"Sarah take me by my arm, tomorrow we are Canaan bound," starts Andrew Peterson's new album Love and Thunder. On this particular offering, this isn't so much track one, as it is the first movement of a whole symphony. Andy along with producers Steve Hindalong and Derri Daugherty have crafted a most impressive feat in the area of cohesiveness. It sounds like Peterson sat down in the studio and just started playing the whole album one song to the next. Despite this impressive feat, the album fails from being great in an inconsistent quality of songship. Adding up the songs I find particularly good at any given time usually I come up with around half. This particular identification makes Love and Thunder a great album to put on to relax to, to sit and listen to the rain to, but not an every day cd. Nevertheless, there are high moments of this project.
One of Love and Thunder's particular triumphs is the heavily folksy "Serve Hymn." This song is cleverly and appropriately titled. The song contains lush acoustic instrumentation with particularly attractive mandolin, banjo, and fiddle pieces. The song contains the poetic part:
Jesus, Our Messiah King
For those who don't deserve him
Conquered death all life to bring,
So seek his face and serve him
O Serve Him
This song also has some impressive background vocals from Jill Phillips and Matthew Perryman Jones. The album then unfortunately transitions into a slightly weak procession of songs. This ends with the triumphant "High Noon." The album finds its moment of highest energy in the buildup of this magnificent piece. In this song, Peterson's former band mate Gabe Scott returns to play a great hammered dulcimer offering. The song sings of the triumphant defeat of Jesus over the forces of death. Jill Phillips once again adds an immeasurable amount of force to the power of this song, helping give it the effect of inspiring goose bumps.
The masterpiece has to be the closing number "After the Last Tear Falls." The song runs off a number of lines repetitively conveying different lasts in the sequence which a part of it is contained in the verse:
Cause after the last plan fails
After the last siren wails
After the last young husband sails off to join the war
After the last this marriage is over
After the last young girl's innocence is stolen,
After the last years of silence that won't let a heart open,
There is Love,
Love, Love, Love
The song declares the true power that no matter what befalls us, the powerful love of Christ will always remain. The song ends with the line "After the Last Tear falls," and has a beautiful transition back to the opening piano riff of the album, which appropriately brings a tear to my eye like Andrew Peterson can do like no other. Unfortunately this power is not consistent throughout this cohesive, yet inconsistent, offering.
Peterson proves at several points in Love and Thunder that he still has some of the amazing songwriting ability which he has always had, but not as great as we have seen it. If you are a big fan of Peterson's music, this album is one which would be great to have. If you don't know him, Carried Along is one of the greatest albums of all time, and a much more solid and convincing collection than found here.
3 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Rebel Base 2003Reviewed by David MartinTo experiment or not to experiment? This is the question that most recording artists face around the time they set to work on their second or third album. Once you've established a "signature sound" that audiences have grown to love over the years, it's a lot harder to get away from it in your later years while still keeping your audience. As much as I may love it when some of my favorite bands…The Phantom Tollbooth 2003Reviewed by Brian A. SmithAndrew Peterson has made no bones about the fact that he was inspired by Rich Mullins in his musical career. This has produced a tendency for a hammered dulcimer to show up on his recordings, lyrics about nature, and Biblically-based observations about life, sometimes in an off-kilter way. Love & Thunder is no different in that regard. But one thing should be noted: If you are going to emulate…Similar sounding releases
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