** CLASSIC CHRISTIAN REVIEW ** Laura Story “Great God Who Saves” Album Review

Prime Cuts: Mighty to Save, Grace, Indescribable

How does an album warrant the epitaph "classic"?  For some albums, it is because all of the songs are so equivocally memorable that they collectively form a universally stellar record with an enjoyment utility that defies time.  But Laura Story's debut record "Great God Who Saves" isn't such an album.  Not all the songs across the board are great --- this, being her debut record, finds Story, on occasions, falling into the trappings of trying to be the next Darlene Zschech. So, in what way is Story's "Great God Who Saves" classic?  True not all the songs here may receive an A+ grade but there are songs here that are so overwhelming sublime that they intrinsically raise the value of the entire record.  "Great God Who Saves" contains at least three of those signature hits that are not only a delight to the ears and heart, but they are the type of songs that have become the church's most treasured worship soundtracks.

If you have been a regular church attender, you would most likely be familiar with Chris Tomlin's take of "Indescribable."  This is the hit song that launched Tomlin's career that to this day Tomlin's name is synonymous with worship music.  Incidentally, it was because of the mammoth success of "Indescribable" that resulted in Story being signed to Sparrow Records. Naturally, Story who co-wrote "Indescribable" with Jesse Reeves, renders her own version here.  

With her softer feminine nuances, Story brings a more sensitive read of "Indescribable" that even outshines Tomlin's hit version.  Moreover, the song is to be applauded for its poetically use of language weaved from Genesis, Psalms and Job; it is certainly one of the best written hymns this side of the Wesleys:  "Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go/Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow/Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light/Yet, conceals it to bring us the coolness of night/None can fathom."

While Darlene Zschech and the Hillsong team's "Mighty to Save" has a tighter focus on congregational worship, Story's version has a more devotional and personal rendering.  In the years to come Story is going to become one of Christian music's most thoughtful balladeers.  And on this debut record, we already see budding evidences of her future greatness.  The piano ballad "Grace" not only boosts an indelibly memorable tune but the words are gorgeously tear-inducing. "And each time I will fall short of Your glory/How far will forgiveness abound?/And You answer: " My child, I love you/And as long as you're seeking My face,You'll walk in the power of My daily sufficient grace " In the similar balladry trajectory is the pensive "Perfect Peace."

Yet, as aforementioned, not all the songs here are perfect: "Bless the Lord," "Make Something Beautiful" and "Great God Who Saves" are by no means ropey, it's just that they borrow too much from the average worship paeans with their slick production, blazing electric guitars, and thundering drums.  Nevertheless, songs such as "Indescribable," "Grace," "Mighty to Save,"  and "Perfect Peace" are so sublime that they will allure you to come back again and again regardless of the passing of time. 

 

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