Several years ago, I made a disparaging comment concerning hymns to a friend. You see, I grew up in a church that only played hymns every now and then, and only as an appeasement to the elderly church members, since that was the only church music available when they were young. And of course, we never rearranged the hymns – I’m not sure if it was a matter of no one having the talent to write arrangements, or if we didn’t do it out of fear (“What will people think if we change the music?”), or if it was just a matter of no one thinking about it.
Anyways, back to my comment. My friend pointed out that, while I may not enjoy the style of the music many hymns are set to, it didn’t change the fact that those hymns are full of solid, Biblical truth. Something that many modern Christian artists know nothing of. I’m not saying there isn’t good Christian music out there, because I have a lot of VERY GOOD, theologically sound music on my computer. But think about it:
how many times have you heard an artist that was described as the Christian version of ______________?
Not that it’s wrong to draw upon or be influenced by other artists, nor is it wrong to be a Christ-centered alternative to secular artists. But sometimes I get the feeling a lot of “Christian” artists out there don’t care so much about what they’re singing about, or who they’re singing about, or who they’re singing to as much as they care about $$$. Who remembers the flood of Christian boy bands and girl groups that came out after that genre exploded in the late 90′s?
I digress.
Not long after that conversation with my hymn-loving friend, I heard Kristian Stanfill’s version of Jesus Paid It All.
My friend was right – hymns didn’t have to be boring and lifeless. They could actually be passionate, inspired and inspiring!
So over the past few months I’ve seen Joe Thorn post a couple blogs about Page CXVI, and I’d told myself I should buy their albums, Hymns and Hymns II, but, as usual, I’d become preoccupied with something else and forget about it. Then, while driving around town this evening, Page CXVI popped into my brain.
No explanation, no immediately apparent cause.
So as soon as I arrived home I bought both albums. Gotta love digital downloads – instant gratification (they have CD’s available too). I now know why Joe Thorn had so much praise for Page CXVI. If the first thought that comes to mind when you think of hymns is “music for my grandparents and great-grandparents”, fear not. While the songs on Hymns and Hymns II are aged lyrically, the music those lyrics are sung to is decidedly modern. If you enjoy worship music stylings along the lines of John Mark McMillan, Charlie Hall, Mars Hill Church, and the hymn rearrangements by David Crowder and Kristian Stanfill, you will definitely enjoy Page CXVI. The songs are beautifully arranged and full of Biblical truth – I strongly recommend both albums. If that’s not enough, click the link below to listen to samples and if you need more convincing, click the other link and you can download two songs (one from each album) for free!
Click here to listen to samples and purchase Hymns & Hymns II
Click here to download two free songs!