Hillsong United All of the Above Hillsong Records Praise & Worship 05-22-2007

SCORE 85%

The youth group worship team, Hillsong United, has been recording their popular live worship CDs each year during the annual Encounterfest. Until this year. All of the Above is the band’s first studio offering (eighth overall), driven inside for practical reasons mostly, i.e. scheduling, etc. I didn’t find any of the corresponding energy drop that you sometimes experience without a live crowd, and the production values are still straightforward. Add to this the album’s theme of connecting worship to social justice, and I actually found it one of their better projects.

“Point of Difference” opens with an atmospheric Delirious?-like vibe, driving guitars pounding home an anthemic cry to be equipped to make a difference. The opening crunchy guitars and staccato rhythms of “Break Free” climb toward verses of hard-driving modern rock, featuring electric licks and thick synth effects. I enjoyed the more melodic movements of “Desperate People,” thick with guitars, but it’s not until the expressive vocals and solid rock beats of “Devotion” that I get completely drawn in. The song of adoration and commitment drops in and out of quiet, pulsating worship, the time changes adding interest and moving the passion level up before morphing into the Selah moments of brief “Draw Me Closer.”

Things peak again when the warm tones of Brooke Fraser move to the forefront on the warm and ever-so-slightly bluesy “Lead Me to The Cross,” notable for its glimmering guitars and abrupt but solid ending. The thoughtful play list of All of the Above moves you carefully through stages of worship, with the dreamy, moody “Found” the perfect follow-up to “Lead Me,” its mellow instrumentation and vocals floating softly before the mid-track burst of free-flowing guitar-thick intensity. There’s a lot of movement in the well-constructed “Hosanna,” and more with the always-welcome Brooke Fraser, her vocals going from airy to focused over the track’s rolling rhythms, before the gentle morphing into the muscular, textured “For All Who Are to Come,” another Selah. The still buzzing track bursts organically into “Solution,” an energetic call to become the Lord’s hands and feet. The vigor levels stay amped up with the electronica rocker “My Future Decided.” “Never Let Me Go” comes in at 6 minutes but never really lifts off, but the piano-driven “You” is slightly more satisfying, with its atmospheric looping and airy vocals. All of the Above closes out with over twelve minutes of the deeply worshipful track “Savior King.” The sweet harmonies and simmering organ inject a holy feel, as perfectly supportive drums build the passion level slowly to a thick chorus of adoration, winding things down with genuine worship that never feels contrived or pushed. If you like thick modern rock, you’ll enjoy the thoughtful worship journey of All of the Above.