I remember listening to Jeremy Camp's first ever radio single I Still Believe on an Internet Christian radio station sometime back in what, 2000, when I was 18? Which kinda tells you how old I am. But it's alright, I'm not the vain sort. Except that I still insist on kids calling me 'kor kor' and not 'uncle'.
But I digress.
With honest, moving lyrics that related to how I felt in my walk with God back then, I remember being so taken with that song that I made myself learn to play it on the guitar (in fact it was the first 6/8 song I ever practiced and learnt to play).
So, listening to this album (I'll be honest and say I haven't listened to another Jeremy Camp record since then) there was a sense of anticipation and expectation that I felt while plugging in my earphones.
After my first listen through, I found myself feeling oddly satisfied and disappointed at the same time.
Disappointed because some of the covers he does on the album (like Hillsong's Mighty to Save, Desperation Band's Overcome and Brenton Brown's Everlasting God) just don't feel to me as good as their original performances, or even their other covers (case in point: Lincoln Brewster's version of Everlasting God sets the standard waaaaaay too high).
I pointed this out to a friend after listening to it and he argued that they're not necessarily worse, they just sound different. And I thought, is that a polite euphemism for not great?
I mean, if you're going to cover a song that has already been recorded before, once or even twice or umpteen times (as in our case study Everlasting God), you've got to be able to put a fresh twist on it, make it sound new.
And sometimes, you just don't mess with a classic. Desperation Band's Overcome is one of my favourite songs of all time, and the way it was recorded on their album Everyone Overcome was simply phenomenal and mind-blowing. Jeremy Camp has great intentions (he was so moved by the song he decided to cover it) but as one of my pastors likes to say, good intentions are not enough - and his cover of this fantastic song sounded to me a little... lame.
So much for the disappointing part.
Where I felt truly satisfied and convinced that this is the same Jeremy Camp whose I Still Believe made me weep ten years ago, was when he performed originals like We Cry Out (a Camp and Brenton Brown collaboration) and You Are The Lord (Camp + the almost omnipresent Matt Maher).
The last two tracks were, I felt, the best songs on the album where the atmosphere of worship just permeated every word and every note.
So take this selfish heart of mine
I want to give it all
I've wasted too much time
And melt away everything that's not of You
I want to know You more
So much deeper than I do
Completely unrestrained
-Unrestrained
None can separate the very hope and grace that He displayed
Neither height nor depth or ayone can steal the love He gave
- King Jesus
So, for now, I'm going to be conservative and give the album the following rating:
I'll give it a few more listens and maybe I'll hear something I missed during my first time through.
In the meantime, you can take a listen to the album (I think almost all of it is on youtube). Here's the penultimate song, Unrestrained for your listening pleasure.
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