Album Review :
Delirious? - My Soul Sings DVD/CD

Artist: Delirious?
Album: My Soul Sings (Live from G12, Bogota, Colombia) DVD/CD
Label: Sparrow Records
Release Date: March 24, 2009
Review by: Eric Pettersson

Tracklisting:
DVD:
1. Rain Down
2. God Is Smiling
3. Bliss
4. Love Will Find a Way
5. All God’s Children
6. How Sweet the Name
7. History Maker
8. Break the Silence
9. Deeper
10. Majesty
11. Paint the Town Red
12. Kingdom of Comfort
13. Stare the Monster Down
14. My Soul Sings

CD:
1. Rain Down
2. God Is Smiling
3. God’s Romance
4. Hallelujah
5. Bliss
6. Love Will Find a Way
7. All God’s Children
8. History Maker
9. Break the Silence
10. Deeper
11. Majesty
12. Kingdom of Comfort
13. Stare the Monster Down
14. My Soul Sings

To summarize that immense tracklisting, this DVD/CD from Delirious is a live recording of a single concert, but for whatever reason the songs “How Sweet the Name” and “Paint the Town Red” can only be found on the DVD, while “God’s Romance” and “Hallelujah” are only on the CD. Since the packaging seems to emphasize the DVD as the more important disc, I will begin my review there.

Live videos are always fun for your favorite bands and boring for most every other band. Expand that from a single song to a whole concert, and you’d better have one good show to present or you just wasted a lot of time and money on a live DVD. Fortunately for Delirious, this disc is, by most accounts, a quality product.

This 90s CCM rock band gone worship leaders put on a surprisingly impressive show the night this was filmed in front of an audience of ten thousand in Columbia. The lights that go along with it are also well done, although a bit too consistently dark for a full-length DVD. The audio and video are apparently apt for the latest technology, with 5.1 surround sound, although I am unable to comment on this aspect of the DVD, having watched it on an old 14” TV that I took with me to college. For the most part, the video production comes off a little amateur, with slightly experimental aspects that are more distracting and cheesy than cool and high-tech. However, the real shine to this DVD is not the medium but the content, and as I’ve already said, Delirious were at the top of their game for this concert. Some of the more spectacular images include lead vocalist Martin Smith singing through a megaphone and guitarist Stu G singing into a mic with heavy effects added, but the best is probably when a children’s choir joins Delirious on stage for “All God’s Children.” Musically, my favorite moment has to be the crescendo of “How Sweet the Name,” which has Martin Smith singing over and over again “Every soul needs a savior,” gaining volume and feeling with each repetition.

The CD is about as good as a live album in this genre can come. The sound quality is as good as a studio recording, and Martin’s heart for the poor shines through as he talks to the crowd in the middle of “History Makers” about the Church’s need to change work conditions, care for the homeless, end human trafficking and other injustices around the world today, saying:

“Do this, and the lights will turn on. You know there are enough people in this room tonight, we could change the world. You know this people, the Church, is the biggest people movement on the face of the planet, and it’s time for us to find our voice and speak out for those that do not have a voice.… If it’s not acceptable in heaven, then it’s not acceptable here. No longer the Kingdom of Comfort, but forever the Kingdom of Heaven.”

It’s refreshing to see a worship leader who realizes our faith is not just about singing feel-good songs to God but also going out into the world and doing God’s work. The two are inseparable, and in a healthy church community they will end up fueling each other more and more. While it’s not as entertaining as the banter I’m used to on those old Five Iron Frenzy live album, Martin’s interaction with the crowd maintains the mood of the night and presents an all too necessary wake up call to a modern Christianity that has become disgustingly inward-focused.

Overall: While the live DVD isn’t the best I’ve seen even within the CCM world (Newsboys’ One Night in Pennsylvania anyone?), it does help show a fantastic performance from Delirious. The music here and on the CD is a step above most of their contemporaries, especially in the faltering worship genre, and the band’s insistence on a faith that is lived out and not just talked about couldn’t be more needed in the Church today.

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