Main Review
MercyMe’s new album is called The Generous Mr. Lovewell. The album has already garnered a No.1
song with “All of Creation,” almost four weeks before the release date. “He’s like Buddy the Elf meets
Forrest Gump,” says MercyMe singer Bart Millard of the fictitious namesake behind the band’s sixth
studio album. “He sees the good in everyone and knows his neighbors enough to know their needs. Mr.
Lovewell may not be the next Billy Graham, but he’s changing the world each day in every little word and
deed.” His advisory board—Millard, guitarists Mike Scheuchzer and Barry Graul, bassist Nathan Cochran,
drummer Robby Shaffer, and keyboard player Jim Bryson—equips the red balloon-toting make-believer
with airy ideas (“Pay for a stranger’s lunch today”) that were already being embraced by MercyMe fans
before this batch of songs left the studio.
The album kicks off with “This Life” with an electronic rock beat in the style of Electric Light Orchestra.
The chorus “this life was meant to shine” sums up the message of the song and album. I’ve been telling
people that the new MercyMe album reminds me of a classic theme album like Sgt. Pepper by The
Beatles or Songs For Jane by Maroon 5, both in musical diversity and with the challenging lyrics. The title
track keeps the dance floor beat going and brings the theme into focus with these lyrics “He wakes up
every day believing he’s gonna make a change.” I was amazed at the energy of the first three songs as
“Move” actually takes it up a notch musically. “Move” has a fantastic rock-dance arrangement like “This
Love” by Maroon 5. True to form lyrically, the song keeps the Love Well theme going as Bart
passionately sings “gonna move to a different drum no matter what life brings.” A major strength of the
album is how the theme of loving others is found in every single song mixed with basically three musical
styles. “Crazy Enough” and “Back To You” usher in a more laid-back musical style yet continue the focus
on Christ’s commandment to “love one another.”
For those looking for MercyMe’s classic worship-filled musical style, “All of Creation,” “Only You Remain,”
“Free” and “Won’t You Be My Love” are all worship choruses written for the Church in the style of “You
Reign” and “God With Us.” There are no songs that I find out of place and I love how MercyMe
seamlessly weaves the best of what I’ve come to expect from this incredible band with some new twists
and turns. Amazingly, even after all of those great new songs, the songs I keep coming back to are
“Beautiful” and the closing song “This So Called Love.” “Beautiful” was written with the band’s daughters
in mind. Having three young daughters, I’m extremely moved by the passion behind the lyrics speaking of
how the world says we are never good enough, yet Christ saw something beautiful in us worth dying for.
Closing song “This So Called Love” is equally moving as Bart sings “If all that we do is absent of Jesus,
then this ‘so-called’ love is completely in vain.”
The message of committing to extravagant selflessness and faithful optimism threads its way through
every song, and while “It’s one thing to be kind to someone, to be decent,” Millard concludes, “ if we really
believe we have this hope, then to stop short—to not be the hands and feet of Jesus—seems almost
offensive. Our dream is for this album to inspire others to ‘pay it forward’ to the cross. It doesn’t have to
be about major sacrifices. Just let your life become such that people know what you stand for.
Closing Thoughts
The Generous Mr. Lovewell is RIDICULOUS!! That means AMAZING if you remember when that word
meant something else. If you are like me and have been enjoying this band ever since the first time you
heard “I Can Only Imagine,” then surely this is your most anticipated release of 2010. This album truly
establishes MercyMe as the premier artist in all of Christian music. I didn't think MercyMe could top All
That Is Within Me but The Generous Mr. Lovewell rocks, has some incredible new musical twists and
Bart's vocals have never sounded better.
Review Written By: Kevin Davis [kevin.davis@christianmusicreview.org] on 4/26/2010
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