Chris Tomlin
Christmas seems to be coming earlier each year. It’s just the beginning of October, yet peeking out behind the smiling jack o’ lanterns displays at Wal-Mart are red and green Christmas stockings and tinsel. That must mean it’s time for a new crop of Christmas albums to be released, and Chris Tomlin’s much-anticipated Christmas offering comes out this Tuesday. So, is it worth buying in October, or should you wait until it’s on sale in January?
Worship leader extraordinaire Tomlin’s latest is titled Glory in the Highest: Christmas Songs of Worship. Produced by mega-producer and friend, Ed Cash, the album features Tomlin singing with a choir of musically-gifted friends. This atmosphere of many voices adds to the album’s theme, that of celebrating Christ’s birth along with the angels, and most of the song choices reflect that theme. It’s nice to have a cohesive album, instead of just a random selecting of favorite Christmas songs, reflecting a distinct choice on Tomlin and Cash’s parts.
Even so, while the music is well-done, the majority of it is nothing new. It wasn’t surprising or amazing; it was just what I would have expected from Tomlin. It sounds just like what he’s known for producing: music for the masses. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but a little boring. It’s like when Grandma brings her fruitcake to Christmas dinner; you like the fruitcake because Grandma made it and it’s the same goodness it is every year, but you wish just once she’d go on the Food Network website and try Paula Deen’s recipe for five-layer bars. I will concede that it is hard to put a twist on Christmas carols. It’s almost all been done before. That’s why it’s imperative that the album catches the listener’s ear. Tomlin succeeded in some tracks (see: “Winter Snow,” last paragraph), but others are pretty blah.
Tomlin covers many of the familiar carols such as “Angels We Have Heard On High” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” Nothing all that interesting about these renditions, but solid choices anyway. Tomlin welcomes Christy Nockels to lead vocals on an a cappella version of “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.” He also collaborates with Matt Redman on “Light of the World.” The choir behind each of these songs gives the feeling of a candlelight Christmas service at any local church. Again, not a bad feel, but nothing different from any other Tomlin offering. Tomlin does offer a slightly different take on “Joy to the World” with an added chorus that proclaims “Joy, unspeakable joy/ An overflowing well, no tongue can tell/ Joy, unspeakable joy/ Rises in my soul, never lets me go.” The addition adds new pep and groove to an old classic, but even this is something Tomlin’s done before, with his take on “Amazing Grace” from 2006’s See the Morning.
Tomlin does have a few original songs, but none stick out as amazing. “Emmanuel” refers to both the manger and the crucifixion scenes, and “My Soul Magnifies the Lord” is a take on Mary’s words in Luke. Also, Tomlin re-recorded his song “Glory in the Highest,” also from See the Morning, a song which fits in well with the rest of the album. Singing it with a choir gives the already strong track more emotional power than the original.
But (I hope you’re still reading) the standout track of the album is most certainly the final song. This song, titled “Winter Snow,” is fantastic. Written and sung by newcomer Audrey Assad, the track is a beautiful piano-driven ballad about Christ’s birth. It slows the album to a close with Assad’s angelically sweet voice singing about how “You came like a winter snow/ Quiet, soft, and slow/ Falling from the sky in the night/ to the earth below.” Tomlin sings harmony on this song, never overwhelming Assad but blending nicely with her. The song is wonderfully delicate and reminds the listener of really how amazing it is that Christ came as He did, powerless and tiny, to the world He would save.
Conclusion: do not walk, but run your fingers to iTunes and to the button that buys “Winter Snow,” and do so right now. If you’re a Tomlin fan in need of another Christmas album, buy the rest of the album as well. I personally enjoy Tomlin’s work, so I enjoyed the album; I just would like to see Tomlin take more risks in the future. Regardless, Glory in the Highest is a solid addition to anyone’s Christmas CD collection, just as long as you do not need to be blown away by anything unexpectedly great.
Sara Kelm is finishing up her Writing/Literature degree at Newberg, OR's George Fox University and awaiting God's call about where to go next. In the meantime, she enjoys reading for fun, Skyping with her Canadian family, and watching Paul Newman movies.
Monday Dec 7th, 2009 • View all posts by Sara Kelm • View all posts in Album Reviews
↓ 18 comments
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Hey this is a great review!
I’m not sure a cd that’s given a score of 5/10 requires someone to rush to iTunes and buy it. Maybe if it was on sale for 4 or 5 bucks but an average cd isn’t worth full price.
Aaron, not to be nitpicky, but Lynn was not suggesting you run to buy the whole album. Rather, she wants you to run and pick up “Winter Snow,” the track with Audrey Assad, which is definitely an album highlight.
And Lynn, I’ve gotta agree with you on this one. It’s textbook Tomlin. It’s good but it’s not anything new either…
“Textbook Tomlin” is an apt description as, since the first two Tomlin albums, his music has been about as exciting as reading through a statistics manual.
Um Andrew, the reviewer was Sara, not lynn. lol. anyways, Sara, it was wonderful. well written, exactly on par, i heard this one too and fully agree. nice analogies as well!
Thanks for catching that, Grace…That’s what I get for posting anything before the sun goes up..:) Sorry Sara…But I still agree with your review!
You people call yourselves Christians? You’re a brood of vipers. This album is AWESOME.
That’s pretty cold, Brook. While we maybe didn’t think the album was Tomlin’s finest, I for one and, Sara in her review as well, both liked it. We just thought it lacked any range of growth or experimentation for him as an artist…
Now does that align us with Satan and his “brood of vipers?” If so, well, we’re all in trouble…
Brood of vipers. Man, that’s new.
This is the point where we quietly wonder if Brook was adding a little sarcasm to her words… or if she’s seriously that much of a crazed religous zealot that thinks the stamp “Christian” makes every piece of art a masterpiece.
…I’m guessing (read: hoping) the former. : )
This is the funniest thing I have ever read. Brood of vipers? Thank God I’m a deist.
I love the Vipers comment! I am going to take it as sarcasm even if it wasn’t. As one who plays almost every Sunday, and is around church musicians, I can attest sometimes we (as musicians) can be very harsh on Tomlin. He is our focal point at times.
In the past two Sundays our worship band has played Joy to the World, Emmanuel, and My Soul Magnifies. Having to learn the songs and lead lines has given me a slightly stronger appreciation for these songs. Tomlin may be considered safe music but I am thankful for being able to play songs that are not as tired as the normal tunes we break out this time of year. The fact that we don’t have to worry if worshipers can keep up only adds to his songs popularity.
I’ve got to agree, Greg. I’ve sat with these songs some more and I think that we, and in that I include myself, tend to underappreciate Tomlin. Sure, he creates pretty straightforward, predictably singable worship tracks but that’s what he’s trying to do! He’s trying to write songs for congregational worship and this one does just that, updating and making accessible a range of Christmas songs. It’s one of those catch-22 moments in some ways, I think…
@Andrew; well said.
Greg and Andrew, you both raise good points. Thank you.
Yeah, that’s really all it is. I try my best to create anthems for the church and write what God places on my heart. Sorry if some don’t care for it, but I really can’t worry about anything but being faithful to that.
I personally own every one of Tomlin’s albums and enjoy them incredibly. Obviously, his Christmas album didn’t do much for me personally, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hit others in a meaningful way. I’m a fan of Tomlin and what he does for the church, and I agree with Andrew that he is often underappreciated in the Christian culture’s rush to be “edgy” and “happening.”
Does it Resonate with you?