On the 31st May and 1st June 1999 the infamous Roxy theater in Malibu, California rocked to a whole new beat as Kate miner led passion filled worship for two nights. This album tells the tale of those two nights of worship. Kate Miner is an exceptional worship leader who performs vocals and plays guitar on this album, as well as writing three of the tracks. Miner’s vocal talents have drew many admirers in the Christian music world, including Matt Redman who described this album as “Intimacy with guts”.
The album has a good feel to it from the off, being live there is an obvious sense of atmosphere to the whole album. The album kicks off with the upbeat “Dream before you” which has a strong rhythm and beat which runs throughout. The up tempo nature of this song continues through the next two songs “Take me higher” and “God is my refuge” . “Better is one day” is most definitely the jewel of the album. The Matt Redman song is excellently covered with passionate vocals and music. Starting off quietly the song grows in momentum until the chorus is joyfully repeated by both leader and worshippers, this is probably the best version of this song which we here at Nu:Light have heard. “Carry me” is a song pleading for the Lord to carry us through the hard times, I think it is a very strong song however the drums do occasionally seem slightly over baring in this track. “We shall be like you” brings us back to earth with its more traditional worship style, although still keeping the modern feel of the album. “Still I choose” slows the album down and was perhaps my least favorite track on the CD, the following track “Hung the Moon” is very poetic in its writing and is intimate and worshipful. “We believe” tells how through faith we can see the unseen, hear the unheard and feel the untouched and tells how this is a blessing to us. The next three tracks (Holy Spirit come, Jesus you are Holy and I will not move) are written by Kate herself. The simple, passion filled lyrics show a love and desire for more of the God they were written for. “I still believe” is not a song I could see being used in a congregational setting, it is a ballad with a very clear storyline about belief through troubles.
Live from the strip is and impressive album which offers high quality live worship for today’s generation. I will definitely be looking out for more from Sovereign productions. This CD is a worthy edition to a CD rack, especialy for that amazing version of “Better is One Day” |
