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Ian Yates is someone we first heard of on MySpace year's back but never really payed much attention to his music. He's just released his album 'The Hope & The Glory' and we've been hearing great things about it. After listening to it we thought we'd share what we think with you.
The Hope And The Glory starts off with 'Take My Life' which is a guitar driven rock song that is definitely a song that would include a lot of crowd participation when sung live. The whole song is easy to pick up on. Even the verse's are quite simple and easy to learn. This song set's the tone for the album and for those of you who are new to Ian's music will automatically get a sense of his style from the first song.
'Desperate' is one of our favourite song's on the album. The vocals on the intro create a really nice feel for the song and we were happy to hear it (and variations of it) through-out the song. This song really drew us in as we listend to it and had us wondering how 'Desperate' we were to see God's Kingdom on the earth and how 'Desperate were are for God in our lives anyway. This song challenged us and how badly we wanted God in our lives and if we were really desperate for Him in our lives no matter what the cost is.
'Father Of Compassion' speaks of How God sent His Son to live and die for us. The lyrics really speak of Jesus coming to earth to save us through dying on the cross and washing our sin's away. It's a great song and it reminds us of God's love for us and remind's us of His fatherly love toward us that He has expressed to us in so many different ways.
'Glorious' start's off strong with BIG sounding guitars and a great drum beat. The way the different instruments come together to create one cohesive sound is nice and refreshing and the song flows really well.
'Great Is Your Power' is a song talking about how great God is. Musically it almost reminds us of 'Clocks' by Cold Play...Well, the introduction and the chorus'. This song shows us that Ian has truly experienced God in His life and that God has really shown him how great He is. You can't tell someone how great they are if you know nothing about them and have no experience with them. Anyone that's experienced how great our God is will relate to this song straight away.
'Broken' speaks about how the world is broken...Broken families, lives and just how society in general is broken. He focuses a lot on children so it seem's that child abuse/poverty etc are things that really grieve Ian and through his worship have birthed a passion in him too see a change and be a change.
Sometime's we can forget that even though when we worship, it's all about Jesus but it doesn't end there and that by being in His presence, His heart and His desire's should be impressed on our's. Worship isn't just about singing... It's a lifestyle, it's being Jesus' hands and feet on the earth.
'Carry Me' carry's on the theme of 'Broken' remind us that when things are broken; when things are hard we can run to God and He will carry us. It's so great to be reminded of this. It's funny that as Christian's we have so many promises from God saying He'll always be there, that He won't leave or forsake us and yet sometimes we can still be insecure about that. The song is driven by melodic guitars and a great use of dynamics which all allow the message of the song to come across.
'We Are Righteous' is a really different song to the rest of the songs on the album (musically). Didn't know what to expect from listening to the introduction. Through-out this song Ian reminds us that the only reason 'we are righteous' is because of Jesus and what He's done. It ends with a sample of a sermon which we thought was unique and different while being very effective.
When we saw the title of 'Crying Out we thought we knew what kind of song it would be... Well; it wasn't. Ian really stay's in touch with the theme of the album speaking of crying out for more of God's glory. We were kind of hoping for somethinga bit deeper on this song (soley based on the title). It would have been nice to possibly hear something a little deeper talking about a place of desperation where the only thing you can do is cry out... Maybe even something personal to Ian. With that said though, it's a great song and it's a great reminder that in the true presence of God, addict's can be set free, people can be healed and demon's have to leave.
'You Are Faithful' reminds us of the fiathfulness of God. Ian gives examples of different things that we've probably all experienced and reminds us that in all of that God is not only faithful, He's steadfast. Anyone going through anything or has been through anything will relate to this song and will sing it just as passionately as Ian because when you know that God is faithful... Well, it doesn't matter when people let you down because you're leaning on Jesus, the SOLID ROCK!!!!!!
'Here Is Love' is probably our favourite song for the music on this album. There's something about those sweet melodic guitar riff's that get's us all the time. This song almost has a hymn vibe with the way the lyrics the flow which interesting because of the way that is mixed with contemporary sounding music. This is a great way to end the album... What better way than to talk about the love of God!
Overall this is a great album. It's not the kind of album we'd normally rush out and buy. After listening to it though, we've grown to love it. There's a lot of strong messages in these song's and song's that really challenge our worship to be more than just adoration to God but actually having God's heart and doing what He desire's. It may no be the kind of album you play to dance a long too but it will challenge, inspire and engage you. Check it out, you may surprise yourself!
Ian Yates is someone we first heard of on MySpace year's back but never really payed much attention to his music. He's just released his album 'The Hope & The Glory' and we've been hearing great things about it. After listening to it we thought we'd share what we think with you.
The Hope And The Glory starts off with 'Take My Life' which is a guitar driven rock song that is definitely a song that would include a lot of crowd participation when sung live. The whole song is easy to pick up on. Even the verse's are quite simple and easy to learn. This song set's the tone for the album and for those of you who are new to Ian's music will automatically get a sense of his style from the first song.
'Desperate' is one of our favourite song's on the album. The vocals on the intro create a really nice feel for the song and we were happy to hear it (and variations of it) through-out the song. This song really drew us in as we listend to it and had us wondering how 'Desperate' we were to see God's Kingdom on the earth and how 'Desperate were are for God in our lives anyway. This song challenged us and how badly we wanted God in our lives and if we were really desperate for Him in our lives no matter what the cost is.
'Father Of Compassion' speaks of How God sent His Son to live and die for us. The lyrics really speak of Jesus coming to earth to save us through dying on the cross and washing our sin's away. It's a great song and it reminds us of God's love for us and remind's us of His fatherly love toward us that He has expressed to us in so many different ways.
'Glorious' start's off strong with BIG sounding guitars and a great drum beat. The way the different instruments come together to create one cohesive sound is nice and refreshing and the song flows really well.
'Great Is Your Power' is a song talking about how great God is. Musically it almost reminds us of 'Clocks' by Cold Play...Well, the introduction and the chorus'. This song shows us that Ian has truly experienced God in His life and that God has really shown him how great He is. You can't tell someone how great they are if you know nothing about them and have no experience with them. Anyone that's experienced how great our God is will relate to this song straight away.
'Broken' speaks about how the world is broken...Broken families, lives and just how society in general is broken. He focuses a lot on children so it seem's that child abuse/poverty etc are things that really grieve Ian and through his worship have birthed a passion in him too see a change and be a change.
Sometime's we can forget that even though when we worship, it's all about Jesus but it doesn't end there and that by being in His presence, His heart and His desire's should be impressed on our's. Worship isn't just about singing... It's a lifestyle, it's being Jesus' hands and feet on the earth.
'Carry Me' carry's on the theme of 'Broken' remind us that when things are broken; when things are hard we can run to God and He will carry us. It's so great to be reminded of this. It's funny that as Christian's we have so many promises from God saying He'll always be there, that He won't leave or forsake us and yet sometimes we can still be insecure about that. The song is driven by melodic guitars and a great use of dynamics which all allow the message of the song to come across.
'We Are Righteous' is a really different song to the rest of the songs on the album (musically). Didn't know what to expect from listening to the introduction. Through-out this song Ian reminds us that the only reason 'we are righteous' is because of Jesus and what He's done. It ends with a sample of a sermon which we thought was unique and different while being very effective.
When we saw the title of 'Crying Out we thought we knew what kind of song it would be... Well; it wasn't. Ian really stay's in touch with the theme of the album speaking of crying out for more of God's glory. We were kind of hoping for somethinga bit deeper on this song (soley based on the title). It would have been nice to possibly hear something a little deeper talking about a place of desperation where the only thing you can do is cry out... Maybe even something personal to Ian. With that said though, it's a great song and it's a great reminder that in the true presence of God, addict's can be set free, people can be healed and demon's have to leave.
'You Are Faithful' reminds us of the fiathfulness of God. Ian gives examples of different things that we've probably all experienced and reminds us that in all of that God is not only faithful, He's steadfast. Anyone going through anything or has been through anything will relate to this song and will sing it just as passionately as Ian because when you know that God is faithful... Well, it doesn't matter when people let you down because you're leaning on Jesus, the SOLID ROCK!!!!!!
'Here Is Love' is probably our favourite song for the music on this album. There's something about those sweet melodic guitar riff's that get's us all the time. This song almost has a hymn vibe with the way the lyrics the flow which interesting because of the way that is mixed with contemporary sounding music. This is a great way to end the album... What better way than to talk about the love of God!
Overall this is a great album. It's not the kind of album we'd normally rush out and buy. After listening to it though, we've grown to love it. There's a lot of strong messages in these song's and song's that really challenge our worship to be more than just adoration to God but actually having God's heart and doing what He desire's. It may no be the kind of album you play to dance a long too but it will challenge, inspire and engage you. Check it out, you may surprise yourself!
