When I was a young lad of 17 I had trouble believing God loved me, like really actually loved me in the way my parents for example loved me. I also had grown up on a steady diet of contemporary Christian radio with smooth production and ever so slightly distorted electric guitars. This album came along at that time in my life with a perfect blending of that CCM sound and a very strong thesis statement of “Yes, God does love you”.
Tenth Avenue North wastes no time putting their best foot forward with two of the three opening tracks being the big singles of the album. Both “Love is Here” and “By Your Side” have that late 90’s early 2000’s adult alternative rock sound that I personally just really love and “By Your Side” in particular is really big and dramatic, giving the song an almost cinematic feel. The songs stand as twin statements of God’s love, assuring us that God has already done all the sacrificing necessary to cover your sins and you have no excuse not to except His love. The lyrics can feel a little simplistic and almost Sunday school esc at times but for a lot of people, me included, it’s exactly what is needed. A lot of the songs actually work really good in sequence on this album such as the mid-tempo “Let It Go” followed by the closest thing these guys get to a ruckus rocker “Break Me Down” that both focus on the idea of letting go of whatever sense of control or protection that’s keeping you from fully experiencing God. The album feels generally split in between the radio ready first half and the more intimate personal songs on the second half. This can mostly be attributed I think to the co-writers on the more radio ready songs (including artists I appreciate like Bebo Norman and Philip LaRue) and the more intimate sounding songs being written solely by lead singer/songwriter Mike Donehey. The best example of the more intimate songs and the honestly best song on the album in my opinion would be the standout track “Times”. Starting off with just an acoustic guitar before going into the layered vocals “oh oh” that serves as the chorus this song gives me an almost pet sounds melancholy feel, complete with a beautiful, lonely cello. The lyrics though I find really powerful with some standout lines including .“My love is over, it’s underneath, it’s inside, it’s in between…The times that you feel like you’ve fallen from grace…I’m there in your sorrow, under the weight of your shame…I’ll never forsake you, My love never ends”. I admit this album may not be perfect and could easily be accused of falling into the generic mid-tempo sound of mid 2000’s CCM, but dang it I don’t find myself coming back to it again and again. Like a comforting bowl of soup sometimes it’s nice to just enjoy the simplicity of hearing about a God who loves you, no matter what. Suggested Tracks: By Your Side Break Me Down Hold My Heart Times
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