There are few voices in Christian music these days as recognizable and as soulful as Integrity Music’s Israel Houghton.
Israel could be considered by some as very fortunate - considering he is the worship leader at Houston’s Lakewood
Church, mega-church and home to Joel & Victoria Osteen. But the thing you might find interesting about Israel is that he
not one to brag about that. In fact, he doesn’t even openly talk about his position at Lakewood, instead choosing to allow
people to focus on his own ministry. A ministry that I personally believe is more God-honoring, having a centralized focus
on what the true Gospel is.
August 31st marks the release of Israel’s newest album, Love God. Love People. This is the second release in as many
years away from the Houghton-led group, New Breed, but displays all the flavor and soul that you would expect to find on
one of their records.
One track that immediately stood out to me was “Others” which seemingly picks up where The Power of One left off. The
message of the song to me is one of those “least of these” messages, which is found in Matthew 25:40, where Jesus
mentions of helping the poor and the broken. I thought it pleasant to hear the message from the previous album
resonating in this song.
“You Hold My World” is another stand-out, which features an amazing classical nylon-string guitar intro by fellow worship
leader Michael Gungor (of the group Gungor) filling in on guitar, and sharing in on the song-writing credits. The song’s
first verse features scripture found in Psalm 46:10 which says “Be still and know that I am God” (NKJV). The song is a
reminder of the faith that we put in Christ alone as our strength, our refuge and our salvation.
Israel does a rather upbeat and intriguing cover of the Passion hit song “Our God”, which admittedly is unlike any other I
have heard of before. The word to best describe it would be “fresh”. With so many covers of worship numbers out there, it
was actually nice to hear a total different take on it, with that ‘remix-but-original’ sound to it.
Another exciting part that this particular album features, besides the dynamic message and catchy and upbeat rhythms
would be it being the first album from a Christian artist to feature the interactive LP on iTunes. In addition to the album,
the LP available on iTunes features a wide-variety of exclusive features including interactive and animated lyrics, Bible
verses, track mixing and more. And for the average price of $12.99, I can’t say there is much to go wrong on with buying
this release simply for the enhanced features offered on iTunes.
I would invite any who are unfamiliar with Israel Houghton to definitely take a minute and check this one out. The
infectious rhythms and melodies accompanied by meaningful and worshipful lyrics make Love God. Love People an
album that is sure to be one of the best released this year.
Closing Thoughts
To be perfectly honest, I have never been a true fan of urban gospel music – but I can say that Israel’s music and the
energy it gives off is infectious and it’s hard not to find something to love about it. The Power of One hooked me and now
Love God. Love People is reeling me in! This album truly teaches the advice that you should “never judge a book by its
cover”.
Review Written By: Jay Heilman [jay.heilman@christianmusicreview.org] on 8/31/2010
|
|
