David Bruce Murray
Nov 21, 2009
CD Review
CD Review: Childress Family – Praise
RATING: 3 1/2 Stars
Website: www.childressfamily.com
Song Titles: “Let The Rocks Keep Silent,” “This We Believe,” “He Promised Me,” “The Unseen Hand,” “God Did It,” “I Will Go,” “I Go To The Rock,” “In Christ Alone,” “He Is,” “He’s Been There Too,” and “When Jesus Breaks The Morning”
I have a mounting stack of CD and DVD projects waiting on reviews, so in the interest of getting to them before they’re out of date, the next few reviews will be quick summaries with no artwork scans.
There’s a Hoppers connection to the Childress Family (producer Shannon Childress used to play for the Hoppers). I usually think of them as Hoppers-lite. They offer a similar range of styles. Vocally, they don’t have a Kim or a Dean or a Connie, but they have a similar classy bearing in the way they sing.
Praise is a collection of cover songs, some from the recent past (“God Did It,” “Let The Rocks Keep Silent”) and some that have been around for a while (“The Unseen Hand,” “I Go To The Rock”…the S. Parsons song, not D. Rambo’s). In the past, I’ve noticed some stylistic disconnect in the music of the Childress Family. It’s not surprising, considering that there are three generations of singers involved. Praise works better as a collection than some of their previous recordings. Some may consider the cover of Stuart Townend’s “In Christ Alone” to be a departure, but it’s treated simply, like a hymn, so it’s really not that different than “He’s Been There Too.” “He Is” is more of a pop song, but not one that’s so far out there that it doesn’t fit.
