Every year, we offer our list of the year's 12 most impressive worship albums, calling attention to music we believe will most bless the church and draw hearts closer to God. Our annual list remains unranked (listed alphabetically by artist's last name) to avoid implying that one form of worship is better than another. The finalists are typically selected based on creativity and originality as it relates to encouraging Christians to worship their Creator—through song or private contemplation.

But this year, many worship albums were concerned less with original songwriting and more with spirited presentation. The year included more than a dozen albums featuring new arrangements of old hymns, as well as recordings that reworked familiar worship standards with new energy and inspiration. These CDs reflect a growing tendency toward "blended worship" in the church, crossing generational, denominational and style-of-music barriers to bring together the worshiping body of Christ.

Men and Angels Say

Ashley Cleveland (Rambler Records)

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The first of this year's parade of hymn projects comes from one of Christian music's most highly regarded yet vastly underrated artists. Ashley Cleveland generally doesn't over-contemporize these hymns, nor does she keep them too traditional and dry. The album succeeds because it sounds fresh while remaining true to the spirit and melody of the source material. Cleveland's signature vocal, drenched in passion and grit, carries over arrangements performed in her comfortable mix of roots rock, blues, and folk. Many of this year's hymns albums share similarities, but there are subtle differences to their source of inspiration. In Cleveland's case, she's drawn to the unifying power of hymns and the way they bring everyone in a room to attention. There's power to the songs of old, and these heartfelt renditions are indeed proof of that.

Alive Forever

Travis Cottrell (Hosanna!/Integrity)

Read the original review here.

Alive ...

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