"It Is Well" Album Review

Kutless is probably best known as a Christian band with a rock sound, but the band has said on several different occasions that their hearts are filled with a love of worship music.
 
Now the guys are back with what is their second worship album and sixth full length studio release, It Is Well. This release is the follow up to the band's first worship album, Strong Tower (2005), that was very well received by both critics and fans.
 
Like was found on Strong Tower, the band's latest release, It Is Well, features a mixture of both classic hymns and original modern worship songs that make up its 12 tracks. The new release also includes a combination of traditional modern worship, along with more up-tempo rock beat filled songs.
 
One of the more well-known classic hymns and the album's title track, "It Is Well," gets things started. This track offers up an interesting start with church bells ringing and a choir singing the song in a low tone, then you hear footsteps followed by the creaking sound of a door opening and the music gets louder, like when opening the door of a church. The new version of the song starts out very reverent sounding until about the 1:38 mark when the band kicks it up a notch giving it more of a rock meets modern worship style. The band says that this well known hymn is one of their favorites.
 
Some of the other, more well known tracks, found on It Is Well include, "Hungry", "God of Wonders", "Give Us Clean Hands", and "Remember Me". Some of the original ones are, "What Faith Can Do", "Amazed", "You Are Everything", and "I’m Still Yours".
 
The first single from the release, "What Faith Can Do," is also one of the best songs found on the release with its piano lead ballad style with lyrics that talks about the power of faith. The song's lyrics talk about the fact that no matter what happens in your life if you have faith you'll be able to rise from the ashes to start new and even better.
 
The instrumentation found in the songs also works very well, coming across like a perfectly fitted puzzle piece with just enough guitar and drum parts accented with other strings and keyboard parts to drive the songs while letting the vocals take the main stage spotlight in the songs.
 
Those vocal parts are the one common thread that runs throughout all of the songs found on this release. Jon Micah Sumrall's vocals are filled with an inflection that lets you know that he's not merely singing lyrics to a song, instead he's pouring out his heart in worship to God.
 
The album ends with the original track, "I'm Still Yours." The song is a soft acoustic guitar ballad with simple, yet powerful lyrics, that cry out to God that no matter what happens, and if everything went away, that having Him in your life is all you really need.
 
It Is Well was produced by Kutless along with Dave Lubben and famed producer Brown Bannister (Amy Grant , Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Third Day, Building 429 , and Jeremy Camp)
 
With It Is Well, Kutless has managed to put together a worship album that's reverent enough to not offend parent while still having enough of a modern worship meets rock edge to appeal to teenage listeners.

Style: Modern Worship
 
Songs:
 
1. It Is Well
2. Amazed
3. Hungry
4. Taken By Love
5. What Faith Can Do
6. Remember Me
7. God Of Wonders
8. Everything I Need
9. Give Us Clean Hands
10. You Save Me
11. Redeemer
12. I'm Still Yours
 
Favorite Songs: What Faith Can Do, It Is Well, I'm Still Yours

 
Overall:  8.9 out of 10