Delirious? & Hillsong Australia - Unified Praise (2004)

Artist: Delirious?+Hillsong
Album: Unified Praise
Format: Audio CD
Bitrate: 192 kbps

Track Listing:
01. Everyday
02. Free
03. Lord I Give You My Heart
04. Worthy Is The Lamb
05. I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever / God's Romance
06. King Of Majesty
07. Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?
08. Rain Down
09. Majesty (Here I Am)
10. What A Friend I've Found
11. History Maker

Album Review

Rumours that Delirious? and Hillsong were going to make a combined album together first surfaced back in July 2003 when Delirious? travelled to Sydney to perform at the Hillsong conference. Sixteen months later the outcome of that night is finally revealed. 'Unified:Praise' is the live recording of the 2003 Hillsong conference, in front of 20,000 people at the Sydney SuperDome. The CD contains eleven songs, five from the Hillsong band and six from Delirious?, with a little crossover as the bands shared the stage for a few songs. The DVD version has the same songs, plus a few extras.

Delirious? and Hillsong may seem like a strange combination, and I'll admit to being slightly sceptical about the idea when I first heard about it. But despite that, this album contains much to excite both sets of fans.

When you place the DVD in your player, a square box parcel appears on screen, with "This Way UP" written on it's side. At first this seems a little strange and unrelated, until you consider the title of the CD and DVD: 'Unified:Praise'. Take the initials of the title and you get the word UP. The DVD menu and graphics all play on the 'UP' abbreviation, with the main menu being the inside of an elevator, with the doors shut, complete with annoying elevator music in the background. Along the side of the elevator are the buttons for each 'floor', which are the Menu Options. You are given five options: Play, Songs, Bits, Info, Setup. When you select one of the 'floors', the elevator doors slide open as the option loads.

'Setup' allows you to choose the Audio and Subtitle settings, whilst 'Info' is simply a screen of static text saying: "During Hillsong Conference 2003, Delirious? combined with Darlene Zschech and the Hillsong team to record this project. It was an incredible night, with over 20,000 worshippers packing the Sydney SuperDome, praising God with one Voice". You have to wonder why they bothered to include this screen in the DVD, especially since those exact words are printed on the DVD's back cover.

The 'Bits' option from the Menu is a seven and a half minute behind-the-scenes documentary, containing a montage of video clips and shots from the rehearsals and sound check. It also has snippets of interviews with various people, such as Tim and Stew from Delirious? and Darlene Zschech. The short documentary also shows people talking to camera about planning the joint Hillsong and Delirious? project. We see Martin taking in the scene as the crowd arrives at the venue, and various other clips of backstage events. It's an entertaining piece of film, but with clearly enough footage to make a full hour long documentary is seems a shame that they tried to squeeze it all into such a short effort.

The remaining two options on the DVD menu, 'Play' and 'Songs', take you into the feature presentation. You can choose to 'Play' the entire concert, or skip straight to a specific 'song'.

The first half of the concert has the Hillsong team and Darlene on stage to lead the crowd in several songs. The Sydney SuperDome shows itself to be a top class venue, with a huge sea of people making up the crowd. The main interest for Delirious? fans comes later, when Delirious? take to the stage, but don't be fooled into thinking that 'I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever' is a full-on Delirious? performance. Despite being a Delirious? song it occurs during the Hillsong part of the concert. Martin and Tim join Hillsong and Darlene on stage to perform the track, but it is very much a Hillsong version, sung much slower than Delirious? would normally do so. In fact, listening to this track on the CD you wouldn't even know that Delirious? were involved, until the final minute of the song where Martin finally gets a chance to take over the vocals from Darlene.

Through out the concert the Hillsong Choir, consisting of perhaps fifty singers all dressed in black, stand in a raised section at the back of the stage. They join in with the songs at various points, providing an added depth to the music. As 'I Could Sing' nears an end, they join in behind Martin and Darlene. On the tracklisting for both the CD and DVD it lists the song as "I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever / God's Romance". This is slightly misleading, as in fact the song "God's Romance" doesn't appear in it's entirety, it's just one repeated line "Holy Is The Lord" taken from "God's Romance" that is sung at the end of "I Could Sing".

A few tracks later, the Delirious? concert starts properly as they appear on stage through the dim blue light to launch into a staggering ten minute rendition of 'Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?'. Announcing the song Martin calls out ""All around the world the mountains are still trembling", and then the lights and guitars kick in to full effect. For a live album you'd expect to hear a bit more of the crowd, but for most of the time all you can hear in the background is the Hillsong Choir accompanying Delirious? Whilst this sounds good, it does loose some of the live 'feel' of the concert. Stu excels with his guitar and as the song stretches on Martin leads the crowd into "Dance in the river".

From here on, the CD and DVD differ slightly. Next up for the DVD is the added bonus of 'My Glorious', a song which doesn't appear on the CD at all. Whilst the remaining songs on the CD and DVD are the same, the track order differs for some strange reason. On the DVD 'My Glorious' starts with some arty camera work, a quick sequence of changing shots, blurring in and out of focus, all perfectly synchronised with the music. As this is the only song using this type of effect it seems out of keeping with the rest of the DVD, but it does work well for 'My Glorious'. The stage is flooded with smoke and lights, and a fabulous StuG guitar solo make this one of the highlights of the DVD. Martin has the crowd singing "Glory, Glory, Send Your Glory" as the song nears an end.

Next on the DVD is 'Majesty', and again the crowd are very low in the sound mix. For the most part, the choir drowns out any singing from the crowd, but admittedly the choir does sound superb. Clearly Delirious? thought so to, as they included the Hillsong choir singing this very song on their 'World Service' album. The bass rings out very clearly and Martin's singing is confident through out. The wide angled shots give a great view of the impressive arena with its high ceiling and large capacity. Close up shots of the crowd singing with hands raised add to the spine-tingling atmosphere.

'What A Friend I've Found' is next, with Darlene joining Martin on stage. The songs starts quietly with an acoustic feel as Martin sings and plays his guitar and Darlene sings the second verse. The addition of a female voice complimenting well with Martin's own vocals. Gradually the drums and guitars join in as the song starts to build momentum, and finally the choir joins in too. Another nice feature of the DVD is that during 'What A Friend' you have the choice of choosing from any one of eight different camera angles. Taking on the role of 'director' yourself can be fun as you choose from cameras at the front, side, back, above on a crane, or in the crowd. Some of the stage cameras reveal technicians crawling around stage, and the cameraman's feet, adding to the entertainment!

The performance of 'Rain Down' is absolutely stunning, easily the best track on the album. Martin puts down his guitar to give himself the freedom to jump around and dance across the stage. The entire crowd seem to join him in jumping in time to the song. The band's performance is perfect, with guitars, bass, drums and keyboard all mixed together supremely, making an amazing blend of music. Another strange difference between the CD and DVD is that the CD version of 'Rain Down' includes the "Glory, Glory, Send Your Glory" ending that appeared on the DVD version of 'My Glorious'.

Both CD and DVD end with 'History Maker', where finally the crowd are audible in the mix, and a truly live feeling is created. The song is an excellent finale to the concert, with Martin calling his "fellow History Makers" onto stage half way through. The Hillsong band and Darlene come back to make the stage very crowded indeed. With an unimaginable number of guitarists now on stage, the song continues. Speaking to the crowd, Martin sounds emotional as he quotes from Psalm 24. The credits role on the DVD, bringing the song to an end slightly earlier than you might hope. The CD of course doesn't suffer from this problem, and the music continues into a full ending featuring the singing of "Holy Is The Lord" and "My heart burns for you".

Overall, the production of the CD and DVD is of a very high standard, but perhaps let down in a few places but small things like the lack of crowd 'feedback' and not making full use of DVD 'extras'. Who will the album appeal to? Well clearly dedicated Delirious? fans will be anxious to get hold of a rare DVD Delirious? appearance, and Hillsong fans will also be attracted by the line up. In terms of what this album provides that other Delirious? live albums haven't had before, you're only left with 'Rain Down' and 'Majesty', which might put some fans off. However the version of 'Rain Down' on 'Unified:Praise' is well worth checking out, and if you go for the DVD, 'My Glorious' also stands out as a must-see track. Delirious? fans might think that there isn't enough 'Delirious?' on the album, but then it is meant to be a combined album between Hillsong and Delirious?

The only time the two bands really combine on a song is during 'I Could Sing', with Hillsong clearly taking the lead on that one. It is definitely an album of two halves, with the different styles each taking their own turn. Hillsong and Darlene lead the crowd in worship, whilst Delirious? perform a concert for the crowd. That is the difference between the two bands and each style has it's own place and works well because each band knows it's strength and plays to it.

Review from Delirious.org.uk

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Delirious? - The Mission Bell (2005)

Artist: Delirious?
Album: The Mission Bell
Format: Audio CD
Bitrate: 320 kbps

Track Listing:
01. Stronger
02. Now Is The Time
03. Solid Rock
04. All This Time
05. Miracle Maker
06. Here I Am Send Me
07. Fires Burn
08. Our God Reigns
09. Love Is A Miracle
10. Paint The Town Red
11. Take Off My Shoes
12. I'll See You

Album Review

Delirious? return with their new album 'The Mission Bell'. If their previous album 'World Service' was intended to circle the globe with its message, 'The Mission Bell' continues that theme as the band prepare to "Ring the mission bell and storm the gates of hell" [Paint The Town Red]. Pleasing everyone might be 'Mission:Impossible', but with 'The Mission Bell' Delirious? truly reach out an arm and place it firmly around your shoulders with a finely balanced mix of the softly soothing and the raucously rocking. To put it another way, whether your preference is for rock, pop, ballad or worship, you'll find it all crafted into these twelve songs:

Stronger
"We're getting closer every day, chasing the dreams that heaven gave. Hallelujah here we come"
'Stronger' starts with an eerie string vibration reminiscent of 'Jesus Blood' followed by a simple guitar strum and Martin's voice. The drums join in gently building to a warm melody with trademark guitar, proving from the very first track that Delirious? are back in style. As the chorus takes off, an array of sounds make up the backing track, busy but without being cluttered. As Martin repeats the line "Oh I love you" a choir subtly starts to rise in the background. A well worked opener.

Now Is The Time
"The winds are blowing through again, so we must follow, the people daring to believe, we could change tomorrow."
This song has been re-recorded since it originally appeared on a promo CD. Originally it had a fairly slow tempo, but it has now been vastly improved by increasing they rhythm and recording some fantastic pure sounding guitars and drums that open the track. Martin's smoothly sung vocals kick in before the drums increase in intensity and the voice grows in strength, launching into the chorus: "Now is the time for us to shine". The pounding bass and well played keyboard and guitar riffs through out are fantastic. Later the song seamlessly moves into a much faster bridge, "Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus", accompanied by a choir in the background. Martin then sings a series of urgent sounding lines as the song threatens to take off, followed by a superb guitar solo lasting a full 30 seconds.

Solid Rock
"There's a tower on a hill, it's always strong it will never shake, it was standing there before the world began"
With a country-fied cowboy style guitar twang that is instantly pleasing to the ear, this song slithers along with an almost blues style to it. The tempo is one of a slow march, until the strongly voiced chorus takes off. "On Christ the solid rock we will stand, all other ground is sinking ground" The slightly distorted almost slow-rap style bridge follows, sung by guest vocalist TOBYMAC. Foot tapping is irresistible and you'll want to join in with Stew as he gets wild with the drums. 'Solid Rock' is one of the highlights of the album and is near perfection.

All This Time
"All this time since the day I was born, I've never known a time like this. I don't want to let you down"
Martin and Stu share the softly sung vocals. Stu's lines are exceptionally deep and almost electronically sounding at times. It strolls along on a gentle level until the echoing words of "All this time" in the chorus release the song to its faster paced latter half. If the first half was slow, the second half is not so much fast, but alive. The chorus begs to be sung along to and the verses include wonderful lines such as "I can captivate an army but I can't control myself". You can practically visualise Stu stepping on the distortion pedal and coaxing his guitar into life. The song then returns to a more gentle feel, repeating the chorus line over and over but with such a beautiful bass, guitar and keyboard combination that the song refuses to let you lose interest.

Miracle Maker
"Holy You are Holy, Saviour, Healer, I'm standing at the feet of the Miracle Maker"
Beautifully moving piano and hushed vocals that are raw with emotion announce the start of this musical masterpiece. 'Miracle Maker' is a ballad created the way that only Delirious? can. Almost without you noticing the song suddenly turns into a loud rock track crying out to the Lord. If Charles Wesley had composed rock and roll songs, this is what it would have sounded like. It is without doubt stunning, especially when the soaring guitars give way to the orchestral strings and opera style choir. There is a 'goose bump' moment as Stu unleashes his electric guitar. Investigate meets Mountains High - simply incredible.

Here I am Send Me
"Let me hear a voice saying 'Who shall I send?', I'll say send me Lord I'll follow You to the end."
This song sets out its stall from the start. Stu opens the singing with fast paced vocals asking God to send a vision like He did to Isaiah and Ezekiel. The words read like a 'who's who' of the bible. In a good-cop/bad-cop technique the singing swaps to Martin for the lighter vocals in the chorus; "Here I am send me". Backed throughout by punchy guitars and rocking drums, half way through it feels like the song is about to explode. Near the end a pounding heart beat accompanies Martin as he continues to sing the chorus.

Fires Burn
"Jesus won't you take us home? Home is where the heart is"
Beautifully played piano and jungle style drums give this song a gentleness, enhanced by Martin's exquisitely sung lines. The centrepiece is an uplifting chorus which is both simple and catchy. A change in direction occurs when the mixture of guitar and drums is joined by quickly played strings. This is a track the feels much shorter than it is - a clear indication of its ability to consume the listener.

Our God Reigns
"A hundred million faces staring at the sky wondering if this HIV would ever pass them by"
This song's title might sound like a well known hymn, but don't expect this to be a medley of cover versions. Perhaps the band turned on the TV news when they sat down to write this song, including as many worldly tragedies as they could. Not skirting around controversy they sing about genocide, dieing babies and a "modern day disgrace". Martin sings lines such as "but still my Chinese take away could pay for someone's drugs" and "Nip and tuck if you have the bucks". The defiant chorus says "Our God reigns. forever Your kingdom reigns", standing out against the sins of earth. "God didn't screw up when He made you" Martin tells us. Strings and ebow are allowed extensive freedom in the middle of the song and anger is evident in Martin's voice as he ponders the harsh truth of reality. A notable strength is provided by the choir towards the end.

Love Is A Miracle
"You've given me everything, Love of my life. Forever I'll sing that love is a miracle"
Moody vocals backed by an equally moody tune, make way for the big gospel choir sound during the chorus; "Love is a miracle, Your mercy catches me when I fall, Love is such a miracle". Towards the end there's even a stereotypical 'preacher man' style sermon extract! It's the weakest track on the album, but is saved by the excellence of the underlying musical tone.

Paint The Town Red
"You know I feel our city's gonna shake now. And we hear you call every woman and man, "Ring the mission bell" and storm the gates of hell."
Part punk-rock, part brit-pop, 'Paint The Town Red' is sung with an urgency and is unlike any song Delirious? has ever performed before. The almost boisterous chorus of "ohh here we come, here we come, here we come" rings out like a football chant. The song comes to a standstill as a metallic guitar strums, before the ohh's return in the background as the screaming guitar continues. By far the shortest song on the album, it buzzes around your head all day long. "Ring ring ring ring the mission bell. Sing sing sing we've got a story to tell" shouts Martin as if he is hyperventilating.

Take Off My Shoes
"Why did You call? Why did You wait, for someone so guilty someone so fake?"
Opening with echoing simple guitar notes then a gentle beat and slowly played piano, there is nearly a full minute introduction before Martin starts to sing. This is a modern day hymn with a stunning simplicity. "So hold me, blow all the pride from my bones with Your fire" calls Martin in the chorus. This song is almost a minute longer than any other track, allowing for a Delirious? 'jamming moment' when guitar blends with drums, bass melts into keys and Martin's smoothly uttered words create a moment to marvel.

I'll See You
"I see You when the wind blows, running without fear. Born to rest in your Father's arms."
A simple acoustic song, combining the styles of Majesty and What A Friend, with an early U2 flavour added in for good measure. A faintly sung female voice gives a mellow Enya feel to the song as it gently bringing the album to a close.

Synopsis
Is it the best Delirious? album yet? It's difficult to say. It is incomparable to the likes of King of Fools, Mezzamorphis or Glo. Those albums were landmarks of their day, but The Mission Bell is set in a different time and demonstrates a different set of skills. Maturity oozes from every pore on this album. In 2001 Delirious? declared that their Audiolesson was Over, but with The Mission Bell they have truly graduated. The album plays to every strength the band has developed over the past decade together. With it's great use of strings and choirs, trademark guitars, bass and roaring drums and a stronger emphasis on the piano, this is a whole new side to Delirious? that shows progression to a greater level. Martin and Stu's vocals are the finest yet. Stand out tracks are probably Solid Rock, Miracle Maker and Here I Am Send Me, but All This Time and Fires Burn are not far behind. In the opening song, Delirious? sing "We're getting stronger every day" and they're not wrong.

Review from Delirious.org.uk

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Delirious? - World Service (2004)

Artist: Delirious?
Album: World Service
Format: Audio CD
Bitrate: ???

Track Listing:
01. Grace Like A River
02. Rain Down
03. To God In Heaven
04. Majesty (Here I Am)
05. Inside Outside
06. Free
07. Everyone Knows
08. I'm With You
09. Mountain's High
10. I Was Blind
11. Feels Like Heaven
12. Every Little Thing

Album Reviews

With six studio albums over the last ten years,Delirious has proven very adept at stretching themselves creatively while also giving the fans exactly what they want—just not necessarily all at once. Consider the impact they made on modern worship with the now relatively subdued rock of Cutting Edge. Since then, Delirious has alternated between the worshipful (King of Fools, Glo) and the experimental (Mezzamorphis, Audio Lessonover). While the albums have been well received, there's always a vocal segment of the band's fanbase that complains about the departure from worship, despite the clear Christian themes on all the albums. In other words, fans seem to want Delirious to sound like Sonicflood whenever they try to be a little more like Radiohead.

It was a good album, but Audio Lessonover (or Touch as it's known in the States) ended up as the band's most disappointing work to date (critically and financially), so it's no surprise that we're back to more of a familiar worship sound with World Service. The album is a hybrid of Cutting Edge and Glo, not as groundbreaking as the former but less bombastic than the latter. You can expect some of these to make their way into modern worship repertoires everywhere, the most likely candidate being the beautiful ballad "Majesty (Here I Am)." There's an anthemic quality similar to "Sanctify" in "Grace Like a River" in its amazement over God's unconditional love: "Mystery of mysteries, that you could love someone like me/In your hands eternity, and yet you have the time for me." Lead singer Martin Smith describes the rock praise of "God in Heaven" as a modern day remake of the hymn "To God Be the Glory."

Much of World Service treads familiar territory, though in a good way. "Rain Down," for example, offers catchy driving rock in the spirit of Glo's "God You Are My God" or "God's Romance," but it's still got radio hit written all over it-and it's especially powerful when Smith belts out, "Do not shut, do not shut, do not shut the heavens/But open up, open up, open up our hearts." At the same time, the talented guitar rock band tries a few variations. Psalm 139-inspired "Inside Outside" is a different, more open sound for them that works quite well, though it's essentially exploring another side of U2's multi-faceted sound.

The new album primarily succeeds by presenting some of Delirious' most open and emotional material to date. They've always been good at expressing the Christian faith walk in new ways, and they do so again with "Feel It Comin' On," a rocker about brokenness and restoration: "Careful when you look, for my heart has leprosy/All I want is to see Jesus/Just one touch and I'll be free." The closing track, "Every Little Thing," was written in memory of John Thatcher Sr., the band's mentor and pastor—and for some members, father or father-in-law—who died in 2003. Featuring backing vocals from pop star and fellow believer Daniel Bedingfield, the song is a somber and moving response to the pain of life's tragedies: "When it's all falling down on you/You're crying out but you're breaking in two/When it's all crashing down on you/When there's nothing you can do/ There is someone who can carry you." Piano-driven "Mountains High" offers a similar lament over the death of a friend and the challenges of life, ultimately relying on God whose "ways are high, too high for us." It's appropriately followed by "I Was Blind," a tender testament to God's kindness.

As expected from Delirious, this is an excellent Brit rock album with plenty of worshipful undertones. The only thing lacking is innovation. While it is indeed a welcome return to form, it's also a bit vanilla, failing to joyously surprise in the way Glo and Mezzamorphis did. Nor does it offer anything quite as memorable as their Cutting Edge days. But the anthemic rock sound and strong musicianship are both still present, and those are enough for most fans when combined with the emotional and worshipful lyrics. World Service is not Delirious' best album, but it might well be their most accessible and radio friendly in the last five years.

Review from Christianitytoday.com

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