JourneyOnline
Mighty to Save
Hillsong
RRP CD $29.95
DVD $39.95
Leading over 10,000 worshippers at the Sydney Entertainment Centre with what must be the world’s best behaved mosh-pit Darlene Zschech and the Hillsong team present 14 songs that will be the benchmark for much of Australian worship music for the next 12 months.
Mighty To Save, the latest live worship album to come out of Hillsong Church, was recorded on 5 March 2006.
Available as a double disk CD, double disk DVD, a music book on CD ROM and print version plus a split track CD, the whole package would come close to $160 to set up the Hillsong repertoire complete.
But that also includes a DVD teaching segment from Darlene Zschech on worship, a documentary on worship from the Hillsong perspective, guitar and drum workshops to teach musicians how to play the songs, multiple sub-title language choices and much promotional material about Hillsong conferences and resources.
There is a consistent and clear message that music is the key to worship, and the DVD shows the musicians and congregation in accord in serious, energetic and all-absorbing praise.
Brief, repetitive lyrics are matched with power chords, strong vocal presentation and enough choir participation to give a strong “live performance” feel that engages the emotions and stirs the soul.
At times the almost two hours of DVD worship is a caricature of itself with ceaseless shots of the ecstatic and youthful crowd, hands raised, eyes closed and totally engrossed by the experience.
Such is the influence of the Hillsong stable that many of our congregations will be singing these songs over the next decade and the music will be heard and sung world-wide.
Mighty To Save will no doubt join previous Hillsong offerings at Number 1 on the Australian album chart and go quickly to gold, but there are no surprises here, either lyrically or musically.
While the music is competent and tight, if somewhat stylised, I couldn’t help wondering if this collection would have gone straight to the bargain bin had the lyrics not been about Jesus.
Bruce Mullan is the Editor of Journey
