Style: Acoustic folk/country; compare to Neil Young, Steven Curtis Chapman, Dan Fogelberg
Through the Open Door
January 31, 2011
Top tracks: “Eclogue for the Church Triumphant,” “Mississippi-Louisiana Line,” “The Gadarene”
Is there anything Michael Milton can’t do? He’s written numerous books, leads the Reformed Theological Seminary, and hosts a Bible study program on DIRECTV. And he has now released three CDs of plaintive spiritual folk that are musically opulent and emotionally stirring. Milton and his collaborators—including singer/songwriter Michael Card—have crafted an uncommonly varied set of songs, ably tackling bluegrass, lite rock, and country. It skews too heavily on the side of mellow, leisurely paced material, but still pulls off some unexpected moments like the arresting strings and piano that mark the closing track, “Eclogue for the Church Triumphant,” which, heard free of Milton’s reading from Revelations 21:5, reminded me of no less than the Lou Reed/John Cale collaboration Songs for Drella.
Copyright © 2011 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
