Matt Redman may be the premier songwriter in Christian music over the past decade as the writer of
worship classics “The Heart of Worship,” “Better Is One Day,” “Blessed Be Your Name” and “You Never
Let Go.” He is also part of the Passion conferences and most recently his hit song “Shine” was part of
the Passion: God Of This City album. One of my favorite stories about Matt Redman, a native of England,
is that in response to his church having too much focus on music he suggested they take a break from
singing which led to his writing “The Heart of Worship”. The lyrics “I’m coming back to the heart of
worship, it’s all about You” sums up Matt’s ministry and focus on vertical worship. His sincere singing
and songwriting style and biblical inspired lyrics have made me a huge fan of Matt Redman.
Award-winning songwriter, recording artist Matt Redman has written 17 Top 500 CCLI songs that are
being sung by millions in church services every week around the world. A dozen of these songs are
featured on Redman’s 14-song Ultimate Collection. What I like most about this collection is that
although I have many of these recordings from various Matt Redman albums, there are some great
versions found on this collection that you can’t find on a previous Matt Redman album, such as the
fantastic studio versions of “Once Again,” “The Heart of Worship,” sung with Martin Smith of Delirious?
and “Facedown,” as Matt’s Blessed Be Your Name collection only included the live versions of those
great songs. Some other studio version rarities include “I Will Offer Up My Life” and “The Father’s Song”
from Matt’s 1999 release The Father’s Song. Just as great as it is to have some excellent studio
versions, many of these songs were meant to be heard sung live with fellow believers. “Better Is One
Day” is included from the Passion recording One Day Live with Charlie Hall and Christy Nockels singing
verses and background vocals. “Nothing But The Blood” is included as the live version from 2004’s
Facedown. Personally, I think Matt’s most recent songs are among his best as the album starts off with
the great studio version of “You Never Let Go” and also includes “Shine” and “Yes and Amen” from 2006’
s Beautiful News.
The collection also includes the original studio version of “Blessed Be Your Name” which Matt co-wrote
with his wife Beth. If you’ve only heard the Tree63 or the Newsboys & Rebecca St. James covers of the
song, you need to hear Matt’s original 2002 version. I love how the song builds to the emotional bridge
right from the book of Job, “you give and take away, but blessed by Your Name.” That type of songwriting
is truly God-inspired and Matt’s gift of putting the words of the Bible to song has blessed churches
around the world for over a decade and he is my all-time favorite worship songwriter.
Closing Thoughts
Matt Redman’s songs have been recorded by artists such as Michael W. Smith, Rebecca St. James,
David Crowder, Newsboys and Phillips, Craig & Dean, among others. These songs are a great
representation of Matt’s best loved songs from 1997-2007. If you have always wanted to pick up a Matt
Redman album and didn’t know where to start, then look no further than Ultimate Collection.
Review Written By: Kevin Davis [kevin.davis@christianmusicreview.org] on 4/19/2010
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