Album Review - Delirious? "World Service"

I hardly want to write about album reviews in the past because I feel that my tastes for music is pretty niche and that they are not really tastes shared by the masses, but what the heck, this is my blog and I think its good to be able to share what I feel about music sometimes. How it touches me and what makes an album stand out.

Honestly speaking, hardly any new artistes impresses me these days, especially those coming out of Asia. Maybe one out of a few hundred can really make sit up and listen (Janice from Hong Kong is one of the rare jewels to be one of them recently, because of her vocal powers and not the songs, which are sadly, cover versions).

Back to this album review.

Delirious? is a Christian band that I have started listening to since a few years back, and they have captured my attention with their very typical British style of music which I am really into. Thanks to their forerunners like Pink Floyd, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Joy Division, New Order, etc. (Funny I really am into Mute, Fiction, artistes).

To find out more about the band, I recommend that you go visit their website at http://www.delirious.co.uk/ and read up on them. They are very committed to their music and even more committed to the Lord whom we all love, and serve. Sadly, sometimes one have to question the reason why a band would want to move into the Christian music market. Some raised the question of whether its because the problems of piracy is less rampant in the religious music market and that artistes stand to make more money from actual album sales. This I leave to you the reader to think about and find out. Hillsongs sell more music than any other artiste on the planet and that comes as a shocker to many secular artistes out there who have never even heard of Hillsongs. I am not saying that Hillsong's intention to make music is to make money, but as you can see, there are some artistes who are entering into this market because of the attraction of the dough and not fully because they love the Lord and want to share their gifts of worship with the rest of the world.

(That said, as a musician and composer myself, I need to eat too like you and everyone else).

Delirious? most recent studio release "World Service" just reached Hong Kong's Christian music shop a week ago, and I managed to get the last copy in the shop (and a sample display copy!) You can now see the stark difference in album sales now, can you? This hardly happen at HMV if you know what I am saying here.

Here is what Amazon's Editorial has to say about the album :

Delirious' studio releases are getting to be like Star Trek movies: every other release is the good one. While Mezzamorphis and Touch had their bright moments, it was the subsequent releases of Glo and World Service that truly testify to the musical and songwriting brilliance of these faith-based Brit rockers. Lead man Martin Smith, well known within Christian music circles for his songwriting prowess (such as "I Can Sing of Your Love Forever"), combines with guitarist Stu Garrard for 12 tracks filled with melody, catchy hooks, and enough crunch to satisfy anyone's cutting-edge tastes. The irresistible chorus lines in "Rain Down," "Majesty," and "Everyone Knows" show that the Smith-Garrard tandem knows a good pop song. But the more subtle and substantial element in World Service is the clear comfort the band has with each other. Drummer Stew Smith and bassist Jon Thatcher lay down rock-steady rhythms throughout while keyboardist Tim Jupp adds just enough spice to make it interesting. "Inside Outside" is a great example of this with plenty of space between each musician's moments. Delirious is clearly more confident and mature in their craft. Music fans in the Christian world and beyond will be all the better for it. --Michael Lyttle

Anyway, the first song I checked out on the album was a familiar song we have sang during our Sunday worship entitled "Majesty". I was moved to tears when Martin launched into the first chorus. I went down on my knees (in the middle of enjoying a red bean bun, I had to put that down immediately) and raised my hands in worship to the Lord. Delirious? work well as a band, and how they gel is an amazing show of musicianship and bonding. They are not ask matured as, say, U2, but nevertheless, for a young band (less than a decade is young to me), that is an amazing feat, and more so when I am so critical to what I listen to these days.

The ability to sound so close to the listeners' hearts, to bring them into a level of worship almost immediately is the special annointing that set Delirious? apart from the other Christian bands out there (same happens to me when I was listening to "Third Day" but their latest effort in the studio is somewhat weak).

Other than "Majesty", the gem of the album must have to go to the closing track "Every little thing". If you love the Lord, you should be crying by the time you look at the lyrics and Martin launches into the second verse. (If the chorus don't get you first).

I think I will skip the lengthy review and "what I feel" stuff, because fans out there has written enough. Here is a summary of what I think of this album "World Service" and you can then make up your mind if you should actually check them out. This is definitely not a boring "religious music album" and it can stand on its own when placed side by side with any other acts out there. So its definitely worth a listen.

THE GOOD :
- Maintained the great British sound that I am a total sucker for.
- Good CD production and well thought music arrangement. (That has got to do with annointing of course).
- Great vocals as with every other album and musicianship from the rest of the band is getting more and more polished.
- No troublesome CD protection unlike many secular albums trying their lamest to "protect" their music and it only serves to irritate people who buys music. There aren't any protection out there on this planet that cannot be cracked, I am wondering when the record labels will wise up and wake up. Well, enough of complaining.

THE BAD :
- Mastering is a little sounding too bright, losing some very important and sweet mid tones.
- Composing and arrangements can be more detailed. I expected more from Delirious?
- Tone crafting from song to song. I think the band should experiment more with this. Especially after they have picked up so much more experience recording in the studio.

INTERESTING :
- They can still drive me to my knees. The annointing is definitely there.

Rating : 7 out of 10.

Delirious loses points for not experimenting enough with tones and the mastering is honestly, bad. I had to reload the tracks into ProTools and tweak the mastering before I have a nice listening tone that compliments the vocals and the band. (Sorry, this mastering is not to be shared, so please do not approach me for this). There are not enough surprises in this album and there isn't a track and jumps out and capture me like before. I think Delirious? should start looking more at the technical aspects of growth in their music. That said, I still feel Delirious? is still one of the better (if not the best) young bands out there, even when compared to the other secular bands. They have a lot going for them in the future.

Stand firm in the Lord, and touch souls for the Lord, guys. I will still buy the next album you are putting out.

I would recommend this album to anyone.