Chris Tomlin “Always” Album Review

Always

Chris Tomlin

• • Genre: Christian
  • Date: 09 Sep, 2022
  • Content: Not-explicit
  • Region: USA
  • Track(s): 13

• Sparrow Records; ℗ 2022 Rivermusic Holdings, LP, under exclusive license to Capitol CMG, Inc.

Chris Tomlin’s new record does a wonderful job at creative organization and composition while giving listeners the peaceful and somewhat soothing feeling of true worship. It’s a collection of songs he hopes will truly connect with people. “Always” was first imagined when the singer heard one of his all-time favorite tunes from his early high school years, Keith Green’s 1980 song “Oh Lord, You’re Beautiful.”

Tomlin finds it noteworthy that Green had his own ministry in East Texas before his terrible death at the age of 28 in a plane crash. Tomlin grew up close to Green’s ministry, thus Green’s words resonated with familiar sounds for him. The album contains 13-tracks, all of which were co-written by Tomlin, except for the classic by Keith Green, “Oh Lord, You’re Beautiful.”

Album Cover Art

On a brown background, Tomlin rocks a black long sleeve shirt over a white/grey Tee, and has his hands clasped together while he brandishes a cool smile as he strikes a pose for the cam. Don’t exactly know how that relates to the album title, but pop off, brother!

Tracks and Features

The album opens with “Yahweh,” a song that recognizes God as the “only one,” featuring Elevation Worship. The song opens with an amazing beat sequence that is bound to nab the attention of the listener, with lyrics that go an extra length to showcase the melodious side of Chris’ worship. “Always” talks about God’s faithfulness and how “He’ll always be God.” The song sees Chris sing coolly over the rather subtle worship beat. The background vocals also does a good job of blending into tone, further highlighting Chris’ vocals.

The percussion at the beginning of “Strongholds” sets the tone for a pulse-racing song that has lyrics written around the “coming down” of negativities by the “blood of the Lamb” and how undefeated Jesus is. “Holy Forever” is a worship song that strikes the chord for core worshippers, setting the atmosphere for godly reverence. Chris renders an almost-solemn vocal delivery on the smooth beat in a crescendo-like tempo which would pull you into the worship experience.

Steffany Gretzinger joins Chris in “O Lord, You’re Beautiful,” laying sonorous backup vocals to this hymn-like song that pays homage to God’s supremacy and speaks so highly of His beauty. The country vibe that comes with “The Answer,” would be a delight for Country-loving fans. Chris’ lyrics puts God at the center of it all and is evident when he sings, “the answer is always you.” “The Great Forgiver” is a praise song that recognizes God as the father of forgiveness and Chris does justice to the stringy and hard bass beats. The background choir vocals that come in at intervals also add to the song’s beauty.

Brandon lake gets featured in “I See You,” and what a feature it is! The great songwriting and melodies on the smooth tempo of the beat is just the right amount of pleasantness to the ear. The vocalists all render their solos in sublime fashion which makes the duet very well-blended. Closing this amazing Gospel album, is “Precious Love.” The song speaks of the God’s love that was made manifest on the cross. The chant “He is worthy…” towards the end of the song throws light on the topics of love, forgiveness and the authority and abundance of God.

Tracklist

NO	TITLE	ARTIST
1	YAHWEH (No One)	Chris Tomlin & Elevation Worship
2	Always	Chris Tomlin
3	Strongholds	Chris Tomlin
4	Holy Forever	Chris Tomlin
5	O Lord, You’re Beautiful	Chris Tomlin & Steffany Gretzinger
6	The Answer	Chris Tomlin
7	Great Forgiver	Chris Tomlin
8	I Believe In Jesus	Chris Tomlin
9	I See You	Chris Tomlin & Brandon Lake
10	Father Of Lights	Chris Tomlin
11	History	Chris Tomlin
12	All In All	Chris Tomlin
13	Precious Love	Chris Tomlin

Album Theme

“Always” contains lyrics that tend to shed light on themes like the supremacy of God, His love, the abundance of His forgiveness and the availability of enough grace which readily flows from Him to humanity.

Production Credits

Ben Glover, Bryan Fowler, Ed Cash, Jeff Sojka & Jonathan Smith worked on production.

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