United (Live) EP

In the spring of 2018, former Newsboys lead singer Peter Furler and former bassist Phil Joel joined the then current Newsboy lineup of Michael Tait, Duncan Phillips, Jeff Frankenstein and Jody Davis for a Newsboys reunion tour. That resulted in the album United, one of my top albums of 2019. Since reuniting, the Newsboys “United” lineup has played more than 250 concerts to date. Now, less than a year since the release of United, the band recently has released an EP of five songs (and accompanying videos) from the album recorded on their recent Greatness of Our God tour.
Below are a few comments about each song:
Greatness of Our God – This worship song about the greatness of God, was written by Bryan Fowler, Colby Wedgeworth and Ethan Hulse. Furler and Tait share lead vocals on the song, which was the biggest hit from United. Phillips drums stand out on the upbeat song.
Symphony – This upbeat song was written by Bryan Fowler, Colby Wedgeworth and Ethan Hulse. The voices of Furler and Tait blend well on this prayer, and Phillips’ drums particularly stand out.
Key lyrics:
So, let my life be, let my life be
A symphony, a symphony
Every breath that I breathe
Lord I wanna bring...

In the spring of 2018, former Newsboys lead singer Peter Furler and former bassist Phil Joel joined the then current Newsboy lineup of Michael Tait, Duncan Phillips, Jeff Frankenstein and Jody Davis for a Newsboys reunion tour. That resulted in the album United, one of my top albums of 2019. Since reuniting, the Newsboys “United” lineup has played more than 250 concerts to date. Now, less than a year since the release of United, the band recently has released an EP of five songs (and accompanying videos) from the album recorded on their recent Greatness of Our God tour.
Below are a few comments about each song:
Greatness of Our God – This worship song about the greatness of God, was written by Bryan Fowler, Colby Wedgeworth and Ethan Hulse. Furler and Tait share lead vocals on the song, which was the biggest hit from United. Phillips drums stand out on the upbeat song.
Symphony – This upbeat song was written by Bryan Fowler, Colby Wedgeworth and Ethan Hulse. The voices of Furler and Tait blend well on this prayer, and Phillips’ drums particularly stand out.
Key lyrics:
So, let my life be, let my life be
A symphony, a symphony
Every breath that I breathe
Lord I wanna bring You glory, glory
Love One Another – This song, based on Jesus’ words in John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another”, was written by Duncan Sparks, Furler and Steve Taylor, and features Tait’s former DC Talk bandmate Kevin Max on vocals. The upbeat song opens with guitar and then moves right into a good driving beat.
Only the Son (Yeshua) – This worship song was written by Seth Mosely, Peter Furler and Summer Furler. An early version of the song (“Yeshua”), appeared on the Peter Furler Band’s 2014 album Sun and Shield. A new chorus “Only the Sun” has been added. The song features some good guitar from Davis. Tait and Furler share vocals and their vocals blend well on the memorable chorus.
Beautiful Story – This song was written by Andrew Holt, Mia Fieldes and Robert Marvin and features Tait on vocals. The power ballad begins with piano and builds with guitars, bass and drums.
The bridge brings in Romans 8:28 “You work all things together for good.”
Key lyrics:
You write a beautiful story
From glory to glory I believe
Like Switchfoot, Chris Tomlin and others, the Newsboys have released a live EP of songs from a recent album. The live performances and production on this project are excellent, but if you have the United album, I’m not sure you’re going to want to purchase United: Live, at least the audio version, as the performances don’t differ that much from the original release.