Windows and Walls

Mark Harris

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 25, 2007)
• Original Release Date: September 25, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000UZ4CYA
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,453 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No "Window or Wall" Could Confine Harris, September 25, 2007

By	T. Yap "thy4568" (Sydney, NSW, Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Prime Cuts: One True God, Writing on the Wall, The Living Room

At the hub of what makes "Windows and Walls" Harris' best album to date is that this former 4Him member knows how to give a fresh and at times heartwarming spin to tried-and-true themes. Rather than belling on overused clichés, Harris has often taken lofty themes (such as godly parenting, surrendering to God, worship) and dressed them up in enthralling narratives that are realistic, acerbic and penetrating. Just like his hugely successful debut "The Line between the Two" and his 4Him catalog, this new effort continues on the Christian pop trajectory with uptempo rockers as well as high-charged ballads. Thanks to producers Steve Kipley and Nathan Nockels, "Windows and Walls" has the added wattage of urgency and verve yet not for a moment sacrificing the shades of emotional subtlety and spiritual deliberations.

Giving a poignant cap to the theme of parenting, the tender ballad "The Writing on the Wall" tells of an exhausted parent to the mess of his son's graffito on the living room. Instead of letting anger get the better of him, Harris would rather see a "Piccasso with a purple crayon." The thread of creativity is again evident in "Living Room," a prayer of invitation to God to "come through the doorway/I've closed in the past/And tear down the walls of pride/.../Fill up my heart/Make it Your Living Room." Again capitalizing on the house motif is the title track "Windows and Walls," a driving rocker that boasts some shimmering guitar-playing extravaganza. While the stirring keyboards that opened the ballad "Nothing Takes You By Surprise" gives way into a rousing Hillsong-esque high-charged balladry.

However, the voltage of ear-popping drums, the mechanical twigging of Harris' vocals, and the over-zealous guitar riffs of "Use Words" somehow takes away the poignancy of its message which is loosely based on St. Francis' prayer. More controlled and certainly more soothing is "One True God," is a powerful reminder that God isn't something we can create or keep in our pocket or put on a shelf. While album closer "In a Moment or Two" finds Harris with mostly just his guitar on a contemplative reflection on the transient of life and the purpose of living. Though relatively short time-wise, this track has a soul-penetrating quality that ought to do well in any evangelistic setting.

Though this sophomore effort is pretty safe in the sense that it's what you come to expect from a contemporary Christian album of ballads and pop-rockers, it's the words and motifs that Harris and his co-writers employ that makes this CD towers over the rest. Like a good sermonic illustration, these songs take the happenings of life tell them as they are before driving home God-honoring truth through them. At the end of the day, with a CD this good, no window or wall could ever confine Harris.

5.0 out of 5 stars Windows And Walls, June 11, 2009

By	J. Rush - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you were a fan of 4Him, then you will be a fan of this former 4Him member, Mark Harris. Windows and Walls is a continuation of the success Mark achieved while a member of 4Him. I recommend this album to anyone who is a fan of Mark Schultz, or simply christian contemporary music.

5.0 out of 5 stars Love it!, June 5, 2009

By	A. Karmen Lockhart (Coolville, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is definitely not a "one hit" cd. It includes many great songs. My whole family likes it!