Worship and Believe (Deluxe Edition) – Steven Curtis Chapman
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This is Steven Curtis Chapman’s 23rd studio album and the first worship album in his wonderful career that to date has resulted in 10 million albums sold, 46 Christian radio number one songs, 5 Grammy Awards and an incredible 58 Dove Awards. The album is available in three different formats, the standard edition with eleven studio songs, and deluxe editions including either four or six of the songs recorded live. I think worship music sounds good in a live format, but you’ll have to decide if the live versions are worth the additional cost.
It was when Chapman was on The Story tour with Pastor Randy Frazee that he first heard about BELIEVE, a 30-week church curriculum that Frazee was working on as the follow-up to The Story. Chapman wrote these songs to accompany the BELIEVE curriculum to be used by thousands of churches, but the songs certainly stand on their own as a worthy addition to Chapman’s outstanding body of work.
Chapman collaborates with some of the best artists in the worship music genre – Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman and Matt Maher, as well as Rend Collective and the drummer for One Direction. Long-time fans will enjoy his signature sounds in these songs addressed to God that I’m sure are already starting to appear in congregational worship.
Below are a few brief comment on each of the new songs:
We Believe – starts with acoustic guitar as Chapman sings of creation praising the glory of God. It builds into a bold song that will sound great in congregational worship.
One True God – a highlight, this track features Chris Tomlin in a song that would comfortably fit on a Tomlin release, as the two artists trade verses in a wonderful song about Christ as the one true God.