Holy Roar - Chris Tomlin - A Review

I don't know the reason, but I've been finding myself paying more attention to musical artists lately, and wishing that I had the creativity to put together the wonderful lyrics and melodies that they do. The more prominent and well known singers and songwriters, such as Chris Tomlin, take it even further. They have the ability to set a particular tone that draws an audience in, capturing their attention. A perfect example is the latest production from Tomlin, Holy Roar, which I have been reviewing, and loving! The title expresses it perfectly, this collection of songs is a Holy Roar!

I must confess that I didn't read any of the promotional information until after I had listened to this CD twice. My first thoughts were, "Wow, I can see my church singing most, if  not all of these songs during our worship service." Well, guess what the concept of Holy Roar is meant to be?

"...the freedom, the experience, the wonder of worship. It is seeing the church come together, hands lifted to God, pouring out our praise with an eternal song in our hearts. It's every voice together, changing the way we worship."

Isn't that something? I think that they nailed the intended concept. In a country the size of our United States,  I can only guess at the amount of worship leaders out there, too numerous to count, really. With so many, you'll find all manner of styles as they lead their respective services, whether loud, contemporary, traditional, and so on. Speaking personally, the quality that stands out to me in an effective worship leader is the ability to strike a balance between joyful praise and reverence. Oh, you can easily find someone to pound on the drums, and crank up the guitars, but can you find a leader whose heart is to worship, really worship the Lord? I think Chris Tomlin has that gift. Holy Roar features an album of songs that are definitely catchy, and sing-able, but there is a gentle, soothing tone throughout, that puts you into the mindset of worship. I don't know how he does it.

A little information for you about Chris Tomlin:

Bio:

Chris Tomlin is one of the most heralded singer-songwriters in the world who has amassed an impressive body of work. He has sold more than 8 million albums, 11.3 million digital tracks with 16 #1 singles. Chris is one of only four artists ever to receive the Sound Exchange Digital Radio Award for over 1 Billion digital radio streams, others include Justin Timberlake, Pitbull and Garth Brooks. 

The Grammy® winner’s list of music awards include an American Music Award, 3 Billboard Music Awards, 21 Dove Awards, a BMI Songwriter of the Year Award and more. Chris’ concert tours have sold-out venues in major cities including New York City’s Madison Square Garden, The Forum in Los Angeles, Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena and Red Rocks in Denver, among others. This spring, Chris marked another career milestone by launching his own imprint record label, Bowyer & Bow, in partnership with Capitol Christian Music Group.


A photo of the tracks on this album:

It often happens that I find a few songs that I really like off of an album, and then skip over the rest. That isn't the case with Holy Roar. As song after song played, I loved them all. As I said above, I'm waiting for them to show up on our church worship lineup. The first 5 tracks in particular, were the upbeat, stadium, anthem style worship that I have associated with Tomlin's excellent work.  Holy Roar, Nobody Loves Me Like You, and Resurrection Power are all beautiful, sing able, and best of all, full of praise.  The song that really moves me, and brings me to (joyful) tears, is Is He Worthy? That track has Chris Tomlin singing out questions - Is He Worthy? - with a choir responding back with an answer. The effect is simply beautiful, and one that I can't adequately describe with words. You'll have to get the album!  It's fantastic!

Buy it here:

https://christomlin.lnk.to/HolyRoarQW

Pick it up today!