Prime Cuts:  Like the Angels, Everlasting God/How He Loves Us, God My Rock

On the altar of relevancy and youthfulness, many worship songs are sacrificed for their spiritual depth and their God-centeredness.  Not so with Brenton Brown.  Though this live disc was recorded in the worshipful presence of 4,000 energized high school age students at a Dare2Share event, Brown makes no concession to be hip at the expense of Godliness.  These 14 cuts are vertically directed songs reverently focused on the worship of the Almighty God (with the exception of "I Saw the Light").  Unlikely many of his lesser peers, Brown has not relied on any technical bells and whistles to gain traction with his younger crowd.  Rather, with Worship Republic providing the backing, the sound here is decidedly pop/rock with some touches of Americana country harkening back to the melodious soundscape of the 90s.  As for the songs, Brown has chosen to include some of his biggest worship favorites from his past records, songs he has had written for others, and 6 newly penned songs.  Though the audience participation is kept to a minimum, you can still hear the enthusiasm of his youthful audience.  This comes as no surprise as the songs of Brown have frequently made it to the power points of churches all over the globe including "Hosanna (Praise is Rising),"  "Everlasting God" and "Hallelujah (Your Love is Amazing)."         

Paul Baloche, a worship/songwriter juggernaut in his own right, has co-written three cuts here with Brown.  By far they are the album's highlights.  "Glorious," a track taken from Brown's 2011 "Our God is Mercy," was also a hit for co-writer Paul Baloche.  Brown's version is taken at a pace faster and rockier but it is still impressed with its own ballast and weight. Most familiar among the trio of Baloche cuts is "Hosanna (Praise is Rising)."  Often overshadowed by Hillsong's song of the same title, Brown's own "Hosanna" is just as arresting and here the live version certainly is a crowd favorite.  "God My Rock" is the third and newly written worship anthem with Baloche.  With such affirming lines like "You will stand when others fall/you are faithful through it all/God My Rock" this is faith building stuff at its best. 

Despite worshipping with mostly youths, Brown doesn't shy away from the hymns.  Just like what Hillsong has recently done, Brown has also tagged on newly written choruses and verses to old familiar hymns.  With an added chorus written with Jason Ingram, "Joyful' is a revamp version of "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee;" while "Jesus Take All of Me" utilizes the old Billy Graham favorite "Just as I Am" as its template.  Brown again proves that these hymns are ageless when he dresses them with sinewy guitar determinations and bombastic drum palpitations. As far as medleys go, it is a sheer delight to hear how Brown's most popular song "Everlasting God" is tagged on with a sped up version of John Mark McMillan's "How He Loves."  Though one would wish the 30 seconds tag was longer.

As for the slower ballads, do not miss "Like the Angels."  This is Brown at his poetic best:  here he describes the way Jesus loves us with richly ornamented metaphors: "You make me soar like the angels. You let me walk on the water/You let me run with white horses/Jesus my strength when all is gone." However, the odd ball on the album is Hank Williams' "I Saw the Light."  The problem is not that "I Saw the Light" is a Southern Gospel favorite but it is just out of place.  In an album directed to God in worship, it sticks like a soared thumb to have a testimonial song that sounds so dated.  Nevertheless, the album title "God My Rock" says it all:  this is a reverently vertical album that has tremendous blessings to all hungry souls coming to worship.  This is because when God is exalted faith is rebuilt, fears are removed, Satan is bound, and sin is destroyed.