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Matt Maher: Alive Again

Posted: October 16th, 2009 | Author: Alastair | Filed under: Matt Maher | Tags: , , , , , , , | No Comments »

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SYNOPSIS
JOEL: I have been a fan of Matt Maher since the early days of The End and the Beginning. I did not get Matt’s last CD so there was a bit of a jump for me to this one. Matt is a brilliant songwriter and it was obvious this CD was not written to make hits. There are no Tomlinesque, simple hook songs. Tons of depth and nuance.
Feel free to throw stones, but I always loved Maher’s “Your Grace is Enough” more than I did Tomlin’s. And I think this CD stays true to his style.
I love “You Were On the Cross” and “Remembrance”. “Letting Go” was very odd with his obvious rip off of “Hosanna” (Brooke Fraser) when he sings “….to your heart…”
On “Hold us Together” I don’t know what he did to his voice but this one sounds like LSU (Michael Knott) meets Mr. Big.
The title track “Alive Again’ is fantastic.
CONNER: coming soon
MIKE: There is no doubt about the fact that Matt Maher is an amazing songwriter, and it is these songwriting skills that are brought into focus on this album.  Unlike his last record, Empty and Beautiful, Matt introduces his songs to us himself this time.  The result is a clean and polished record of sufficient weight and depth to make it interesting.  It took awhile – I can’t really say that any of the songs are “catchy,” with the exception of the title track.  There is a great depth to these songs, though, in a gentle style that allows deep contemplation of the lyrics and the thoughts behind them.Adding to the current fad of multiple artists realeasing the same song in the same season (DC*B/Jared Anderson, Israel Houghton/Ricardo Sanchez/Hillsong London) Maher includes the song “Remembrance” that he co-wrote with Matt Redman – which is also on Redman’s new album. I love the song; I’m not sure which version I like better yet.  I also love the title track, which has a Robin Mark-like ease and singability to it.

One thing that drove me crazy about this record was the mix – the vocals are way too far up front in just about every song.  There are some beautiful arrangements on this record, but in order to hear them, the vocals are uncomfortably loud.  Maybe it’s because I’m a musician, but you probably are too.
ALASTAIR: The first time I heard of Matt Maher is when I heard a slightly different version of “Your Grace Is Enough”.  It was then I came to know that Matt had written the song and Chris Tomlin had only taken it and “tomlinised”TM it.  Even though Matt is the author, I like Tomlin’s version better.I had heard the opening track “Alive Again” on the radio already so I was expecting great things from the album, even though the song took a while to grab my attention.  On the first few listens, I was a little disappointed.  After the title track the album seemed to draw into the background and fail to pull me in as the listener.I worked hard to like this album and did warm to some of the other tracks – Matt is a great songwriter, no doubt, but maybe some of these new songs need to be “tomlinised” too, or given to some other artists?I have some suggestions:

  • Fernando Ortega should cover “Sing Over Your Children”
  • Todd Agnew would be great on “Hold Us Together” and “Flesh and Bone”.
  • “Remembrance” could be on a Vineyard album.
  • On listening to “Letting Go”, I could not help think that Elvis Costello was trying to burst into Brook Fraser’s “Hosanna” at around the 5 minute mark “…to your heart… ooo”.
  • Keane would do a great version of “You Were On The Cross”.
BOTTOM LINE
JOEL: It is a very interesting CD and will take some time to unpack and get used to. I love the writing on this CD, but I don’t think that every song on this CD was of equal caliber. I was also disappointed that there were no liturgical songs on here like previous CD’s. However the songs that stood out make this a worthwhile CD.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
CONNER: coming soon
MIKE: Great songs, great music.  Matt Maher fans will love it.  I wish the mix was better.
Rating: ★★★½☆
ALASTAIR: If you are a Matt Maher fan you will probably love this album.  There is some nice songs on here that will work well in any church setting.  Some are suited more as special songs rather than congregational.  “Alive Again” is an amazing track, I just wish it wasn’t so much better than the rest.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
MUST HAVE SONGS
JOEL:

  • “Alive Again”
  • “Remembrance”
  • “You were on the Cross”
CONNER:
coming soon
MIKE

  • “Alive Again”
  • “Remembrance”
  • “Garden”
ALASTAIR:

  • “Alive Again”
  • “Flesh and Bone”
  • “Remembrance”
  • “Letting Go”
  • “Garden” – probably my second favourite after “Alive Again”.
SONGS FOR CHURCH
JOEL: Most of the songs on this CD would not be a part of a normal worship set.

  • “You Were on the Cross” (I would use this on Good Friday)
  • “Remembrance”
  • “Shout of the King”
CONNER: coming soon
MIKE:
Many of these songs are probably more suited for specials than part of an actual worship set.

  • “Remembrance”
  • “Sing Over Your Children”
ALASTAIR:

  • “Shout Of The King”
  • “Sing Over Your Children”
  • “Remembrance”

The Joint Review gives Matt Maher: Alive Again Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆

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