Hillsong Chapel – Yahweh (Live)
Posted: October 27th, 2010 | Author: Mike Mahoney | Filed under: hillsong chapel | Tags: acoustic, conner, Hillsong, hillsong chapel, klampert, mahoney | 1 Comment »
Purchase Hillsong Chapel – Yahweh (Live) 
Artist official site
| SYNOPSIS | |
| KLAMPERT: Accessibility. This was obviously the goal of this CD. We have had tons of hillsong CD’s over the years that small churches have listened to and scratched their heads. How do we translate this song from 75 members in the band to 3. This album addresses that by giving us a stripped down array of Hillsong music. The best part is they did not just grab a couple acoustics and go at it. They actually redid the arrangements and gave us a fresh new look at some of their best songs.
Over the last few CD’s from them I have been sorely disappointed because most of the music, unless written by Brooke Fraser, sounds all the same. This Cd not only takes it out of the box but gets me excited about future offerings and innovations from the Chapel Series. |
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| BYRD: I love this so much! It appears Hillsong is introducing a new “line” of their music: Chapel. In a stripped down sort of way, Hillsong is putting together their music for more intimate and devotional settings. We don’t have any new material here (that I’m aware of) but we do have a contrastingly different approach from their arena-epic-larger-than-life approach that often scares worship teams away from trying to attempt a Hillsong or Hillsong United song.What I’m so pleased with is that while using the same songs they didn’t simply throw them down the same way. This is probably my favorite intimate worship setting captured on a recording since Phil Wickham’s Singalong. The arrangements have fresh life in them with more strings and more use of space. I honestly prefer a few of the songs like You Hold Me Now done this way than I did electrified! And I LOVED it electrified. I’m also pleased to hear some old tried and true songs like From the Inside Out and Mighty to Save with a little different swagger to them. Ever want to pull off a tune like The Time Has Come or Salvation is Here but were a little intimidated? Fear not acoustic players! Here’s an example to get you going!
Again, a great mix of Hillsong and United tunes stylized a bit differently. This seems like a great resource for churches already using these songs as well as wanting to get into some of these amazing worship songs. Let’s not forget about the worship setting it gives us personally as a CD of some raw singable worship songs in the car and personally at home! |
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| MAHONEY: Ok, so when it comes to the Joint, I’m probably the Hillsong junkie here. We do a lot of Hillsong stuff at our church, and we put five Hillsong songs on the worship album our team released earlier this year. So the idea of stripping down the big Hillsong sound was less groundbreaking to me than it is to a lot of people – I do it all the time.Still, it’s great to hear the original artist do this, because they generally have great insights into the songs. And plus, they have great skills. While this is far from an “acoustic” or “unplugged” album, the arrangements are stripped way down, and acoustic guitar is the main instrument throughout. Acoustic guitar and some killer vocals, that is.
I was interested to see how they would do the turnaround in “Hosanna,” one of my favorite Hillsong tunes, and one of the few songs I actually play a guitar solo in during service. I was amazed to hear them do it vocally. Brilliant! “Mighty to Save” is probably the closest to the way I would play it, but “From the Inside Out” has me rethinking my approach to that song. Also, “Came to My Rescue” is a great, moody, intimate moment on the album. My only knock on this record is that it’s not really an acoustic album. It’s still a heavily-produced, fully-instrumented set of songs, just deconstructed from their anthem originals. Hillsong released Yahweh (Live) in response to requests from worship leaders to “unplug” some of the there more popular songs. While listening to this album probably won’t help the worship leader with one acoustic guitar, keys and drums, it’s a great start. The CD ships with chord charts for all the songs, and there will be a companion DVD available. Also, some of the Hillsong musicans (Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan, Nigel Hendroff and others) will be participating in live web-events demonstrating the songs on release day, November 2. (these events will be on worshiptogether.com and Facebook.) |
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| VANCE: This album lays out a nice mellow approach to a set of familiar Hillsong favourites. Not sure I would go as far as saying ‘unplugged’ though. It’s great to hear the songs performed in a more simplistic fashion. It will definitely encourage more people to lift them up and use them at their churches.As with all Hillsong albums we have a variety of vocalists leading the different songs. Hearing the congregation sing in the background is a nice touch and at times has a Phil Wickham / Singalong feel.
Most of the songs work really well stripped down in this way, except for perhaps Salvation Is Here. I miss the full sound here. |
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| BOTTOM LINE | |
KLAMPERT: A fantastic reworking and stripped down version of many great Hillsong songs. I would have loved to have heard “Like incense” on this one. Rating:   |
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| BYRD: 13 tracks is nothing to scoff at! While a more “raw” recording and acoustic session can feel like a plug for money from the worship consumer, I believe Hillsong has actually accomplished their goal by getting these songs out in an intimate and devotional setting. This is a must have for worship leaders and worshippers. Rating: |
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| MAHONEY: If you like Hillsong music, and are trying to find way to introduce it at your church, this album is for you. If you already do it, and want some new ideas, this album is for you. If you like intimate, acoustic worship, this album is for you. (Seeing a pattern here?) Rating: |
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VANCE: A nice wee mellow album, perfect for chilling out to. Rating:  |
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| MUST HAVE SONGS | |
KLAMPERT:
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BYRD:
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MAHONEY
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VANCE:
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| SONGS FOR CHURCH | |
| KLAMPERT: All of these of course and due to the new format any church will be able to translate these to any size band. | |
BYRD:
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MAHONEY: Are you kidding? This is Hillsong!
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VANCE:
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The Joint gives Hillsong Chapel: Yahweh(Live) Overall Rating:
Disclosure of Material Connection: We received this CD free from the publisher EMI records to listen and post a review on our site. We were not required to write a positive review. The opinions we have expressed are our own. We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> > “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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