Customer Reviews

Beauty Will Rise

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I bought this album for my wife's birthday. As someone who has struggled with my faith for many years I have been quite cynical towards Christian music. I have often said that it's a watered down version of secular music with a one-dimensional theme. "If you've heard one contemporary Christian song, you've heard them all".

However, I was interested to listen to this album after hearing about the circumstances surrounding it. Being a father of two myself, I can't imagine going through what SCC has endured. I wanted to see how a person could craft songs around such a personal experience.

What I heard was nothing short of a true artistic masterpiece. Every time you listen to this album you find a new message to receive. On one hand it can be overwhelmingly depressing and it is very difficult to listen to without tearing up. And yet on the other hand it is one of the most truly inspirational collections of music I've ever heard. And like all great art not only does it contain several layers of depth, it only gets better with time.

As I said before, I struggle with the Christian faith I was raised under. I have questioned God's existence and even dismissed all religion as an easy way to explain complicated truths. But one thing I realized after hearing this album is that it's easy for a person to turn away from their faith when the unspeakable happens. And no one would blame a person for doing so. But it takes great strength to publicly affirm your faith in the face of such adversity. I have seen no better vehicle of ministry in recent years than this album. It has compelled a guy like me to write a review of a "Christian" album. Unfortunately I think the Christian label will prevent it from receiving the wide exposure that it should get. I think everybody has something to gain by giving "Beauty Will Rise" a listen.

After the tragedy that struck the Chapman family in May 2008, I knew that Steven's next album was sure to be a completely different experience, and I was very curious as to what Beauty Will Rise would sound like.

The day I watched him perform the song "Beauty Will Rise" live on YouTube, I was blown away. The words and the message spoke right to my heart and comforted many of my personal despairs & troubles . . . God spoke to me amazingly through that song and it became my instant favorite.

Of course I was eager to hear the rest of songs---and having heard them now, I still am astonished at how much the lyrics seem to have been written exactly for my problems---God used and is using these songs to remind and comfort me.

"I Will Trust You" is a another favorite of mine. The opening lyrics describe how desperate Steven felt ("I don't even want to breathe right now") , and yet he continues on with hope ("I will trust you/Even when I don't understand")---("Your plans for me are better than my own").

In "Our God Is In Control" , "Jesus Will Meet You There", & "Faithful", we are reminded that no matter how terrible and wrong things are going, even worse than we could have ever imagined, God is there, in control, and He is faithful.

"SEE" & "February 20th" are tender, wholly heartfelt songs that triggered many emotions in me. Just the way Steven sings "SEE" was enough to move me deeply. These are the sad and tearful songs---especially "SEE"---gently comforting and reminding us that joy is coming ("Just wait and SEE").

"Heaven Is The Face" & "Just Have To Wait" are sort of bittersweet songs that both deal with Steven's intense longing to get to heaven, where he can dance, laugh and play his daughter again---all the things he misses and can't wait for once more. ("But I/Oh I/Just have to wait/Cause I know that day's coming")

"Questions" & "God Is It True? (Trust Me)" both tackle all the struggles, wrestles and questions that appear through all our pains and tribulations, and again assures us that God is there, and He is saying "Trust Me".

Finally, "Spring Is Coming" is an uplifting and deeply encouraging song that is the perfect ending to the album. Even though things seem dead and lifeless now, "Spring is coming/And all we've been hoping and longing for/Soon will appear/"

Steven's style is as unique as ever, this time centering heavily on acoustic guitar, supported by piano and cello.

A truly wonderful album, more than words can say.

Wow. I can't think of a cd filled with as much raw emotion as this one. Steven Curtis Chapman lays all his heart-wrenching questions about life, faith, and God out there. Knowing all that his family has been through over the last year and a half since the tragic death of their daughter, this cd is difficult to listen to, and yet it serves as a reminder that there is hope in Almighty God. He brings us into his world of pain and hope. The music is great, to be sure, but it's the lyrics that will grab you and bring you in. Through this cd, the Gospel came alive for me in a way that it has not in quite some time. This music will be a reminder that God is faithful even in the most unbelievable circumstances.

Chapman's conclusion, even in the midst of questions and circumstances I pray I'm never faced with, is found at the end of the song SEE: "Taste and see that the Lord is good," from Psalm 34:8. May you catch a small taste from this music.

Prime Cuts: Our God is in Control, Heaven is the Face, February 20th

Sometimes tears have away to wash away the manufactured superficiality encasing so many modern songs today. Though Chapman is by no means a nouveau in the contemporary Christian music market, lately his songs possess a platonic platitude. However, a freak accident tragically took away the life of one of his adoptive daughters devastating the Chapman family. After one and a half years of struggling with the pain of the tragedy, Chapman finally chronicles his pain in the light of God's Word via these 12 newly penned songs. What functions as this album's trump card is that Chapman is not afraid to confess his fears, doubt, pain and frustrations. Yet not all is left in the mire of self pity and despair. Rather, hope and faith in the sovereignty of God amidst suffering beams just as bright over the course of the CD. At the end of the day, this is one of the most balanced albums in Chapman's illustrious career.

Personal references to the death of Maria are especially poignant in the piano-led "February 20th." The title refers to the day Maria came to know Christ as her Lord and Savior, just three months shy before her death. The tracks is blanched with so much melancholy that ought to strike a chord with anyone who has had suffered lost. Despite its sleek rhythm beat, album opener and current single "Heaven is the Face" details Chapman's fatherly grief of losing his daughter. But these songs are not just specific to the catastrophic plight of the Champans, there's a universality rhetoric to them that has ways of reaching those who are suffering. Words like these from the popish acoustic "See" echoes the universal cries of the suffering, "But right now all I can say is, 'Lord, how long?' / Before You come and take away this aching / This night of weeping seems to have no end / But when the morning light breaks through / We'll open up our eyes and we will see... / Wait and see / Oh taste and see that the Lord is good / The Lord is good."

What makes "Beauty Will Rise" such a spiritual treasure trove is that Chapman knows that grief left alone will only evolve into bitterness and destruction. Rather, grief can only find healing when it's brought before the throne of God in worship. Such is the theme of the treacly worship anthem "Our God is In Control." The title track "Beauty Will Rise," a declaration of faith in the reliability of God, is old-school Chapman with this multiple Dove award winner rocking his boots off with his screeching electric riffs and pulsating drum beat. Continuing on the same theme is "Jesus Will Meet You There" here Chapman paints vignettes of Christ and his comforting presence in various trying times.

With the current obsession of today's messages on prosperity and well-being, it's easy to be too earthly-blinded for any heavenly good. However, tragedy has a way of re-directing us towards thinking about death, the after-life and heaven. "Just Have to Wait" is sober comfort for those whose trust is in Christ, yet it has a way of poking the unbeliever to think of the after-life in non-preachy yet compelling ways. On the whole, Chapman's "Beauty Will Rise" is an important sonic tome in the canon of contemporary Christian music. "Beauty Will Rise" not only addresses one of human being most searching questions, the question of suffering, but it also provides the best answer. Only in God's sovereign grace, can one find healing, insights and spiritual strength.

I have been a fan of Steven Curtis Chapman for 20 years now, and I am "Speechless" right now. This is a very different album from SCC, to say the least. This album is stripped down to basically acoustic guitars, a piano and a chello, which is the perfect tone for this c.d.. I was able to really feel the pain, the sorrow, the grief, the joy, the praise and all the raw emotion that this album is meant to feel. I knew Steven would pour his heart out on ths album, and he did. He wasnt afraid to tell us how he feels, and I respect that. This is the perfect album if you have lost a loved one or if you are feeling the day in and day out pains that life brings to all of us. This album is a must have.

Life hits full force with a series of circumstances that break our hearts and the hearts of those we love. After a great time of joy, all of a sudden things turn...unexpectedly. The news hits as we relive that phone call, that moment, that news that changed our lives forever.

Steven Curtis Chapman's new album, Beauty Will Rise, was written for such a time as this. Being hailed as Chapman's "most personal album to date," Beauty Will Rise releases a year and a half after the world learned of the tragic death of Chapman's young daughter, Maria. The songs are contemporary versions of biblical psalms full of poetic lamentation, proclamation, grief, and thoughtful memories--all overlaid with persistent hope for the future and praise for God.

All twelve tracks on Beauty Will Rise are excellently crafted--some are gentle like the album's first single "Heaven Is The Face" while the title track, "Beauty Will Rise" goes for a bolder, faster melody. Each song is fused with raw emotion that grips the heart. Each time I listen to the album, I have a new favorite song, lyric, or melody. It's that kind of album.

Beauty Will Rise is profound-no matter what your place of suffering--because it shows that hope for healing rests in God alone. Steven Curtis Chapman lets us walk through his pain as we try to make sense of our own. In fact, if I may be so transparent, I have yet to listen to this album without dissolving into tears--for loved ones I miss, for words that ring so true in the difficulties in my life, and for the ever-persistent notion that life can hurt but God is still good.

*I received a revew copy of this product from Sparrow Records--don't want to anger the FTC or anything.*

July 4, 1984, at 2:30 P. M., our telephone rang and the director of a Christian camp which our two sons were attending told us that our twelve year old son had drowned. No one came to the door to tell us this news, just a phone call. I remember I was making homemade ice cream and I remember the sound of the ice cream maker turning slowly. At that moment, our life as we had known it changed forever.

My husband was a pastor, so we were not strangers to asking God to watch over us and our family. People came and said the same words I had spoken myself to people who had lost loved ones. But I didn't want to hear it--I wanted my child back.

When I listened to Steven Curtis Chapman's CD Beauty will Rise, I knew how he could write those lyrics--the moment by moment walk through a valley that is deep and dark. I also know that somewhere in that valley there are signs of dawn such as when the sun is rising over a mountain. You can't quite see it, but the light is near.

The song "Questions" most touched me the first time I listened--indeed we "just have to wait" for all those questions we have to be answered. I found I couldn't pray, but I knew my family and church family and friends were praying for us. I don't think I ever understood how much God loved me, until he walked me from one day to the other with just enough strength for the moment. I would take long walks--and when I started out, I would think, Lord, I can't stand this, I cannot go on." But then, a peace would come over me that gave me hope I would be able to go on. This peace didn't last for long, but long enough to give me hope and courage. And then, as time passed, God did bring healing--a long and slow process and washed with many, many tears.

So many years have gone by,and I still want to hold my child, but I will see him again, and I will hear him say, "Mommy, Mommy, you're here!" Oh yes, indeed, "Jesus Will Meet You There" and "Spring Is Coming." I know it's true. I'm just waiting.

Thank you Steven Curtis Chapman for putting into song the longings and musings and sorrows and questions in the hearts of those of us who have lost something so precious as our child.

I'm truly speechless right now. Here is a living example of the wonder of God's Grace. A living reflection of the "Father's Heart". It's been many, many years since I was witness to something that could only be of God - the last time was Keith Green.

This is a journey that could have been so much about the human experience of such a tragedy (and this would have been more then understandable) but instead it is a journey reflecting God's abounding Grace and Love, a living script of what SCC and family have experienced WITH God.

Thank you Father for the gifts you have bestowed on SCC, and thank you for his obedience.

In May of 2008, the Chapman family suffered the loss of their youngest daughter in a horrible accident. Out of the pain and anguish comes this very personal, very honest, very moving disc.

And before I go further, you must buy the CD as such. While the notes don't give much background, they do discuss the story behind each song here. It truly adds so much meat to the disc. And, frankly, it moved me to tears almost the entire time I was reading it.

Given the serious nature of the theme, the music is very subdued here. Most of the songs are slower, with acoustic guitar or piano forming the base with lots of strings for texture. There are percussion and other instruments, but they are very light. Normally, I might complaint about that, but here it really works.

What you will find as you listen to these songs is a man who is clinging to God and his faith while still struggling with his grief. On some songs, like "Heaven is the Face" or "Just Have to Wait," there is a man longing for the joy of Heaven. "Jesus Will Meet You There" and "Spring is Coming" offer hope in the pain. But other songs are very raw, songs like "SEE," "Questions," and even "Our God is in Control." Steven doesn't hide his pain or any of the emotions he has struggled with. Honestly, I must admit I wonder just how he recorded some of these songs. But while the songs don't offer all the answers, the simple faith in God and reminders that he is good enough are much more powerful because of it.

About the only song here that doesn't work for me is "February 20th." The song is about little Maria's conversion. I can't quite place my finger on why, but it is the weak link for me.

I will admit I have to question if this disc will get played as often as his other discs. With one overall theme, I'm not sure it will always appeal. I am sure it will be a constant companion for those going through trials. And the emotional honesty makes it absolutely worth getting for that reason.

If Steven had released just another disc, I would have bought it and enjoyed it. But his willingness to be vulnerable to his fans like this makes me respect him so much more. It may not be a classic, but it is a very important work his fans will appreciate. And the honesty might even reach beyond them.

Once I was finally able to wipe away the tears and really listen to the lyrics, I was astonished at their quality. It is not enough to just repeat the same phrases over and over, or lean on all the religious cliches when writing and singing about something as devastating as the loss of a child. One must speak the truth, simply and directly. And I would not have been impressed with this if Stephen had insisted that she was in a better place and that he simply couldn't wait to see her again. Instead the words are a frank exploration of grief and faith and the questions we all face when we lose someone precious to us. I predict that this album will be a great comfort to parents of children who are waiting on the other side. As it was to me.

Well said, Stephen. Well said.