Customer Reviews

Miracle

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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Robbie Seay Band releases its third label project, Miracle, on March 23. A reflection of Seay's work and relationships within Ecclesia Church in Houston, the record captures thoughts, feelings, and realities of his local community. Miracle is a collection of songs inspired by the real life stories of those around him. It is a call and response to life, to what God is doing in their midst, as it happens. Seay wrote the album's title track, for example, in reaction to a friend who was diagnosed with cancer, while "Lament (We Cannot Wait)" was penned to express the grief of his congregation over a church member's death.

Opening track "Love Invades" grabbed me right away, similar to Robbie's opening track "Rise" from Give Yourself Away. "Awaken My Soul" is a great prodigal song and reminder that God pursues each and every one of us. "Kingdom And A King" talks about the church moving together to reach those in need. The song is quickly becoming my favorite track on the album as in this era of political uncertainty the cry of my heart is to be a citizen of Heaven and to serve my King. This song so accurately reflects my feelings of loyalty to my King Jesus. "Crazy Love" might be the most catchy track on the album and has a sincere cry to God to forgive our mistakes and learn to rely on His grace and love.

The title track and first single of the project, "Miracle" came in the wake of devastating news. Robbie says "I remember getting a phone call from one of my closest friends. `Kristy has cancer. It doesn't look good, but we're believing for a Miracle.' I wrote the lyrics the next day. I prayed and believed with him. Kristy, wife and mother of three young boys would die two months later. The song is not a promise of a miracle. It is, however, the declaration that we all will find ourselves in great need of one at some point in our lives - and in those moments, we choose to believe even when we can't see our hands in front of our face." The song is very convicting and a sobering reminder that God brings trials to remind us how much we need Him. I love the song order as the next song is an amazing cover of the Jon Foreman song "Your Love Is Strong," which is a worshipful response back to God including the words to "The Lord's Prayer."

"Let Our Faith Be Not Alone," sung by Ecclesia for more than a year before Seay recorded it, is a song meant to encourage the church as a community of faith. The next song "We Are Not Alone" was co-written with Hillsong United writer Mia Fields and continues the theme of community, which is really the theme of the entire record. "Long Way Home" is a love song from Robbie to his wife and leads to the haunting "Lament (We Cannot Wait)," a stand out song on the album. The song was written in response to a tragedy affecting a close friend Karen whose oldest son was shot and killed. The song reflects another theme of the album, which is that God's grace is our only hope in times of grief and desperation.

This is a very emotional album and if you're not familiar with Robbie's passionate vocal style, this album is hook-filled with catchy melodies wrapped around very introspective, biblical and emotional lyrics. My favorite types of albums grow deeper with each listen, and Miracle is the deepest album I've heard all year. For sure, this album will be among my top albums of 2010.

Robbie Seay Band continues to put out great music. This album is fantastic. The third track is incredible...just incredible. But most of the songs on this album are great. Highly recommended.

I'm pumped for this album. It's rockin' and substantive. CCM is finally getting deeper, and it seems like more and more artists are reading their Bibles and gleaning Scriptural wisdom for their songwriting fodder. Personally, I'm especially glad to see how this "modern worship" band is engaging old hymn texts and entering into that age-old tradition of setting a previous generation's song texts to new music for new ears. There's a beautiful continuity there. If you want to hear more about what I have to say about what Robbie Seay Band is doing in this arena, visit:

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somehow robbie keeps writing songs that i can immediately relate to. they always meet me where i'm at and often times become a prayer on the spot (lots of time when i'm on the road...). musically, if you need something that gets the rock on or something you might hear in a coffee shop, you can find it here. go ahead and buy this album, there is something here that will move you.

Like one of the other reviewers I too had never heard of this band until I saw them on a "Back 2 Back" CD with Starfield (also an awesome band). The lead singer in this band has a great unique voice that stands out in the sometimes same old same old sound of Christian music. I now own all of their CD's. You should be familiar with the "Song of Hope" song as this track was played on the radio. Buy a legal version and continue to support Christian Music.

This album is awesome. If you were able to download the digital booklet, will you share with me how you did that? I purchased the whole album using the Amazon MP3 downloader. I contacted customer support, but these days, I'm cool with asking for help wherever I can get it. Thanks, Bryan

The challenge to stand out in the rock/worship genre is becoming increasingly difficult. The line between a straight worship album and crossing over into radio-friendly rock is blurring, and there are plenty of bands (such David Crowder Band and others) vying to occupy this space. It takes something distinctive to rise above the din here.

Robbie Seay Band, while not standing high above the rest, has at least cemented their spot among the genre's leaders with their latest, Miracle.

I didn't necessarily have this opinion after the first couple of songs ("Love Invades" and "Awaken My Soul"). Although these are fine enough worship songs, there was nothing to really catch my attention. Then came "Kingdom and a King." This powerful call to serve the "least of these" avoids doing so at the expense of the redemption aspect of the gospel. Robbie Seay's beautifully raspy voice sings, "For the kingdom and the king / for his glory we will sing / for the rescue of our souls he has come / for the kingdom and the cross / oh the triumph and the loss / love has broken through and now redeemed / for the kingdom and the king." Powerful.

From here, the band continues to shine on "Crazy Love," which discusses how the grace of God can help redeem and restore our relationships, and on a stellar cover of Jon Foreman's "Your Love Is Strong." "Let Our Faith Be Not Alone" is also powerful, with its chorus-echo that emphasizes that a faith that is alone is useless.

The album loses a little steam towards the end (although I enjoyed the closer "Oh Love That Will Not Let Me Go"), but overall, this is a strong worship album that seeks to glorify God and does so while pleasing the ears and heart at the same time. There's still room for improvement and to push things musically a little more, but I find myself continually coming back to this album for encouragement and to re-orient my focus towards God. That's about the best praise I can give a worship album in my view.

Only just recently did I discover RSB while listening to a WOW Hits compilation. This is my third album of theirs since then. I purchased it without hesitation. I can go through each song and give my opinion, but i won't. Instead, I want to focus on the overaall integrity of the album. It's the lyrics, it's the instrumentals, and it's the vocals. All rolled into one -- the passion and love for Christ, our heavenly Abba is definitely present. However the one song that touched me the most is "Miracle". It's a form of a duet with Breanna. Someone I'd never heard until now. I cannot emphasize HOW BEAUTIFUL, and HOW TOUCHING this song is. Breanna's voice is extremely passionate - it moved me. She'll be shining very bright and soon the whole world will know her. I'm excited for her. God is and will be using her - just wait and see!

Kudos to this album, and to the RSB. I am a fan for life.