By: Kevan Breitinger
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Tommy Walker
I Have A Hope
Maranatha Music
Praise & Worship
03-18-2008
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SCORE
 
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For a worship leader with 15 years of service behind some of the faith’s most prominent leaders (Rick Warren, Jack Hayford, Franklin Graham, Bill Hybels) and contributed over a hundred songs currently tracked by CCLI, Tommy Walker has kept a pretty low profile. But this, his first nationally released studio project, may change all that. The ten tracks of I Have A Hope contain an appealing brightness that’s hard to miss.
The soulful title track opens the project on a very upbeat note, not surprising considering it was inspired by the homeless people Walker was serving at the time. A simmering organ and earthy guitar riffs add warmth to the familiar Scripture passage from Jeremiah, and big background vocals drive the point home in a rousing finish. Walker’s hushed, reverent vocal opens “Hallelujah, We Will Sing,” accompanied by stately keys and percussion, but the quiet arrangement builds slowly to a jubilant celebration of strings and voices. Walker’s lyrics have a strong Biblical orientation and his worship is straightforward on “In The Light of Your Glory,” yet expressed with great restraint.
I enjoyed the jazz-imbued ballad “Speak to Me,” embellished by rich harmonica and a barely-there cello, while the prophetic “Do It, Lord” is an energetic, faith-fueled prayer for the glorious life. Walker’s songs have an engaging quality that draws you into their worship easily, clearly obvious on the bouncy pop track “I Believe, I Believe,” a song of declaration that bursts mid-track into exultant praise. Equally irresistible is “Your Love,” a funky take on Psalm 139 laced with guitar riffs. The guitar-driven “Pass It On” celebrates the power of corporate worship. Walker makes the surprising choice to go out gently with “Holy Spirit Come.” I Have A Hope has more personality and vitality than you might expect from a Maranatha project, and should serve as a solid introduction for Tommy Walker, one of Christian music’s best kept secrets.
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