Customer Reviews

Child of the Promise

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a huge fan of Westcoast music, many of which feature great keyboard and piano-based ballads with great vocal harmonies. I became familiar with Michael Omartian after seeing his name on many CDs. This CD is amazing. I have been listening to it for about 5 days straight at work, at home, etc. The music is addictive, the singing is diverse, and the CD works really well for me. Most of all, the songwriting and piano/keyboard playing, along with the arrangements, by Michael Omartian is unbelieveable. I highly recommend this!

This is NOT one of your typical Christmas CDs. It's much better! This CD is the story of Baby Jesus' birth, written and produced by the Omartians. Michael Omartian is the man behind the huge hits of Donna Summer, Rod Stewart, Christopher Cross, and so many others. (I particularly LOVE his production with Summer's Christmas CD-Christmas Spirit!) This music is simply breathtaking as it takes you through each character's performance in the story. Standout performances are Donna Summer (When the Dream Never Dies) and Richard Marx, Vince Gill, and Amy Grant. This Christmas musical is also touring around the country. If you see it advertised, be sure to buy tickets. You won't be disappointed. Great stuff!!!!

Child of the promise is the real story of Christmas which (contrary to popular belief) has nothing to do with Santa, reindeer, holly and snowmen. It is a musical which tells the story of Christ's birth, from the promise made by God, to the wisemen and shepherds, and his birth in the manger heralded by angels.

Written and produced by Michael Omartian, it features a stellar line up: Crystal Lewis as Mary, Amy Grant as Anna the prophetess, Donna Summer as Elisabeth, as well as Howard hewitt, Richard Marx and Michael W Smith to mention a few.

Most of the songs are dramatic ballads, standouts being 'When the dream never dies' by Donna Summer as Elisabeth holding on to the promise from God of a child at her old age (excellent vocal performance), the almost waltzing 'I cannot be silent' by Crystal Lewis and Donna Summer both singing praise to God for the great thing He was about to do in their lives, the moving 'What my eyes have seen' by Vince Gill & Amy Grant, and the awesome worship song 'We have come to worship him' performed by the shepherds.

There's the upbeat comical 'Nothing ever happens to a shepherd' where the shepherds were lamenting their boring lot in life, just before an angelic visitation, and the upbeat, joyous, funky 'Glory to God' performed by Russ Taff and the Celebration choir, performing as angels celebrating Christ's birth.

In between the songs are spoken/sung skits which help tell the awesome story of Christmas. A worthy addition to any music collection.

I absolutely love this CD. With the wide collection of talents and voice styles, one would wonder how it could be any good, but the artists manage to combine their talents to create a superb piece of work. My favorite piece is "We Have Come to Worship Him", which combines the talents of Wayne Watson, Bob Carlisle, Michael W. Smith, and Gary Chapmen, four men who have very distinctive voices but managed to make themselves sound as one in this beautifully worshipful piece of music. I highly recommend this CD if you don't already have it!

My first exposure to this recording was during some choir rehersals for this performance. My choir at school was offered to sing this big event with many Christian artists performing. I am truly amazed by this music and its power. All of the artists gave so much of themselves to the words and there meanings. Crystal Lewis was incredible and so was Twila Paris and Steven Curtis Chapman, some very talented artists gave so much to this production. The young Rachael Lampa shines and Anna, she posseses an amazing vocal gift. Not to mention she is very sweet in person:) In conclusion I reccomend that you give this recording a listen and try to make the production if you can.

We have had this album for over 9 years and still love it!! We listen to it all the time whether it is Christmas season or not. It's such a beautiful timeless story!

I only saw the musical on TBN and my children and I loved it. It was great singing and glorifying to God. It's fun to see and hear Chrsytal Lewis singing Mary, Steven Curtis Chapman singing Joseph, etc. One of my favorites were the shepherds and Gabriel w/ the huge choir, very powerful,also Herod did a great job. I thought it would be fun to be able to perform it ourselves. I would love to buy the DVD, but haven't been able to find it.

I had owned this CD previously and somehow misplaced it ... actually it might have been the one that got stuck inside my CD player when it died, but I was missing two CD's so I am not sure which one or both that the CD player ate. This is a great CD! It tells the entire Christmas story from each parties' perspective. If you like Broadway musicals this would be a great musical for the Christmas story. I was very sad when I lost my CD so I had to buy another one! This would make a great gift!

We saw Child of the Promise live in Cleveland a number of years ago. The live performance was spectacular, but it was over in a couple of hours. The music has lived on in our home ever since. I love the music. The silly song, "Nothing Ever Happens to a Shepherd", is probably my favorite, but the whole thing is great.

This is a fantastic way to tell the beautiful story of Jesus' birth and those surrounding it. Fabulous voices, music and words! I can see the events happening in my head as they sing. This cd is a treasure to me.