evidence of desperation to fill two discs with the inclusion of such tracks as Sonicflood's whiny sounding cover of "Here I Am to Worship," Fusebox's "Once Again," and "I Love You Lord" (not the popular praise chorus) by Rebecca St. James' backing vocalist Charmaine.

Absolute Modern Worship also features recently released songs from BDA ("Into Our Midst"), Exit East ("All of This"), and Nicol Sponberg (a terrific Euro-pop version of "Hallelujah"). "All My Tears (Be Washed Away)" is a rarity from Plumb that makes her sound more like the alt folk of Mindy Smith and Alison Krauss, and the independent Robbie Seay Band contributes "We Are Free," an interesting track that sounds like David Crowder Band meets Peter Gabriel. As for new tracks, the album features music from new artists Inhabited and Broken Frame—the latter demonstrating a promising Counting Crows roots rock sound.

Big Daddy Weave and BarlowGirl, Fervent Records' two biggest artists, offer a new but unremarkable cover of "You're Worthy of My Praise" that's being used as a radio single. Separately, Big Daddy Weave is also featured performing "Word of God Speak," taken from WoW Worship Red and sounding too much like Mercy Me's original, while BarlowGirl gives a predictable, overlong, but still rocking rendition of Chris Tomlin's "Enough."

Though advertised as "25 modern worship hits," many of these songs are lesser-known album tracks unknown to both the radio and the church. This CD is an example of what the publishing industry calls "repurposing content," meaning that the record labels hope you'll buy music that most people passed on the first time. Considering the relatively low price and the songs represented, this is much like buying two or three cheap CDs form the bargain bin at your local music store. For what it's worth, you may find a lost gem or something new here, but don't go in expecting "the best."

Copyright © Christian Music Today. Click for reprint information.

Click here to view our music review archives.

Visit the artist pages for related interviews and reviews.

				Try an Issue of Today's Christian Woman Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian Woman coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian Woman as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

FREE Newsletter Sign up now for the Christian Music Today weekly newsletter:    RSS Feed   RSS Help