The Bottom Line: This is a wonderful alternative to the nasty lyrics constantly bombarding our children today. Our children listen because of the music; let's give them a worthwhile message too.
wendy3rd's Full Review: Speechless by Steven Curtis Chapman
I am one of the people at our church who sing and we are always looking for new songs to use. One of our teens brought this to first the choir director (who approved wholeheartedly) and then to me to see if I would sing it with her. The lyrics in Dive are so excellent!
The meanings of each of these songs are more like parables. Very excellent writing styles on these songs. Several of them (including the Change...next song we will use from this recording) have a driving rock beat often enough to please any teenager! But the rock overtones are not enough to chase away someone who wants to hear the lyrics. I feel this has a very good blend to it.
I had never heard any songs by Steven Curtis Chapman before but if this is an indication of his musical style and lyrics then I will definitely be purchasing more of his music.
Often people look at the music and judge both the artist and the words. If I did not know the words to Dive I may have done the exact same thing. We actually turn up the volume on the voices a bit more than the music to be certain that everyone gets the true meaning of the songs that are sung. A section of the lyrics in Dive says "but we may never know the awesome power of the grace of God until we let ourselves get swept away into this Holy Flood". I would rather have MY teens singing that than anything to do with drugs or violence any day!
I say this is a new challenge for me because Steven Curtis Chapman definitely has his own unique style. I normally can pick up a song in just minutes but these take hours to learn. That is not a bad thing because you end up concentrating on the words much more than a regular catchy tune that you sing from memory very quickly. I like both styles. This is still a very welcome change of pace from the 'same ole same ole' stuff that we are so used to.
I bought this album after hearing Dive at church. I am not in any way disappointed after listening carefully to the whole thing. If you like this you may also enjoy some of the other artists that I do, including Rachel Lampa and Stacy Orrico.
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