David Ruis has a penchant for the unusual side of praise and worship music (one of the most interesting Vineyard offerings is his "Megwich Ktchi-Manitou," an Ojibway worship song from 1999's Winds of Worship 15: Live from Canada and 2000's Shake Off the Dust, and The Mystery reaches new heights. It's important to keep in mind that The Mystery was inspired by Downpour, a Canadian youth event, and in keeping, I ditched the idea that Brian Eno was a heavy influence on Ruis and his co-conspirators (co-experimenters?) Rik Leaf and Kim McMechan. The introduction is a sonic boom into the reality that this is not our parents' Vineyard worship project, but it's a finely-tuned worship project that should grab youth listeners with ease.
After "Is She Ready?" and "Find Your Way To Me," two rather eclectic tunes, "I Hide In You," is a more familiar Vineyard Canada worship style with some hints of secular pop music.
Unfortunately, there are some bland moments within this otherwise intriguing offering from Ruis, Leaf and McMechan. "Every Day" is a straightforward rock song with little imagination, and "Moves in Me" is actually reminiscent of the style of Lou Reed. "Oh Lord" pushes the limits of reverb vocals. However, the "experimental" genre brings far, far more enticing results than shortcomings. Leaf's voice is incredibly solid on "Anything For This Love" and "Rescue Me." "Tribal Tephilah Session" reminds me just slightly of The Tribe (formerly World Wide Message Tribe) or a dance version of an Ojibway song. Or both!
Does the "experimental," youth-oriented formula work here? For the most part, yes, but it's not a stellar outing as one solid project. I recommend that youth pastors select their favorites for use in worship. A lot of this project absolutely rocks! That's good news for youth leaders and groups.
A double CD, The Mystery is presented in its full band version with an acoustic companion CD for small corporate worship settings.
3.5 tocks
