Customer Reviews

Pilgrim Days: Indelible Grace II

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
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The first Indelible Grace (IG) album was excellent, and I was delighted to see another had appeared. When I got it, I listened to it all the way through a few times and concluded I didn't like it as much, but I have since come to believe that I simply needed to learn the songs. Once the words became familiar enough where I could sing and meditate on them, I found myself liking this album even more than the first. Though there are some original contributions on this release (viz. the adaptation of Psalm 73 and the chorus of "Free Grace", both of which are excellent songs), most tracks are - true to the purpose of IG - old hymns set to music for a new generation, and some of them were unfamiliar to me entirely. Once the words sank in, however, they produced their intended effect.

The new music, as we have come to expect from their previous release, is professional and well suited to the words. When light-heartedness, joy and gaiety are required, they are supplied in music and voice, and when solemnity and penitence, they are likewise present. It is my experience that often the old hymn tunes - as much as I enjoy them - simply do not fit the mood required by the words and, in this day of personal electronics, which bring private, in-home and in-vehicle concerts to us regularly, and of electronic instruments and modern musical forms, which have significantly altered our tastes, the old tunes fail to engage our musical sensibilities. This problem is particularly unfortunate because it means we can't interact with the church triumphant, who have tested and passed on these great lyrics to teach us and to help us worship and rejoice in the Almighty and to remind us of the deep comforts offered in the gospel. IG has thus performed a great service in making these songs accessible to a people inexorably bound up in a technological age, and I heartily extend my commendation of the first album to the second in suggesting each for your use in public and private devotion.

Creative contemporary arrangments for classic hymns. Theologically rich lyrics and compeling tunes.

All three Indelible Grace CDs are well-worth owning, but this one is my favorite.

If you like this, you may also want to try Park Slope Presbyterian's Kingsborough CD (2005), available from CD Baby. Also the Red Mountain CDs (like "Heaven"). Also excellent is Grace Church Seattle's CDs (also on CD Baby).

Having just seen Indelible Grace at a concert, I purchased this CD & I LOVE it! Great sound & lyrics with real meaning--what more could a music lover want??

So much modern praise music struggles to combine the "heart" and the "mind." Plenty of CDs are filled with catchy and emotional praise choruses but lack deep, glorious spiritual truths. On the other hand, many efforts to modernize traditional hymns are weak musically. This is not the case with Indelible Grace. The arrangements are creative, enjoyable and accessable while the lyrics express joyous spiritual truths that many of today's modern praise songs ignore. In other words, this is a great CD. It's great to listen to casually or to take time to meditate on. It also can be a great tool for worship leaders. These arrangements are great to encorporate into worship. So go ahead and buy the entire Indelible Grace series.

I love all Indelible Grace music, and totally recommend this one. I listen to Indelible Grace over and over and never tire of the music.

This is by far my favorite IG CD--even stronger than their first effort. A lot of the hymns concentrate on the future and eternity. A numberr of musical styles, composers, and artists are featured. If you think you hate hymns, you might just hate the traditional tunes. Try this CD and rediscover the poetry of the church.

Wonderful. Highly recommend this to anyone interested in Christian music with strong lyrics. Good musicianship throughout.