Search - Various Artists :: Awesome God: A Tribute To Rich Mullins

Great songs weakly performed

Greg Brady | Capital City | 01/13/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"For a tribute album to be good art on its own, it should consist of artists pretending other songs are their own...living and breathing the lyric through their own sensibilities. It should NOT be a carbon-copy of the original artist down to the arrangement, way it's sung, style, etc...otherwise, why not just listen to the original? (Perhaps Reed Arvin, longtime producer for Rich, and producer of this comp says it best: "This recording is not about Rich Mullins; it's about his songs.") Unfortunately, it appears that was lost in the making of this CD.



Michael W. Smith began promisingly, by stripping back "Awesome God" to its piano base and keeping it spare. But he missteps by swelling it to the anthemic "big choir" sound that Mullins has already used. The song would be better served by keeping it "small" musically, and letting the lyrics be the "big" part of the song...



These types of things occur again and again throughout the CD...fairly unimaginative arrangements hewing way too close to Rich's to be interesting. In large part, most of this fails because of the artist's fear or inability to reinterpret Rich's material.



Most successful is Kevin Max, who takes a song I considered one of Mullins' weaker efforts ("Save Me" from his major label debut...) and COMPLETELY reinvents it sonically as a multilayered Bono-esque diatribe against superficiality. It gave me new appreciation for the song.



Gary Chapman recrafts "Elijah" as a country tune and invests passion into his vocals. (And for the reviewer who mentioned the 'rambling' story by Chapman in the liners...it's him saying in a nutshell that the opinions of God, not other frail human beings, are what counts...and that Rich lived his life in a way that showed Gary he understood that...I found his words touching.)



Other nice touches are Carolyn Arends' phrasing on one of Rich's best songs "Jacob and 2 Women"...lending extra weight to the portions told from the women's point of view...I love how this song pastes together the majesty and the mystery in God's Word. Also good are Billy Sprague's arrangement on "A Place to Stand" providing a view of a man beaten down and choosing to hope in spite of it and Ashley Cleveland's "I See You" depicting Moses as resigned to a tough calling leading the Jews to the promised land. But these moments are too few to call this a quality tribute. Sorry, Rich...maybe someone else will do this better."

Although it's not Rich singing, it's worth listening to.

Mark Baker | 11/28/1998

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I had high expectations about this album ever since I heard of it's release. So when I finally purchased the long-awaited CD-I was taken back quite a bit. Awesome God: Tribute to Rich Mullins was not what I expected. Smitty's version of "Awesome God" will send chills up your spine and this version includes a beautiful piano ballad at the beginning. As the album continues, the artists offer a very appropriate and well-done version of the song they picked. Notables include Chris Rice's "Calling Out Your Name" and Kevin Max's "Save Me". Amazingly, 3 songs appear from Rich's very first CD(Billy Sprague &Gary Chapman&Kevin Max). With the exception of Amy Grant's "Hold Me Jesus", each track reminds you who the author of these remarkable songs was!"

Honoring the Message of a Man After God's Heart

Mark Baker | 11/21/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was impressed by the artists who got a chance to put their own spin and their hearts into the songs that have in some way touched their lives. Instead of simply putting different voices to Rich's music, the songs allow listeners to hear the way the artists were moved by them. To feel them the way they felt them. Michael W. Smith's interpretation of Awesome God is nothing short of stunning. Truly worthy of a tribute. Amy Grant and Ashley Cleveland, both owners of incredible voices, do great justice to their covers: "Hold Me Jesus" (Amy), "I See You" (Ashley). My personal favorite is Chris Rice's cover of "Calling Out Your Name". His voice and feeling are reminiscent of Rich's style, and remind us of God's splendor as seen through the eyes of a complex, yet simple man. A moon spilling laughter; a single hawk bursting into flight; a horizon in flames; thunder in the sky. We are again urged to run wild with the hope that this thirst will not last long. That this soon will drown in the song not sung in vain.""