Newsboys - 'God's Not Dead'

• Style: Modern Rock Worship
• 12 Songs
• Time: 49:25
• Release Date: November 15, 2011
• Label: Inpop Music

You can call me strange, but I don't simply pop my new CDs into the tray and hit play like most normal people. I look at the track list and start with the song who's title jumps out at me first for my original listening session. Now granted, sometimes this kind of "messes with" the storyline that the band has intended to present, but more often than not, the story that touches my heart is exactly the story that I need to hear at that moment! But I digress ... the point here is God's Not Dead, not my musical listening habits!

The point of my short trip into my own odd habits was to explain how the last track on the release, "I Am Second," ended up being the first song I talk about. Something about the song title just jumped out at me so I started listening at track #12, thought "Wow, that sounds just like Kevin Max," scratched my head, restarted the song and decided that I was losing my mind since it was a Newsboys album, not a dcTalk reunion. Scanning the press material that came with the pre-release (something I never read until after I've listened to an album and jotted down my thoughts so I'm not influenced by anything but the music), I saw that I'm not crazy. It was Kevin Max! It turns out that the band invited Kevin to sing on the title track and it went so well that they asked him to contribute to "I Am Second" too. In the press release, Michael Tait talked about the collaboration by saying, "I honestly forgot how great a singer Kevin is. I was listening back to the track and just had to tell him: 'Dude, you delivered. I know why dcTalk worked.'"

Oh yeah - dcTalk worked and so does this song! "I Am Second" is without a doubt my favorite song on the release and since this is a really good album, that is saying a lot.

My second favorite is the original "Here We Stand." The worship anthem hints at a Hillsong sound and is a cry to God to open Heaven's gates and fill us with His glory while we stand in awe of His majesty.

Another original that I can not go without mentioning is "Pouring It Out For You." Yielding to God isn't easy in this day and age of "Me, me, me!," but the blessings that we get when we surrender our own will is beyond anything the world can give us.

I could go on and on about the music on God's Not Dead, but I would basically be stepping on my own tongue trying to explain a feeling. Suffice to say, all twelve songs work together to take you to the throne room and by the end of the album (regardless of which song you start with), you feel like you're in the largest group of saints that you can imagine and you're all worshiping together.

God's Not Dead Track Listing:

1. The King is Coming
2. God’s Not Dead (Like a Lion)
3. Your Love Never Fails
4. Here We Stand
5. Savior of the World
6. Forever Reign
7. More Than Enough
8. Revelation Song
9. Pouring It Out For You
10. Mighty to Save
11. All the Way
12. I Am Second