Rich Mullins points to Jesus, plain and simple! - Gorgeous music always pointing to Jesus: beautiful, down-to-earth, artistic, creative, magnificant - probably my favorite Christian artist ever. He sings of the gospel and the messsage of Jesus life and teachings in ways that I find both challenging and uplifting. If you haven t read about his life, I recommend that you that as well - what a wonderful witness to God s love and grace.
Amazing for a demo - Much like Winds Of Heaven, Stuff Of Earth Rich s first album from 88, at which after sending a in a demo tape of songs he was trying to sell the rights too, Reunion Records called him and let him know they liked the album and wanted to release it ALL 10 SONGS AS IS which had never been don t before in music, so he sent them the reels and they released it, with out a single change to the original demo mix, with that said not all of the songs on Brother s Keeper are demos, but many were and that is really saying something about a TRUE MUSICIAN when he can nail it on the first try, even if it does sometimes sound a little basic in the music it is at this point that Mullins showed the world he not was but IS the World s Greatest Christian Lyricist since David him self.
Rich s Best Album - Rich Mullins was Christianity s piano-pop sage, goof-off and resident Franciscan poet. Sentimental eulogies aside, Mullins was one of the most important figures in Contemporary Christian Music of the last 25 years. His songwriting, both thoughtful and unpretentious, was always delivered with a kind of unvarnished honesty that set him worlds apart from his contemporaries. This was never more clear than in Rich s live shows, where usually with nothing more than a piano, a hammer dulcimer and faithful sidekick Beaker, he would open up that heart full of wonder and earth-weary loneliness and invite listeners to join him. Over the years, my biggest gripe was that Rich s over-produced studio albums seemed to belie the homespun presentation of the shows-- where his songs clearly shined. Although his biggest selling studio albums contained some amazing music, Reed Arvin s often schmaltzy production and CCM radio-friendly gloss seemed to badly date most of his early work. That is one reason why Brothers Keeper is Rich Mullins best album. Leaving behind the synths and pop stylizations of
What s Missing? - I own all the Rich Mullins albums and always have one in my CD case. What I try to do is go through them one at a time, swapping them out in chronological order. Brother s Keeper doesn t last longer than a couple days.Why? Not because of Rich s voice or lyrics -- both are his usual high caliber. It s the music -- the tone has shifted to a boring, half-asleep shuffle. Listen to the percussion on almost any track: it s so straightforward, laying down a basic downbeat, that I can t help but wonder if the drummer was bored (exceptions: Cry the Name and maybe Promenade). Contrast this with any of the tracks from A Liturgy, Legacy... and you ll hear it.Brother s Keeper is also a shift in that it is heavily country-inflected, the Celtic and gospel sensibilities heavily present in Rich s music before this album are not readily in evidence. This is not necessarily a problem -- look at Mark Knopfler s very successful shift to a country sound -- the problem is that the country aura of this album sounds lazy and uninspired.One has to wonder if the change in producers is the reason -- Reed Arvin has been replaced by Rick Elias, Mullins himself, and some others from the band. I have no information on the change, if you do, I d love to hear it (send it to me). I do know that when I listen to the Jesus Record, I only listen to the demos CD. Rich s natural rhythm comes through -- it pulses vibrantly on every song. When I listen to the interpretations by Rick Elias and the band (and produced by Rick Elias), I hear that same depressed beat and sluggish sound.The one song I do like the music on is the Dylan-esque country/blues Quoting Deuteronomy to the Devil. It s tongue-in-cheek lyrics is wonderfully set to backwoods blues, it s quite funky and a wonderful departure.Hey, it s Rich Mullins singing his unique style of heartfelt devotional poetry -- and that s all good. The love and goodness of God are still wide open and faith is still a complex struggle of the heart and will. But I just don t find the music as compelling as the words, like I did before.
Hatching of a Heart - Well the night was cold and my heart was hidden very safely in a shell but I knew somehow I d have to run that risk, have to open up myself, but you said: Look at the stars on the face of the sky, they re the same ones Abraham saw. Come under my wings I will make you shine, give you strength enough to love. -Rich Mullins, Hatching of a HeartRich Mullins is among the greatest songwriters the world has ever seen...period. Brother s Keeper is just one more example of this.