Promise Keepers

Item: The Awakening
Author: Bert Gangl

The Awakening

(2005)

Reviewed by Bert Gangl

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Label Integrity MusicThe Phantom Tollbooth2005

ccm pop rock worship

Borrowing their namesake from the Promise Keepers men's ministry's "Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper," worship leaders and studio musicians collectively known as PK7 offers an eleven-track collection of new and known praise choruses and hymns as a soundtrack of sorts for the 2005 Promise Keepers rallies. "I Am Free" kicks things off with a stirring slice of piano-driven modern rock that falls half way between Coldplay's "Clocks" and U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name." The infectious, blue-eyed soul of "Again I Say Rejoice" invokes Clay Crosse's "Savin' The World." And the engaging "Sing to the King" sounds, for lack of a better analogy, like a spirited men's chorus from the Sixties covering Tree 63 or Sanctus Real.

The energy level sags a bit around the midpoint of the record. "Strong Tower" calls to mind a Bo Bice-fronted black gospel choir. As appealing as such a combination might sound, though, the track, along with others like "How Great Is Our God," lacks a distinctive hook or melody to render them memorable once they've concluded. In the same way, "Rescue" starts out promisingly, thanks to its poignant, hauntingly dissonant piano work, before trailing off into generic anthemic pop/rock by song's end.

Things perk up again, however, by album's end. The megaphonic, lead vocals and chiming guitars of "It's Time," despite their liberal borrowing from the U2 and Delirious songbooks, are hard not to get swept up into. "Still," with its smooth, adult-contemporary-meets-R&B vibe, offers a pleasant segue between the vigorous first half of the project and the more subdued fare which follows. The majestic orchestral piece "In Christ Alone" could well have been used as a soundtrack entry for an epic movie. And "Today (As for Me and My House)" combines superbly understated vocals and airy, gently ebbing and flowing instrumental backing to absolutely splendid effect.

Older listeners pleased with the inclusion of AC-inclined songs like "Still" might not take a shine to the record's more rock-oriented entries. Likewise, those in the Gen-X crowd are likely to find the PK7 collective's stabs at modern rock a bit lacking -- capturing its outward trappings fairly well, but failing to truly take hold of the underlying spirit and attitude of the genre. Indeed, one would have a hard time imagining droves of 20- and 30-somethings hocking their Choir and 3 Doors Down CDs to buy the Awakening release.

That said, the vocals on the effort are strong throughout -- the Achilles heel of many a modern rock outfit -- and the backing band performs tightly, if sometimes a bit clinically, throughout. Aimed at either the youth group or the over-fifty crowd, the album admittedly comes up short. Taken on its own merits, on the other hand, it stands as a reasonably consistent and engaging set of worship songs that should play out quite nicely in the arena or stadium settings. And, given that such is its ostensible aim, it could rightly be considered a success.

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