Examples of Christian Album Art From the 2000s Laura Story Album Art

No contemporary songwriter has had a greater issue on my life than Andrew Peterson. His start album appeared the year I moved to Romania as a missionary pupil, and since that fourth dimension, his songs have become part of the soundtrack for my life and faith.

Andrew's work resonates with me for several reasons.

First, Andrew expresses a childlike wonder toward this world and our place in it, waking us up and seizing our imaginations until we see—truly see—the wonders of existence. I gravitate toward music and books that lead me in the way of wonder.
2nd, Andrew's albums are steeped in biblical allusions and Scriptural imagery—all of which grow more powerful the more you report Scripture and the more you lot put his songs on "repeat." There'south a richness to his lyrics that rewards the contemplative listener.
3rd, Andrew'south songs bear the mark of authenticity, giving voice to a religion that is firm in its grasp of the truth and yet honest in its experience of doubt or suffering. The issue is a compelling portrait of Christianity in all of its messy glory.

In recent years, I've had the opportunity to spend some time with Andrew here and there (including an unexpected lunch i afternoon in Cambridge!), and fifty-fifty though I've expressed to him my gratitude for his musical labors, I've long wanted to pay tribute with words of my ain, in hopes that I might introduce others to his work.

And then, in this guide I walk through each of Andrew's albums, providing a brief overview and some thoughts on each offering.

If you're new to Andrew Peterson and don't know where to start (and if the guide below—which swelled to well-nigh 7,000 words—seems a fleck much), hither's my recommendation.

If you're almost intrigued past my comments above near artless wonder and imagination, I recommend you lot beginning with Counting Stars.
If you're most interested in the biblical allusions in his piece of work, I recommend his newest anthology, Resurrection Messages Volume 1.
If you find the marks of authentic faith virtually appealing, I recommend my personal favorite, Light for the Lost Boy and/or Love and Thunder. Whatever of these albums will serve equally a worthy introduction to the rest of Andrew Peterson's work, which I've done my all-time to pay tribute to below.

Carried Along
(2000)

Andrew Peterson's debut was released in 2000, and it sets the stage for the rest of Andrew's work, both musically and lyrically.

The title comes from the outset song, "All the Mode Home" ("I'k carried along similar a foliage on a river of religion"), in which Andrew expresses gratitude first for Christians who left a legacy of faith so for his own experience of grace. "The Chasing Song" reaches farther into the by—a lighthearted song that chronicles the "chasing" of some of the Bible's best-known characters notwithstanding laments the distance Andrew senses in his own spiritual journey ("All I e'er seem to chase is me"). Having nodded toward previous generations and the Bible's big storyline, Andrew next composes a prayer ("Faith to Be Strong") built around the paradoxical asking for "faith to exist strong" and "strength to be true-blue."

"Nothing to Say" is a song of praise to the Creator, inspired past a drive through Arizona while "Rich is on the radio." (This is a nod to Rich Mullins, the vocaliser songwriter who left an indelible mark on Andrew spiritually and musically.) In several of the songs on this anthology, Andrew highlights the persistent grace of God that flows to undeserving sinners. "In stubborn spite of my stubborn spite, I am loved all the same," he sings in "Love Alone," and the album'due south closing song, "The Ninety and 9" recalls Jesus' parable of the lost sheep and and then launches into an Irish jig as the album'due south musical finale.

"Shiloh" and "Rise and Shine" introduce a formula that will be used often on Andrew's albums: an ordinary experience, image, or object gets transposed into the spiritual realm. In this way, an ordinary feel (such as a parent calling you domicile in "Shiloh," or the announcement of daybreak in "Rise and Shine") points to an aspect of the gospel.

"Come, Lord Jesus" comments on the self-righteousness of Christians:

It feels like the church isn't anything more
than the 2d coming of the Pharisees
scrubbing each other 'til their tombs are white.

Characteristically, Andrew's prophetic vision turns inward, where he sees his own lingering sins and utters a heartfelt cry for Jesus to return and brand things correct. This yearning for the earth to exist fabricated new will become a frequent theme in his music.

Carried Along was my first introduction to Andrew Peterson. I had been a fan of Caedmon'due south Telephone call for several years, and their platforming of Peterson piqued by interest. (Somewhere there'south a video of me singing "The Chasing Song" at my church!) The longer I've lived with this album, the more I've appreciated it for how information technology sets the stage for Andrew's future work. Musically: elements of folk and pop. Lyrically: awe and wonder at God's creation and redemption. Carried Along is a strong debut album.

Clear to Venus
(2001)

The "sophomore slump" refers to the frequency with which a 2nd anthology fails to live up to the standards set by a stiff debut. Most vocalist/songwriters spend several years developing their craft and perfecting their best songs. Once they get a record bargain, they fill their first album with the best of their initial piece of work. Just then comes the deadline for a second album, and the lack of intervening fourth dimension leads to a less impressive result.

Complicating matters for Andrew Peterson is the timing of his 2nd album's release. Clear to Venus debuted on September xi, 2001. Imagine trying to launch a record on that twenty-four hour period, or trying to get traction with a new batch of pleasant songs in the mail 9/11 civilisation.

Clear to Venus may exist Andrew's most "forgettable" anthology, but it is still far from bad. Musically, he leans away from the folksy roots of Carried Along and instead mixes more popular and state, giving the pianoforte more prominence here than on his other albums. Lyrically, Articulate to Venus doesn't have the sense of gravity that Carried Forth did, but this sophomore release still has a amuse of its own, and the music has aged well.

The strongest song comes beginning, "No More than Faith," which places human doubt confronting the backdrop of the coming 24-hour interval when faith and hope are no more, and love alone remains. The bridge features a technique that Andrew volition employ more than frequently on subsequent albums: a quiet expression of determination that builds to a announcement of organized religion before launching dorsum into the chorus.

"Mary Picked the Roses" is a Rich Mullins lyric that fits comfortably here. "Isn't it Dearest" celebrates the dearest of God toward sinners and saints. "Vocal and Trip the light fantastic" points to nature's exaltation of the Creator in a way similar to "Nothing to Say" on Carried Forth. The most fun song on the anthology ("Loose Modify") has Andrew imagining the life of a penny:

I've been passed effectually and cast aside
Skipped and flipped and flattened wide
Spun around and thrown away and left alone to lie

Both "Hold Upwards My Artillery" and "Steady Equally She Goes" are about the need for support, ane marital and the other spiritual. "Let Me Sing" expresses Andrew'south desire to serve others through song. (It'due south the most "church-sounding" song on the album.)

Two "traveling" songs follow – "Alaska Or Bust" (near a homo living his life to the fullest earlier succumbing to cancer) and "Venus" (well-nigh juggling family life on the road). The album closes with the Mary Chapin Carpenter song, "Why Walk When You Can Fly." (There's also a "hole-and-corner vocal" that follows if y'all let the final track continue playing to the finish.)

Clear to Venus is not as potent as Carried Forth. It is an anthology "born of the road," as Marking Geil put it. At times profound, ever pleasant, it is a good anthology overshadowed by Andrew'south better work.

Honey and Thunder
(2003)

This is Andrew Peterson's first keen album. It begins with the calorie-free impact of the piano while Andrew sings the role of Abraham on the nighttime earlier he and Sarah fix off toward the land God would show them. "Canaan Spring" describes the vocalism of God as "a voice of honey and thunder deep" and includes some brilliantly composed lyrics. Note the beauty of the rhyme:

Oh, Sarah, fair and arid one,
Come to Canaan, come.

Or this play on words and sounds:

How faith compelled and diameter us on
How barren Sarah bore a son.

In "Permit There Exist Light" and "Serve Hymn," Andrew returns to the folksy bluegrass of Carried Forth while building on the themes of sin and grace and service establish on Clear to Venus. "Colonnade of Fire" continues the journey motif of "Canaan Spring," giving voice to a spiritual traveler whose nighttime doubts threaten to overtake him.

"Simply As I Am" is an anthology highlight, notable for the startling imagery and beautiful theology of conversion.

What'southward that on the ground?
It's what left of my heart.
Somebody named Jesus broke it to pieces and planted the shards…
and they're coming upward green,
they're coming in bloom,
I can hardly believe this is all coming true.

The song ends with Jesus returning to see the harvest and declare His unmerited honey.

The best that I've got isn't nearly plenty
He'southward glad for the crop,
but information technology'southward me that He loves.

The adjacent ii songs shift our attention to family life. "Family unit Man" expresses Andrew's surprise at his embrace of the role of married man and father. "Tools" pays tribute to Andrew'south granddad, a veteran of WWII who passed on his faith before passing abroad.

"High Noon" is an Easter song—an echo of "Rise and Shine" from Carried Forth and a preview of Andrew'south later piece of work on the resurrection. The song imagines the valley of the shadow of death "shot through with light" when "Jesus took in that breath and shattered all Decease with his life." Andrew'south lyric links Christ's resurrection to his own conversion.

So long, you wages of sin,
Go on, don't you come back again.
I've been raised and redeemed,
All praise to the King, the victor of the Battle.

The songs at the stop of this anthology express the ache of living in a world where evil persists. "The Silence of God" lays bare the land of 1's heart when information technology seems God is absent, and so turns to the experience of Jesus, the Man of Sorrows. "After the Concluding Tear Falls" runs through a litany of contemporary evils and sorrows earlier proclaiming this truth.

And in the cease,
the end is oceans and oceans of honey and dear again
We'll see how the tears that accept fallen
were defenseless in the palms of the Giver of love and the Lover of all
and we'll expect back on these tears as old tales.

The song ends with a musical return to the melody of "Canaan Spring," bringing the anthology full circle and to a fitting close.

Love and Thunder shows Andrew Peterson's development as a singer and songwriter with a style and substance of his ain. I echo the sentiments of Eric Peters: "delicate in its haunting, cute in its sorrow, rich in its questions, fertile in its proclamation of organized religion and incertitude, and painstakingly glorious in its production." The lyrics on Dearest and Thunder are imbued with theological and biblical significance, and the anthology'south folk/pop style withal sounds fresh.

Behold The Lamb of God
(2004)

How to describe Andrew Peterson's masterpiece? It'south non authentic to say this is merely a Christmas album (since the first one-half tells the story of the One-time Testament). Neither is information technology a musical. (even though the songs are sequenced intentionally and several musical motifs resurface throughout the anthology).

My all-time shot at describing Behold the Lamb is to say it's a musical rendering of the story of the Bible, leading up to and through the birth of Christ. Joined by other musicians and singers, most notably Derek Webb ("Evangelize The states"), Jill Phillips ("Labor of Love"), and Fernando Ortega ("Behold the Lamb of God"), Behold the Lamb of God is like a classic film—it gets better every time you lot encounter it. The 2014 re-release includes the live performance (and if you ever get the gamble to see this production in concert, do yourself a favor and make a retentiveness yous won't forget).

From the first lines of "Gather Circular Ye Children Come," it's articulate that Andrew wants to invite the listener to worship and admire the infant Son of God. How does this invitation take place? Through recounting "the quondam, onetime story." The adjacent song, "Passover U.s." puts us in Egypt during the time of the exodus, praying simultaneously for deliverance from "the Lord's judgment" and for the Lord's "love to hover near."

In a single song, "So Long, Moses," we move from the wilderness wanderings all the way to the prophets. Verse ane transitions from Moses to Joshua, with the haunting weep for a coming rex. Verse 2 takes us to Saul and David, where the kingdom is established. In verse 3, "the kingdom is broken at present," and the prophets cry out to God. The song ends with the promise of Isaiah 53 set to music and Micah's prophecy about the King's birthplace.

The side by side 2 songs ("Evangelize United states of america" and "O Come up, O Come Emmanuel") linger among the cries of the Jewish people before the coming of Christ, with "Evangelize U.s." too foreshadowing the complaining of Jesus over Jerusalem in Matthew 23.

The second part of the album tells the Christmas story, beginning with the genealogy of Jesus set up to a rollicking folk song ("Matthew's Begats"). "It Came to Pass" carries the story forth by giving the backstory of Mary and Joseph. Since its release, Jill Phillips' "Labor of Love" has become an often-covered Christmas song for the beautiful mode information technology describes Mary's encompass of the pain of childbirth.

Information technology was not a silent night
There was blood on the basis…
And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to concord.

The 2nd verse highlights the nobility and strength of Joseph, and so the song turns attention to the Babe in Mary's womb.

"The Holly and the Ivy" corresponds to "O Come up, O Come Emmanuel" as an instrumental arrangement for the album'southward 2nd half. "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" continues the Christmas story and then leads into the quiet majesty of "Behold the Lamb of God," co-written with Laura Story (whose version with Brandon Heath is similarly chill-inducing). The album ends with a reprise that combines several of the album'southward songs before returning to "Gather Round" and then (in the live version) catastrophe with "O come up let united states of america admire Him."

It's hard to describe the power of Behold the Lamb of God if you lot've not experienced the performance in concert. Full of biblical allusions and echoes, this anthology's undistracted focus on the story of God and His people provides an opportunity for Christians to ponder afresh the wonder of the incarnation.

The Far State
(2005)

Like Dear and Thunder, this album begins with Abraham.

Father Abraham
Practice you call up when
You lot were chosen to a land and you lot didn't know the manner?

The anthology's title comes from a line from Meister Eckhart ("God is at dwelling. We are in the far country."), and the theme of wandering every bit strangers and sojourners in this foreign country is evident throughout the songs.

We ache for what is lost
As we look for the holy God.

In "Lay Me Downwardly," Andrew considers his bloodshed, but he approaches his decease with hope, knowing that the grave is not the cease. One of the album's strongest songs, "The Queen of Iowa," recounts Andrew's visit to a terminally ill woman who seems more than alive than always due to her religion and joy. "Little Boy Eye Alive" and "The Havens Gray" focus on the arable, audacious life of God's kingdom, with the latter too paying tribute to Tolkien'southward The Hobbit ("Is there a there and back once more?")

The second half of the album opens with "Mystery of Mercy," a song that commencement appeared on the Caedmon's Phone call album Back Home. The hammered dulcimer is used to skilful effect, creatively juxtaposed to a lyric that turns effectually Jesus' weep of dereliction from the cantankerous into a cry of amazement at His imputed righteousness. ("My God, my God, why hast Chiliad accepted me?")

"Mountains on the Bounding main Floor" is a somber song with a flicker of promise that God may be doing more in the lives of cleaved people than we could imagine. "All Shall Be Well" turns to examples from nature to show how "the Discussion of God will never fail" and the end of the story is assured. "For the Beloved of God" is a tribute to those who serve others in the proper noun of Jesus.

The album's closing track, "More," is a thematic cross between the last song on Love and Thunder ("After the Final Tear Falls") and the song that will close Light for the Lost Male child ("Don't Yous Want to Thank Someone").

Although The Far Country is a fine album, I'd rank this ane as non-essential when compared to Andrew's other offerings. The songs blend together musically and lyrically, giving the album an beauteous cohesiveness but at the expense of any songs that stand out as most excellent. Furthermore, Andrew's theological exploration of "heaven as our home" will undergo a revision in later albums (see "Twenty-four hour period By Day" for case on Light for the Lost Boy), after his imagination is captured more by the hope of new heavens and new earth.

Resurrection Letters Volume II
(2008)

Andrew Peterson's starting time resurrection-themed album (named Book 2 because he realized while crafting it that he would need to reserve space to come up back and do more on the cantankerous and resurrection) is less a narrative retelling of Christ'due south death and resurrection and more an exploration of its significance. "All Things New" kicks things off with the phone call to "ascent upwardly you sleeper, awake!" and trust in the Jesus who "makes all things new." The lyric announces "the dawn is upon usa," and the bridge sums up the Bible'southward overall storyline.

The globe is good
The world is fallen
The world volition be redeemed.

"Hosanna" is one of Andrew's greatest songs. It combines an energetic, joyful tune with a haunting and ache-filled weep for conservancy, stark in its assessment of the human condition.

I am tangled upward in contradictions
I am strangled by my own two hands
I am hunted by the hounds of addiction
I have tried to fall when I could stand…
I accept nursed the fauna that bays for my blood.

But the starkness of this sinful state is overcome by the triumph of Jesus over the evil one.

Y'all have crushed beneath your heel the vile serpent
You take carried to the grave the black stain
You take torn apart the temple's holy drapery
You have beaten Death at Death's ain game.

"All You'll Ever Need" is a quiet song of praise that celebrates the blood of Jesus and how growing in faith means continuing to learn just how desperate we are for God's grace. "Invisible God" glorifies the God who shows Himself in the works that He has fabricated. In "Hosea," Andrew sings the part of Gomer, Hosea's unfaithful married woman, who prostitutes herself and runs away from her patient and true-blue husband.

The center part of this album contains several pleasant songs that aid in placidity reflection on life in light of God's salvation. "Love is a Skillful Thing" describes love every bit tough and indelible. True love blows up our view of liberty still leaves u.s.a. with something ameliorate. "Don't Surrender on Me" is a weep for patience and perseverance through sanctification, as the "holy fire of love" burns united states and makes us clean. "Rocket" is the most light-hearted song on the anthology, capturing a child's imagination in wanting to escape from beingness "stuck down hither." "Windows in the World" invites yous to open your optics to glimpses of redemption and hints of eternity in films and experiences (and even in weather condition patterns).

In "I've Got News," Andrew informs the listener that he isn't what he seems to be. Nosotros see the vocaliser at his best, non his worst. Just past the stop of the vocal, the line "I've got news for you" has shifted away from a confession of sin to the promise of the gospel to change our hearts and make u.s. new. "The Good Confession (I Believe)" closes out the album with Andrew'south story of his conversion, his subsequent wandering and return, and a triumphant commitment to exist faithful to death.

Resurrection Letters Volume II may not be Andrew Peterson's best album, only it has long been a favorite of many fans due to its inclusion of some of his greatest songs ("All Things New," "Hosanna," I've Got News" and "The Good Confession"). This is the album that launched the side by side stage of Peterson'due south career and laid the groundwork for Resurrection Messages Volume ane (which was released 10 years later).

Counting Stars
(2010)

Many fans of Andrew Peterson rank Counting Stars as his greatest anthology. I find that assessment intriguing because this album doesn't accept a large number of songs that I'd include on an "essential" Andrew Peterson playlist. Simply I admit in that location's a magic in this collection equally a whole. Counting Stars invites us to interpret life in low-cal of eternity and to make sure we don't miss the beauty that's right earlier our eyes. It's easy to encounter why information technology is so beloved.

"Many Roads" opens the album just as Andrew has often opened his concerts, with a quiet invitation into the world that he volition create with his songs. He points to the sovereignty of God in directing the "many roads" it takes to bring people together, inclining those of united states listening to sense that our presence at a concert or our attention to this album is part of God's principal plan. But even every bit the vocal explores the beauty of destiny, a shadow falls when Andrew admits his fear of rejection.

As I cast out all these lines
and so agape that I will find I am alone, all lonely.

"Dancing in the Minefields" is one of the best songs nearly marriage to appear since the advent of Christian Gimmicky Music, and information technology even made a splash on Christian radio (which has never taken kindly to Andrew's folk music or contemplative lyrics). The song expresses the challenges of marriage and celebrates the enduring nature of the vow.

We went dancing in the minefields
We went sailing in the storm
And it was harder than we dreamed
But I believe that's what the promise is for.

The next song compares different spheres of life to the fruit that comes from "planting trees." Information technology begins with the image of literal tree beingness planted, moves on to tell the story of a family that adopted an orphan son, and ends with the pic of a mother "watering" her family unit "with beloved." "Planting Trees" beckons the listener to consider the future fruit that will come from our present endeavors.

And many years from now
Long subsequently we are gone
These trees will spread their branches out
And bless the dawn.

"The Magic Hr" describes the charm of Andrew'due south dwelling house, by inviting us once once more to look at the world and revel in the enchanted nature of beingness.

"World Traveler" is another anthology highlight. Information technology starts with Andrew's longing to be cut loose from habitation to travel the world, just then turns to the manner wedlock has led Andrew to walk "the hills of the homo soul" and ends with an affirmation of fatherhood.

Tonight I saw the children in their rooms
Little flowers all in bloom
Called-for suns and silvery moon
And somehow in that starry heaven
The prototype of the Maker lies
Correct here beneath my roof tonight.

"Island of Skye" – a gentle lullaby Andrew wrote for his daughter – closes out the start half of the album, which then far has focused on opening our eyes to see the beauty of what is right earlier our eyes.

"God of My Fathers" begins the second half of Counting Stars, and similar to "All the Style Home" from Andrew's first anthology, this vocal appreciates the past and looks to the future. "Fool with a Fancy Guitar" sets a confessional lyric to an unassuming, folksy melody. Sinful and foolish the vocaliser may exist, yet considering of Christ: "I am a priest and a prince in the kingdom of God."

The post-obit song "In the Night My Hope Lives On" is a favorite of mine. The minor melody is played to bully consequence with bluegrass-tinged instrumentation, while the lyrics are filled with Bible characters and stories of faith.

"You Came And so Close" and "The Last Borderland" are songs of lament. The former calls out to someone at the end of their rope, while the latter mourns the singer's coldness of center. Until at present, this album has focused primarily on seeing the enchanted nature of a proficient world overseen past the sovereign Male parent, just these two songs acknowledge the reality of people who experience surrounded by darkness and despair and are unable to run into the beauty.

"Many Roads" opened this anthology quietly. "The Reckoning" finishes information technology loudly, with the psalmist's weep "How long" carrying the chorus. The song is total of paradox ("How I fearfulness you, How I long to be nearly you"), and includes a bridge that describes line by line the paradoxical nature of God.

You are holiness and grace
You are fury and rest
You are anger and love
You curse and you bless
You are mighty and weak
You are silence and vocal
You are apparently every bit the 24-hour interval
Only you accept hidden your face.

From first to terminate, Counting Stars captures Andrew Peterson'southward ability to fuse theological depth with an affirmation of this world'due south enchanted nature, marrying celebration and complaining in interlocking means that strengthen the listener'due south experience of both. A true precious stone!

Light for the Lost Boy
(2012)

Compared to previous albums, Light for the Lost Boy represents a musical bound. From the opening of "Come up Dorsum Soon," we realize that nosotros're in unfamiliar territory, with "the sound of the scream and the sight of the claret" every bit an animal is caught "in the jaws of the canis familiaris as the river ran by." The lyric is darker, and the music louder and edgier than the folksy style of Andrew Peterson'due south previous work. The opening vocal describes a world in groaning, and then cries out for deliverance into the new world that God has promised.

"The Cornerstone" is another song that sounds strikingly dissimilar from Andrew'southward previous albums. The lyrics explore both the repelling and compelling nature of God'southward self-revelation. We run upwards confronting the hardness in Jesus' pedagogy, but and then are surprised when we "collide with a cute immovable force," the Cornerstone from which all rivers menstruum.

"Remainder Easy" returns to familiar Andrew Peterson territory—a grace-based song to his children that reminds them of their father'south acceptance.

Yous don't have to testify yourself
yous're already mine
You don't accept to hide your heart
I already love you lot
I hold it in mine
Then you can rest easy.

"The Voice of Jesus" describes what C. Due south. Lewis chosen joy – "when the joy that you feel leaves a terrible ache in your bones" and Andrew connects that feeling to the "voice of Jesus" calling the sinner habitation.

"The Ballad of Jody Baxter" is inspired by Marjorie Rawlings' volume The Yearling, with a powerful image of a little boy "who's lost out in the woods always looking for the fawn." Andrew uses the yearning for lost innocence in Rawlings' work as the basis for expressing the longing for the innocence of Eden felt in every human heart.

The second function of Light for the Lost Male child starts with the upbeat "24-hour interval By Twenty-four hour period," another song that yearns for childhood, but here Andrew admits that it'southward non merely a return that we long for, but immortality.

I don't want to go dorsum
I just desire to go on and on and on.

The vision of eternity in this vocal differs in emphasis from the songs on The Far Country. Here nosotros find an earthier, more resurrection-focused afterlife, perchance due to the influence of N. T. Wright's work.

"Polish Your Light on Me" furthers the image of a boy out lost in the woods, in need of lite from God. "Behave the Fire" reaffirms the commitment to maintain religion in the dream "of a city descending with the dominicus in the center and a peace unending."

"You'll Find Your Way" is 1 of the best songs on this anthology. Andrew anticipates the day his son will experience lost and abandoned and ridden with guilt. "Go along to the old roads," he sings, echoing Solomon's wisdom in Proverbs, "and you'll find your manner."

Become back, go back to the aboriginal paths
Lash your heart to the aboriginal mast
and concord on, male child, whatever y'all practice
to the hope that's taken ahold of you.

"Don't You Want to Thank Someone" is my favorite of all of Andrew Peterson's songs. It's also his longest, clocking in at well over nine minutes as it unfolds and builds and then subsides with the melody of "Come Back Soon"—a fitting reprise to this bright anthology. I appreciate this song for the Chestertonian emphasis of gratitude, the ability to run into the earth with renewed eyes and a sense of thanksgiving, too as for the manner in which Andrew gives musical expression to Gerard Manley Hopkins' description of the world "charged with the grandeur of God." The vocal brings together all the longing and yearning that has unfolded throughout this album, sets information technology in the context of God's promise for eternity, and so describes this 24-hour interval "when the world is new once again and the children of the King are ancient in their youth again."

Counting Stars may be a favorite album amidst Andrew Peterson fans, merely Light for the Lost Boy is his best work. Here we find brilliant lyrics gear up to music that encapsulates a palpable yearning for the Eden we've lost.

Subsequently All These Years: A Collection
(2014)

I debated whether or not to include this anthology in this guide, since technically information technology is a compilation of Andrew Peterson songs. But considering it contains several unreleased songs as well every bit several new versions of old songs, I thought it best to offering a brief review.

After All These Years features four new songs, including the title track, written subsequently Andrew's fortieth birthday. It's a vocal that exalts the faithfulness of God aslope the desire for spiritual growth. "To All The Poets" is co-written with Gloria Gaither as a tribute to the poets who have given the world color and shape. "Romans 11 (Doxology)" is a worship song that Andrew dusted off for this collection, and "Everybody's Got a Song" is a tribute to Nashville. (Because I'm a native Tennessean, it's ane of my favorite songs from Andrew.)

Subsequently All These Years also includes a number of songs from previous albums: "The Reckoning," "All Things New," "Don't Yous Want to Thank Someone?" "Lay Me Down," "You lot'll Notice Your Fashion," "Dancing in the Minefields," and "The Good Confession."

In improver, there are a number of older songs that Andrew rerecorded for this compilation. For example, the 2014 version of "Later on the Concluding Tear Falls" is guitar-based instead of the softer, piano-based version we notice on Love and Thunder. Andrew includes new versions of "Faith to Be Strong," "The Silence of God," "Null to Say" and "No More Faith." The song that has been changed the most is "Isn't it Love," which on Articulate to Venus has an upbeat melody crafted for radio airplay but here is given a slow and somber treatment that adds gravity to the lyric. "Holy is the Lord" fills out the story of Abraham from the brief chorus included on Love and Thunder.

It wouldn't be accurate to say that Afterwards All These Years is a "best-of" collection, since many of Andrew'south all-time songs are missing. It's more like a musical memoir, an opportunity for the artist to reminisce and return to past works. Featuring songs from all of his previous albums (except Behold the Lamb of God), this compilation serves as a good introduction to many of the themes in Andrew'southward songwriting.

The Burning Border of Dawn
(2015)

If Lite for the Lost Male child is Andrew'due south most artistically aggressive album, The Burning Border of Dawn marks his return to the audio-visual, folk-based melodies and lyrics that take characterized his music from the start. The opening song, "The Dark Earlier the Dawn" sounds a note of hopeful optimism:

I've been waiting for the dominicus
To come blazing up out of the dark like a bullet from a gun
Till every shadow is scattered
Every dragon's on the run.

The song takes our experience of darkness, storms, air current, and lightning, and makes them the backdrop for the coming of the dawn. In any trial or travail we endure, we are merely experiencing the "storm before the at-home" or "the pain before the lotion," "the cold earlier the warm," and the "tears before the song."

"Every Star is a Burning Flame" captures once again a sense of enchantment at the earth, only Andrew extends the thought so that non only is every star a called-for flame, but every middle is, as well. "Nosotros Will Survive" and "My One Safe Place" shine light on the perseverance necessary for a healthy marriage. The former acknowledges Andrew's demand for encouragement and the fortifying of his faith. The latter includes a nod to the Light for the Lost Boy ("I'1000 a lost boy out in the copse) and exults in the rubber and condolement of home, where God reveals His goodness in the dazzler of one's spouse.

"The Pelting Keeps Falling" may be the near transparent song on any Andrew Peterson anthology (and since authenticity has always been a hallmark of his music, that's saying something!). The song quietly chronicles the dark descent into depression, where pressures and sins and struggles overwhelm the singer similar the constant and relentless falling of rain. Even here, though, we discover a ray of hope as Andrew prays for pelting to water the world so that God volition bring life from a flavour of death.

"Rejoice" follows naturally after the rain, a song that latches onto hope in order to defy the dungeon prison cell, to proclaim joy in the midst of deep sorrow. Because the Father rejoices over us with song, you tin "set your face confronting the night and raise your broken voice."

Most of Andrew Peterson'due south albums incorporate songs that focus on relationships and the Christian life at the horizontal level. "I Want to Say I'one thousand Sorry" and "Exist Kind to Yourself" fill that role here. The first is a complaining for a cleaved relationship. The second is for Andrew's daughter Skye, a fatherly vocal of affirmation intended to calm the turbulent years of adolescence.

"The Power of a Slap-up Amore" testifies to the grace of God that brings forgiveness for the past and hope for the futurity, while acknowledging the joy of life in the present. The album ends with "The Sower's Song," an exploration of the truth that we must be broken by God before we can bear fruit, and a powerful declaration of the Give-and-take of God not returning void.

The Burning Edge of Dawn is a solid addition to Peterson's work, marking a return to his traditional sound and offering a new collection of sing-able melodies and transparent lyrics.

Resurrection Letters Book I
(2018)

X years afterwards the release of his acclaimed Resurrection Letters Book 2, the long-awaited Volume 1 tells the story and explores the significance of Christ's death and resurrection. I've been listening to this album for several weeks now, and I consider it to be i of his best, on par with Behold the Lamb of God and Low-cal for the Lost Male child and far surpassing the beauty and power of Resurrection Letters Volume 2.

The album begins with a "prologue" of five songs for Holy Week. "Last Words (Tenebrae)" sets the mood with 7 last sayings of Jesus incorporated into a contemporary dirge. "Well Done Good and Faithful" is a spine-tingling exploration of the significance of Jesus' cede equally an offering to the Begetter who affirms the goodness of His beloved Son. This may exist the strongest theological song that Andrew has ever composed (it is based on a hymn by Isaac Watts), requiring repeated hearings in social club to fully take in all the biblical allusions. "The Ninth Hour" is a musical interlude that captures something of the joy and sadness of Jesus' last day.

"E'er Good" is a quiet declaration of faith in the midst of terrible suffering, taking the puzzlement of the disciples at the cross and extending their sadness and confusion into our present circumstances, against the foundational belief in the goodness of God. Another vivid song of biblical theology follows—"God Rested," which parallels God's work in creating the globe ("Half-dozen days shall you labor, the seventh is the Lord'due south") with the 24-hour interval Christ's trunk rested in the tomb. The song ends with a line about all creation waiting, so the music stops abruptly, as if Andrew and the musicians are holding their breath in anticipation for what comes adjacent.

"His Centre Beats" kicks off the resurrection-focused part of the anthology. This is the center of Resurrection Letters Volume ane, a song that pulsates with excitement, nods musically and lyrically to the famous Easter hymn "Crown Him with Many Crowns," and includes several stunning lines:

The blood that brought us peace with God is racing through His veins…
The Lamb of God slain for us is a Lion ready to roar…
He took that breath and put death to expiry.
Where is your sting, O death?
How grave is your defeat!

"Risen Indeed" returns to the scene of the empty tomb, where Peter and Mary detect the reality of the Risen King, sovereign over death. "Call back Me" is one of two songs in this collection written past Ben Shive. A musical departure for Andrew, it stands out for the way it combines the weep of the thief on the cross with a dizzying assortment of biblical texts and allusions. Consider these lines about where all creation is headed, and try to sing forth without weeping (I dare you!).

The Son will stand on the mount once more
with an regular army of angels at his control,
and the earth volition split up similar the hull of a seed
wherever Jesus plants his feet,
and up from the grave the dead will rise
like spring trees clothed in petals of white,
singing the song of the radiant bride.

"I've Seen Likewise Much" serves as a testimony to the power of tasting the resurrection reality of Jesus personally. "Remember and Proclaim" and "Maybe Next Year" bring together the past, present, and hereafter of Christian promise, with the onetime focusing on the Lord'southward Supper as a nowadays declaration of past redemption, and the latter leading us to Jerusalem and the ancient hope that God's kingdom will come soon.

"Rise Up" is another song written by Ben Shive. Andrew'south musical rendition is Beatles-esque at times, while the words declare the judgment of God against all oppression and injustice. When we long for justice, we inhabit the worldview of the psalmist, who saw God'due south last judgment as good news for this sin-soaked world.

"Is He Worthy" enters into the drama of Revelation v, when John the Seer wonders who is worthy to break the seal and open up the scroll. From start to cease, the song invites the listener to respond liturgically—to confess our feeling that the world is broken and to affirm our faith in its future renewal. The beautiful lucifer of lyric and melody brand this one of the standout songs on the album.

"All Things Together" puts Colossians ane to music and begins to intersect at various points with the opening song of Resurrection Letters Volume II ("All Things New"), creating a span from the starting time volume to the second, and bringing to a close a brilliantly conceived and executed album that revels in the glory of Easter.

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Source: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/trevin-wax/guide-music-andrew-peterson/