JTindie.com Review of To Know You Love Me| Posted October 25, 2009
Artist: Justin Unger
CD Title: To Know You Love Me – Songs from the Stillness.
Style: Worship
Website: http://www.justinunger.com
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Playlist
1. To Know You Love Me
2. Who is He
3. This is how We Know
4. Make me this way
5. Praise to the Lord the Almighty
6. No One Knows
7. Sing to the King
8. Will You Wait
9. A Common Destiny
10. Closer to You
11. All Creatures of our God and King
12. To know you love me (reprise)
If I am going to be honest with all of you, when I got the CD “To Know You Love Me – From the Heart of Justin Unger” in the mail last week I was less than excited. “Another Worship album with the same hooks and same sounds.” Was my first thought. I even carried the CD around for a few days before I even got around to opening it. I was just so sure of what I was going to hear. I come before you all chastened and asking for your forgiveness. The CD is filled with Good worship songs, but that isn’t what grabbed my attention. That you can hear Justin’s Devotion to God is also clear on the CD but again that isn’t what grabbed me. The fact that CD is more a meditation on the Greatness of God and makes me want to worship is what grabbed me.
As I listen through the songs on the CD I am taken by several things. Justin is a talented Musician and singer. I am really taken by the way each of the songs are put together. The Duets with Falon are enough to raise the hairs on the back of my neck. Falon has a voice that is well matched to both the music and Justin’s voice, this should come as no surprise since Falon is Justin’s wife. Technically speaking the CD is well mixed. Each of the musical instruments seem to stand on their own without either dominating the soundscape or mixing with it and becoming muddy sounding. The Flute on Sing to the King really took me back to the origins of my almost fetish for the haunting sound.
While not all the songs were to my liking, I did find that the song order was a logical progression in the style of a worship service and while several of the songs did have a similar sound I did not find that to be that much of negative since I felt that, for the most part, the songs were supposed to run one into the next. I almost feel guilty speaking negative of a Worship Song, after all even poorly done worship is still worship and is just as Holy. Happily none of the songs on “To know You Love Me” are poorly done. I did think that a couple of the songs were predictable and bordering on formulaic. The few songs like that are so outnumbered by truly inspired songs that I mentioned them more to show off the songs I enjoyed than to tear down the few I did not.
Overall I found this a Cd I could put on, sit back, relax and just enjoy. Listening to the CD the first few times I found my mind wandering, and not the wandering that comes from not listening but something in the song would spark a thought and I would find myself strolling down that thought path while the song played on. This is not a negative thing, and the more I listen to the CD the more I liked it. the CD seemed to grow on me, to the point where I can say that I really enjoyed the CD as a whole.
I’m giving this CD a solid 3.5 out of 5 Stars. The CD is solid and enjoyable and while I enjoyed the Worshipfulness of the CD I really felt it was missing that hard to define something that would of pulled the CD up from Good and Solid to Great and Favorite. Granted it would be very difficult for a CD that is worship based to become a favorite of mine, I’m just not wired that way. Still “To Know You Love Me – From the Heart of Justin Unger” is a good CD and full of pleasing songs that I would have no trouble listening to at anytime. If you are a fan of the more mellow worship music then I would Highly Recommend this CD
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from JTindie.com. Click here to visit JTindie.com today!
Justin Unger’s latest, To Know You Love Me- Songs For The Stillness, is meant as a beacon of light in the twilight gloom that perpetually surrounds those who have turned their backs on the world for the sake of God’s call. Unger himself believes, “(m)usic can pierce through the darkness just like light… The music and lyrics of this project are a reflection of the ‘Light of the World’ – our Savior.” And while the listener may expect a slower-paced, more contemplative album, To Know You Love Me is more jovial campfire than somber candle.
The whole album flows seamlessly from song to dong without interruption, creating a genuine worship environment. Unger, and writing-partner / producer Greg Bieck, demonstrate a dazzling facility for deft composition and arrangement. To Know You Love Me possesses a vibrant, yet paradoxically soothing energy. Neither tempo transitions nor vocalist change (when Mrs. Unger steps to the mic to assume or share vocal duties, as she does on four of the CD’s 11 tracks) organically “fit.” Each song, including the two “covers” (“Praise to the Lord Almighty” and “All Creatures of Our God and King) are recognizable, ancient hymns, yet cause nary a flicker in the structure and brilliance of To Know You Love Me.
Sonically and lyrically, To Know You Love Me falls somewhere between Philips, Craig and Dean, Keith Green or Jeff Deyo and Sonicflood, David Crowder Band or Newsboys. Phil Collins, Genesis and Mike & the Mechanics’s more reflective songs came to mind more than once. Warm and foundational reassurances “tendered” by modern pop, with subtle 80’s, 90’s and even Celtic influences, make this album burn a little brighter and cast a brighter glow.
to add lyrics if not listed.
