Here as in Heaven is by far Elevation Worship’s best-produced cd to date. Filled with powerful anthems and praise chorus directed towards the transformational power of Christ. It was a journey I enjoyed as a listener feeling encouraged and having my eyes open to God’s presence. As a guitarist, I have never been happier with an Elevation CD. As you start in on this cd you will be greeted with amazing tone and great lead lines.
I quickly identified some of my favorites that I can’t wait to play on guitar. Here are my top 3 picks centered around the “worship guitarist”:
Here as in Heaven
This song takes your breath away, it is beautifully arranged to draw you in with a arpeggiated synth and sweeping pads complimented by some powerful lyrics. There is literally no guitar until 2 minutes into the song, but don’t be discouraged it is an epic display of guitar after this point. The simple passing riffs during verse and chorus adds to the atmosphere of the song almost a perfect display of highlight the movement and lyrics of the song. The real joy of this song is the bridge. Not only for the lyrics but for the MONSTER solo during the bridge. The guitar raged to the front of the mix allowing the listener to be swept away by the driving music. It allowed the thought to be complete that “God’s miracle will overwhelm you”.
Production: 8
Musicality: 7
Dynamics: 9
Play-ability: 7
Grace Like a Wave
Other than being a great song, the guitar was fun to listen to in this upbeat number. The guitar part is super simple and for any guitarist who don’t like to wait to play this might not be the song for you. The main riffs were on display mainly during the chorus, as they placed some really fun off rhythm highlight chords. The rest of the song was filled with some simple 8th note lead line which is not that forward in the overall mix but I can imagine having fun playing this song.
Production: 7
Musicality: 6
Dynamics: 6
Play-ability: 7
I Can’t Believe
Although this song may not have been in my overall top 3 songs on the album. I loved the guitar awesomeness that was happening in this song so it had to make my top 3 guitar songs. From the opening of the track with a cool “thunderstruck” feel which leads to a great opening of the motion line during the chorus.
Production: 6
Musicality: 8
Dynamics: 7
Play-ability: 8
