Matt Redman is one of the top worship leaders and writers in evangelical Christianity, having penned modern classics like “The Heart Of Worship,” “Better Is One Day,” “Blessed Be Your Name,” and “Let Everything That Has Breath.  One of my favorite Redman albums is 2004’s Face Down.  I recently “rediscovered” it when flipping through my CDs and thought I’d give a little review.

Redman recorded Face Down live at North Point Community Church in Alphareta, Georgia during the January 2004 Facedown Songwriters Gathering. The duo known as Watermark, Nathan and Christy Nockels, each contributed: Nathan produced, as well as played keys and guitars, while Christy sang backing vocals. Tom Laune (Passion, Michael W. Smith, Nichole Nordeman) mixed the final product in Nashville.

Impressive credentials, but does it work? For criteria, let’s look at Dylanographer Michael Gray’s assessment of the Bob Dylan gospel song, “Pressing On.”

“Pressing On” seems an instant classic of a gospel song, one you can readily imagine being sung in black churches.

And why not white? Whatever Bob Dylan aficionados might feel about his Christian songs, the best of them surely comprise a body of work that brings to contemporary religious song something fresh yet well-grounded in traditional strengths, something passionate and full of an authentic saturation in biblical teaching. Anyone can hear that it wipes the floor with all that awful Pat Boonery … and those gruesome Age of Aquarius lasers-and-love productions offered to white worshippers over the last thirty years. Dylan’s religious work has gravitas.”

Gray has given us a strong formula: fresh yet well-grounded in traditional strengths + something passionate + full of an authentic saturation in biblical teaching = gravitas. Few would doubt that the best of Redman’s songs over the last several years adhere to these guidelines. Let’s apply them to this record.

Facedown begins with the rollicking “Praise Awaits You,” a nice introductory song for a worship set. What makes it stand out is the fresh chords underlying the simple melody. Redman is good at providing a delightful musical twist underneath a melody that meets the worship music requirement that it be easily sung by the average person. Fresh yet well-grounded in traditional strengths? I’d say so.

Cut 2, “Nothing But The Blood” is Redman’s take on the classic Robert Lowry Sunday school hymn, “Nothing But The Blood of Jesus” (1876). Comparisons are inevitable. Redman is up to it because he isn’t afraid to be different and to operate within the context and possibilities of his time. Lowry’s classic was full of perfect rhymes that, in 1876, did not sound trite (flow/ snow/ know) but which would fall into cliche now. Redman starts with a couplet that uses assonant, rather than perfect, rhyme:

Your blood speaks a better word / than all the empty claims I’ve heard upon this earth.

A captivating line. Surely if he had made himself the slave of perfect rhyme he would have cast aside the truism of this line in search of a closer match for either “word” or “earth,” but he is a confident craftsman who knows what must be said.

He does it again in the chorus:

What can wash us pure as snow / welcomed as the friends of God

saving us from one of the usual clunky rhymes for “God,” and he doesn’t bother end-rhyming at all in the first couplet of the second verse:

Your cross testifies in grace / Tells of the Father’s heart to make a way for us.

Of course, there is an internal assonant rhyme with “grace”, “make,” and “way.”  The song works. It praises God while it teaches us (which is another form of praise to God, since His word instructs us to teach and admonish each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs).

This same praise/ instruction is evident on “Seeing You”,” “Gifted Response,” and “Dancing Generation.” This is not “Theology Lite,” this is authentic saturation in biblical teaching.

“Worthy, You Are Worthy” was cowritten with fellow worship leader and songwriter Chris Tomlin, who also sings it with Redman on the disc. As such, standards are high.  It is a catchy tune, with three well-crafted verses.

The chorus begins with the simple but effective:

You’re worthy / You’re worthy / You’re worthy / You’re worthy to be praised

And then comes:

Forever and a day.

Wow. Did two of the Church’s best contemporary songwriters just give us, as the closing line to their collaboration, the ultimate teeny-bopper cliche? Forever and a day?

Like, totally.

Of course, praising God really is the one thing for which the phrase “forever and a day” makes sense. I can see them deciding that this bit of slang, used as it is, has been made “fresh” and has the ring of truth to it. It does, but they don’t sing it with any sense of irony.

In spite of my critical outlook to this one line, “Worthy, You Are Worthy” swept me away. I listened to it three times in a row while driving the other day, singing along and praising God.  Still, this line is an unfortunate choice. The Jesusfreakhideout.com review of this disc contains the following opinion:

“If you dig modern worship, this is your cup o’ tea. If not, Matt Redman is certainly not for you … only those into the modern worship scene need apply. ‘Facedown’ is a great, albeit exclusive, piece of work.”

I’m not sure that’s a fair assessment of Redman in general, but it certainly fits “Worthy, You Are Worthy.” Of course, even Redman would say that his calling is to the Church, so to call his work exlusive is not really an insult; I would only offer the defense that, in most of his songs, there is a deep theological underpinning that even Christians who negatively stereotype modern worship would appreciate.

One great spontaneous chorus and three compelling songs follow, including the title cut, “Face Down.” “Breathing The Breath,” contains a distillation of an over-riding theme of the album, the doctrine of prevenient grace, which says “before a man can seek God, God must first have sought the man.” (Tozer, “The Pursuit of God”).  The lyric runs:

Every good, perfect gift comes from your kind and gracious heart /
And all we do is give back to you what always has been yours.

Redman hammers this theme home again and again on Face Down, to penetrating effect. He’s teaching us.

Another strong point on the album is “Mission’s Flame.” The church needs more songs like “Mission’s Flame,” which, along with giving God glory in a direct way, actually inspire the Body of Christ to do the work of Christ:

Let worship be the heart of mission’s aim / We’re going with a passion for your name
We’re going for we care about your praise / Send us out ….

Face Down succeeds as a true expression of Christian worship. There are no “bad” songs, and the good outweighs the average. There are certainly several examples of the kind of writing that has “gravitas,” and fulfills the formula for doing so that Gray recommends. This collection is a steady journey along the path that is bringing the church new music that will last, music that matters.

• description: A review of \"Facedown\" by worship leader Matt Redman.
• keywords: Matt Redman, Matt Redman Facedown, Facedown worship CD, contemporary worship music, Christian music review
• title: Looking Back at Matt Redman\'s \"Facedown\" Worship CD

This entry was posted Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at 8:26 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed, and you can leave your own response below.