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Review: Awesome God
Full Disclosure: I received this CD for free from Sovereign Grace Ministries in exchange for reviewing it.
I listened to this CD a couple of times through and was pleased with the arrangements of songs with more theological depth than the typical praise choruses that are common in much children's music. I have younger siblings including a sister who is 11 and a brother who is 9. After listening to this a couple of times through I gave it the true test: allow the kids to listen.
They were not as receptive initailly to this new music. Some of the arrangements are slightly awkward like the song Mighty, Mighty Savior. It dense with verbose theological truth. You have a feeling that the singer is singing a sermon. In addition the music doesn't match the message about God being a mighty, mighty savior.
My mother had some real insight on the label on this CD. She said that this music with so many words is not as catchy and is difficult for children that are as young as 7. It is a strange animal to market then... if children as young as 7 can't easily sing along and pre-teen and teen kids that are old enough to sing along aren't interested in this children's music.
I understand that the attempt being made in this CD was to contain more substantial theological truth in children's music that is often void of deeper truths. I guess I felt that I benefitted greatly from very simple, catchy yet deep songs that merely sang scripture. I can remember Steve Green Hide Em In Your Heart and G.T. and the Halo Express. These were the staples of my children's music.
Awesome God has a less than to be desired recording quality and the voices are not very full. They need a fuller sound to carry this music that is a foreign arrangement with more words than your average 7 year-old can keep up with. You get the feeling that someone wanted to make amateur theologians by having them sing some overly complicated verses that are set poorly to music.
After listening through the whole CD for the third time, I was increasingly unsatisfied with the quality and the arrangements of the songs. I wonder how much time and effort was put into this CD. It seemed as though many less than ideal arrangements entered the list of songs they recorded. If you are into creeds, catechisms, and confessions this is the CD for you. It is filled with singing of confessions and creeds. I guess I would rather read the aforementioned creeds and confessions rather than sing them or hear them sung and arranged poorly.
| Evaluation | Support | |
 | Theology/Accuracy The theology is dense and a bit heavy for a 7 year old but overall it is solid reformed theology. |
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 | Listenability Not plesant to the ear and with the way kids listen to things over and over again this could be the downside. They need better recording and mixing quality. |
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| Uniqueness Very unique since there aren't many kid's worship albums that are this dense with reformed theology. |
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| Importance Not of critical importance. I would probably find that music with more direct scripture would be more helpful to your child who is 7 and up. |
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| Overall I would recommend this album to those who have every other kids music album and are just completing the collection. If you don't have all the Steve Green and G.T. and the Halo Express pass on this one for now. |
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UPDATE: C.J. Mahaney's daughter (of Sovereign Grace Church), Kristin Chesemore, has just posted on what her child listens to... Steve Green Hide Em in Your Heart! (I know he isn't 7 years old but that isn't the point)
