Mezzamorphis

Is this not one of the best album covers ever? Love the look on his face. You can’t often combine cute and awesome like this. Click on the image make it bigger and see how cute Losiah really is.

Oh, and the EP is phenomenal too. Go buy it from iTunes and help Carlos get to #1. Worship music with some drive to it, phenomenal lyrics, and just overall awesome. Can’t wait for the full disc to come out in a couple months. My favorite song on here so far is “We Will Worship” but “Jesus Saves” is moving up the list too. I”m fairly certain that we’ll be introducing these into worship in the next few months. I’m starting to get a fairly long list of new worship songs. This could be good and bad.

Back in 1995, sitting in my dorm room at college, one of my friends came in and said “You’ve gotta hear this band! They’re awesome!” He yanks out whatever was in my CD player at the time, tosses it aside, and sticks in a disc by a group of guys I’d never heard of. They had a distinctive sound, at least compared to what was on the Christian scene at the time. While so many bands have come and gone in the subsequent years, Third Day has continued to grow musically, spiritually, and in popularity. Three Grammy awards, 23 Dove awards, 10 studio albums, and 13 years later the Georgia-based band release their 11th album, Revelation.

The first half of this album rocks. “This Is Who I Am” is a raucous kick-start to the album, relying on hard-strumming acoustic guitar, heavy drums, and the electric sound so many are used to hearing. The next track, “Slow Down”, brings the Revelation train back a gear, but not by much. This song, which also features Chris Daughtry, is a well-crafted plea that all of us could heed, to slow down and let God take over.

“Call My Name”, released back in April as a single, is mellow and melodic, while maintaining a solid guitar backbone. It plays out like a love song from Jesus to us. Hard-driving drums introduce “Run To You”, steadily keeping time to this discordant and quite beautiful song. The title track, “Revelation”, begins with a piano solo, but is quickly joined by the rest of the band. “Give me a revelation/I’ve got nothing without you” is the central theme of the song, asking God for a fresh view of His grace. Closing out the first half of the album is “Otherside”, a bluesy, Clapton-esqe tune that reminds me a great deal of the song “Blackbird” from their 1995 major label debut.

The second half of Revelation eases up off the throttle, retaining the classic Third Day sound, but with a lighter quality. “Let Me Love You” is a breezy, radio-ready love song, which would probably get heavy airplay on mainstream radio. The catchy “I Will Always Be True” has the same basic qualities as the previous song, with just a little harder edge. Not that it’s a bad song, it’s just odd that two songs with such similarities would be back-to-back on the album. “Born Again”, a duet with Flyleaf’s Lacey Mosely, describes a journey from the realization by the singer that he isn’t a good as he thought he was, to the feeling of being born again.

Bluegrass makes an appearance in “Give Love”, which gives way to “Caught Up In Yourself”, a steady, almost James Bond sounding cautionary tale to those of us who have a hard time surrendering ourselves to God. “Ready” returns Third Day to their rock roots, driving the album steadily to its final song, “Take It All”. Nearly a praise chorus, the lyrics are a plea to God to “Take it all/Cause I can’t take it any longer/With all I have/I can’t make it on my own/Take the first, take the last/Take the good and take the rest/Here I am, all I have/Take it all”.

Overall, Revelation is a good album. The music is a maturation of the classic Southern rock Third Day is known for to something more modern, all while maintaining their identity. Topped with Mac Powell’s inimitable voice, Third Day has the ingredients for another hugely popular and artistic album. The only complaint that I have is that it seemed to get down into a rut in the middle of the disc. Revelation is a worthy addition to your music collection whether you are a old Third Day fan or not.

What happens when a band that you love disappears? They decide to give it all up and move on to something else? It’s not that their music isn’t good anymore, or that they aren’t working well together, they just decide that the time is right to go their separate ways. Such a thing has happened to Delirious?.

On Sunday, I woke up to this email:

Press Release for Delirious? Sunday 6th July 2008

The End of an Era……

We would like to address all our fans, our friends and people around the world who have faithfully supported Delirious?

After 14 albums, thousands of shows in front of millions of people, and many extraordinary memories, we have decided that at the end of 2009 we will take a break from recording and playing as a band.

Our decision was triggered by a request from Martin to be released from the band to pursue new projects including his work with CompassionArt and the desire to be at home more with Anna and his children. We have of course honoured this request and made a decision together that now is the time to end this chapter of our lives.

We will continue to play and be excited about our current tours and bookings but will not be adding many more over the coming 17 months..
We are all so deeply grateful to our incredible fans who have sung the songs and allowed Delirious? the privilege of providing the soundtrack to many lives over the years. From the school hall in Littlehampton to the stadiums of the world we have many stories to tell our children’s children. Delirious also would not be what it is without our amazing wives and families, and our gratitude to them is immense. We will now move forward to the next part of our lives where new challenges unfold and greater stories will be written.

We want to make it absolutely clear that although this decision has been extremely painful and difficult, we are still great friends and our respect for each other is unquestionable. We love playing in this band together and know that even though 2009 will bring an end to this current journey, there will be more adventures together in years to come.

We always used to say that we were ‘taking it wherever it goes’. The music ended up going further and deeper than we could ever have dreamed, yet we are now at a point where our creative futures will spread out and take on different journeys.

Thanks again for believing in us through all these years. We believe the best is yet to come.

Jon, Martin, Paul, Stu G and Tim

I have to say, this is something not normally seen outside the Christian music subculture. I can think of several bands that I have really enjoyed, yet few of them last forever with the same lineup. PFR didn’t stay together, dc Talk split into Kevin Max, Tait, and tobyMac, WhiteHeart and Petra rarely employed the same lineups during their years. Christian bands just don’t seem to have the need to continue filling auditoriums and traveling so much. I think with individual artists it is very different, as they can get home easier (and cheaper) than a five-piece band can. Bands exist for a time, grow older, have kids and families, and move on.

How do I feel about Delirious? fading into the background? A bit sad, as they are obviously my favorite band. However, I’m also excited for the future. Martin’s CompassionArt work is really a phenomenal idea, and something which brings the Kingdom to those who are hurting. I’m sure that Stu G will be putting out some solo work, and Jon and Tim will find something to do. Poor Paul just joined the band in May. I’ve long wanted to see their yearly Christmas show at Shepherds Bush Empire in London, but unless I find a way to get there this year or next, it probably won’t happen. I just hope they swing back through North Texas before the end of next year, so I can take my kids to their first (and last) Delirious? concert.

All that said, God bless each of the families involved. You’ve made some great music, provided unbelievable shows, and pressed the kingdom of God forward into places where many of us couldn’t imagine going. That is truly the legacy of Delirious?.