The Hope And The Glory

Album review

Just seen a great review of "The Hope And The Glory" from "Never For Nothing" Fanzine - 10/10
review below:

IAN YATES : The Hope and the Glory. (Survivor Records) Young Bootle-based worship leader Ian Yates started his musical journey back in the 1996 after hearing Delirious live in concert, inspiring him to start a band Seraphim which ended in 2004. His passion for worship still burned & he had an independent release in 2007 entitled "Desperate to see Your Glory", but it wasn't until 2008 when Ian's brother told him that Soul Survivor were looking for tracks for a new People's Album that a major label picked up on his talent. A couple of his tracks were picked, the A&R man met up with him & the rest is fast becoming history. Ian cites musical influences as Delirious & Matt Redman, but from listening to these tracks there's more than just a subtle hint of Kings of Leon plus even some U2 in the mix. The opening track "Take my Life" is a real prime example - a new take on a classic hymn with the chorus & intros being Kings of Leon slightly manic "Sex on Fire" drums overlaid with U2 'jangly' guitars reminiscent of "Beautiful Day" - a highly effective combo giving bucket loads of energy and bringing out the passion in the lyrics. Unlike a great many worship albums that seem to follow a "loud to start with then go quieter after 2/3 tracks so we can be more worshipful" formula, the energy continues aplenty until midway through the album when things do calm a little when we reach "Broken" where the lyrics pack as much of a punch as the drummer's kick! The band manages to keep the music very much alive in every track which lifts the words right up where they need to be, as they're so full of raw passion. Even the classics such as "Here is Love" get a new lease of life! It is so obvious that God has had a real impact on Ian's writing & there's no sense of performance through any of this whatsoever. It's also fantastic to see someone that isn't from one of the big churches well known for producing worship leaders to make it up to the front. I look forward to hearing much more from Ian in years to come - keep it up! 10/10 Simon Redfern

Check the site out: http://www.ganney.karoo.net/nfn.htm