Kim Gentes

Anyone who has been present and involved with local churches and ministries at a formative time period understands the kind of encouragement and freedom that comes with discovering God anew. The fresh sounds of praise music are often synchronous with a burgeoning work of God's Spirit among those who are willing to abandon themselves to God's purposes.  It is this tenor and effusion of enthusiasm that rings true in the music of Jesus Culture, and especially in one of its earliest releases, "We Cry Out".

Worship leaders Chris Quilala, Kim Walker and Melissa Wise explode across this album with honest rock music, sung and played with conviction. Even ballads don't accquiese to straw-man band arrangements with no guts. You get electric guitars, drums, bass and unapologetic vocals on every track. But this isn't a rock show- this is real worship. All out, forget-anyone-is-watching, leave your offering and life on the alter before God, kind of worship.

What is interesting about the early Jesus Culture albums, including this one, is that they don't enamor themselves with their own songwriting. Instead they prove to be possibly some of the best arrangers of some of the best worship songs both known and unknown. Very few of the songs are home grown to the Jesus Culture band. This is one of the first albums to record the then controversial song by John Mark McMillan How He Loves. The track list on this album includes sparkling rock favorite Delirious' Rain Down, riveting title track We Cry Out by local worship leader Brian Johnson, three excellent selections from Hillsong United song catalog, I Adore You by Phil Wickham, and the song Your Love Is Everything from rising writer Chris McClarney.

This is a live album, like all the Jesus Culture recordings. Included are poignant moments of prayer, encouragement and proclamation. The recording doesn't suffer from adding these elements, instead they help it retain a sense of authenticity and place the listener in the context of the worship experience. The production on the later Jesus Culture albums do continue to improve, but the raw energy of this recording is irreproducible. It is a glimpse of a group of people praise God with all out abandon, great music and great songs.

Product Link: We Cry Out - Jesus Culture Music (CD/DVD)

Review by Kim Gentes