Echoes of the Spirit Still Dwell

Spoken (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 16, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Metro One Music
• ASIN: B0002Y2DTA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,607 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #36 in Music > Christian > Hard Rock & Metal

Editorial Reviews

"The best praise and worship CD ever made and its HARDCORE! You'll understand when you get it! You must get it! The songs David, I Fall Short, In the Silence and The Way You Want Me To Be are perfect examples of this experience." Playlist: 1. This Path 2. Forevermore 3. David 4. Times Before 5. I Won't Lie Down 6. I Fall Short 7. A Question Alone 8. The Way You Want Me To Be 9. Goodbye 10. Ember 11. In the Silence

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raw, passionate & God-honoring hard rock to soothe your soul, October 26, 2004

By 

D. Hill "Christian Rock Enthusiast" (IL, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Echoes of the Spirit Still Dwell (Audio CD)

If you're looking for a Christian hard rock CD that has emotional, prayerful lyrics, you have come to the right place. Spoken is an amazing band of guys who really want to serve God through their music. It is Spoken's honesty and openness about their faith in God that caused this spectacular independent release to become one of the best hard rock CD's ever.

Here's how I rank each song out of 10 (with 10 being the highest):

This Path - 10

Forevermore - 9.5

David - 10

Times Before - 8

I Won't Lie Down - 8.5

I Fall Short - 9

A Question Alone - 9.5

The Way You Want Me to Be - 10

Goodbye - 8.5

Ember - 9

In the Silence - 9.5

The CD starts off with Matt Baird's pulsating screams in the incredible opener, "This Path," which was a pretty big hit in Christian rock radio in 2001 and 2002. This song is a prayerful plea to God to be a comfort and guide through tough trials and tribulations. The song starts off like this: "Father God, help me. Guide me as I swim through this sea of failure. You comfort me. You carry me. You're the only one to get me through. Wherever you go I will follow. Though this road may be so hard that I lose my way, I still will follow you."

Next comes the even bigger hit, "Forevermore," another hard rocker that continues in the same type of lyrics. It is probably the most well known on this CD and it definitely delivers in all the right ways. It has already established itself as a classic Christian hard rock song of our generation. Although it does not have the widespread popularity it deserves, it has definitely made its mark in the minds of hardcore fans of the Christian hard rock genre. "David" is another powerful song in which Baird cries out "O'h God, let your Spirit fall on me, your perfect peace comes down and amazes me." "Times Before" is a little less on the pulsating screams, and has more singing. While it is my least favorite, it is still decent enough not to skip.

"I Won't Lie Down" & "A Question Alone" were also singles to Christian radio, with the latter becoming a decent hit, and for good reason as it is one of the best songs on the CD. "I Fall Short," is great melodic rocker that doesn't disappoint. "The Way You Want Me to Be, " a major highlight of the album, is an intense 7 minutes of reflection on God that ends in a brilliant chorus of praise. When Baird repeats the phrase "I lift my hands to God because he is worthy," and then breaks out into the chorus in the end of the song, it is definitely my favorite part of the CD. It hits me every time and I want to praise God every time I hear that phrase in the song. The song builds into a big climax of all out screams although it doesn't start off with screaming. Baird whispers the lyric and then sings it louder and louder until he screams it with all of his heart and soul.

"Goodbye" is a solid song. While it isn't the best the album has to offer, it is definitely not filler either. It has its moments. "Ember" is an amazing and beautiful instrumental guitar solo. It has the most chilling guitar riff I have ever heard. Overall, it ranks second only to P.O.D.'s "Eternal" (featuring Jason Truby & Phil Keaggy) in my book as my favorite instrumental song. Finally, "In the Silence" ends the album on a spectacular note, as it is one of the best songs. The album could not end in a better way, as Baird praises God with the magnificent soaring melody: "O'h how beautiful is your name." Finally, there is a reference to praising God in heaven: "They sing your name over and over again."

Spoken is simply unlike any other. Every song is a masterpiece in its own right. My top three personal favorites are "This Path," "David," & "The Way You Want Me to Be." But this is definitely the type of CD where everybody will have different favorites. The songs that I ranked 9 or above are the songs that I just can't stop listening to. I listen to them over and over again and never get tired of them (as with the whole CD). It was very hard to pick favorites among those songs. This CD just makes me want to find Spoken's two independent releases that came out before this one. You see the greatness of Spoken does not lie in any sound that any production company can generate; it lies in the passion that God put in these guys to create these exceptional songs. So if you are weary of buying this CD because of the small label and the lack of big production, don't be. This is must buy. Period.

5.0 out of 5 stars Reminds me of the Psalms, July 30, 2009

By 

Russell Vitrano III "Russ" (TP, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Echoes of the Spirit Still Dwell (MP3 Download)

Normally when one hears "Emo music," one does not think of the Psalms. I do when I hear "Echoes of the Spirit Still Dwell," however, because most of the songs on this album are prayers and they are, in my opinion, a lot like the Psalms. I say this because the key message in this album overall seems to be about trying to do things God's way even when extremely confused, and begging God for help even when all seems lost. And it takes a certain amount of emotion most contemporary styles of music just don't admit to. The screaming took me awhile to get past at first; I wasn't used to it. A few people who heard some of the songs with me said people shouldn't scream if they're singing to God. As I listened to it more and more, however, it seemed to me that the screaming wasn't out of disrespect in any way but, like I said before--begging God for help when all seems lost. And I like that.

But if that's not enough to convince you, I can also say that most of the songs--although there is a good deal of screaming--also have decent melodies to them, and the words are just great. It's a 3-way win (music, lyrics, style); you will NOT be disappointed with this album!

5.0 out of 5 stars Possibly the best Christian Metal Album Ever, February 24, 2006

By 

maasked (Grand Rapids, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Echoes of the Spirit Still Dwell (Audio CD)

There is a certain magic about this album, something I hadn't completely realized until Spoken came out with its two more recent releases. Unfortunately few will ever know about this album since the label that produced it changed hands a few times and now Spoken doesn't even list it as one of its own on their webpage. This album is extremely emotionally charged, and like most great albums, the songs all fit into one another in a constant flow from start to finish. The lyrical content is almost completely "Christian" and you constantly get the feeling that you're witness to human travail as it sits in all its fragility in a call out to God. The production is what makes this album so unique. It has a feel to it like you are hearing it live right next to you and yet it is cleaner than a live album with no mistakes or unbalanced instrumentation. Just soul cutting crisp clean vocals and music that warm you up and make you feel right next to them. Several bands wallow in and out of "one hit" radio fame and albums that contain maybe one of two good songs. Spoken has taken that path with its newer releases, this album, however, is worth every cent you may spend on it and, whether Christian or not, holds its own as a truly in and of itself masterpiece.