Iconoclasm
David A. Baer | Indianapolis, IN USA | 02/27/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"In the spiritually searching 1970's of my adolescence, two men and a guitar burst onto the nascent Christian music scene with an enigmatic one-word label and a strange penchant for lapsing into Hebrew.
These guys were 'Lamb'. They brought to their musical genre a Messianic Jewish angle that now seems almost commonplace, but which at the time was anything but that. As a teenager, I was taken by the deep currents of biblical ideas, biblical feeling, and biblical language that interpenetrated their music.
Predictably, Lamb had a limited appeal. Perhaps less predictably, they defined a wing of what would become known as 'scripture in song' in compelling and suggestive ways. All 'messianic' musicians and many plain vanilla Christian singers owe them a debt of gratitude.
The assortment of songs included on this anthology are sometimes poignant. For example, the Song of Ruth still moves the heart decades after its composition and first hearing. 'Comfort Ye My People' goes beyond this and is accurately described as haunting. Other entries are whimsical. A few are to be judged as failed, though Lamb as an act was daring and merits kudos.
Lamb was a very find thing indeed. This anthology convinces its listener that this is still true."
There's nothing else like it
L. Meyers | El Segundo, CA United States | 10/07/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This album is like no other that I've ever listened to, aside from the previously mentioned penchant for lapsing into Hebrew. It's very primitive by some musical standards - there's no digital mixing or fancy scoring. It's just some guys with their guitars and piano, maybe some strings and drums, singing songs about their love for their Messiah Yeshua and their Jewish heritage and their desire to see their Jewish brothers recognize Yeshua as their Messiah.
"The Sacrifice Lamb" is an incredible explanation of the life and atonement that only Yeshua can bring to the Jewish people, if only they will believe and stop trying to obtain it for themselves, because of course they can't. The rest of the album is a mix of praise and devotion to God (both in English and Hebrew), repentance, love for and sorrow over the state of Jerusalem and her people and desire for them to call on the name of the Lord, and songs based on beloved passages, such as Ruth 1:16-17.
The album is very mellow by today's standards of music, but worshipful, meditative and thought-provoking. You're not likely to get up and shout and dance with these songs, but rather sit quietly in awe of God and his Son, Yeshua ha Meshiach."
