Now playing:

"Song"
Artist
Album

« Back to All Reviews

The Altar and the Door

Casting Crowns | August 28th, 2007

After six straight number one radio hits, a Grammy Award, two American Music Awards, ten Dove Awards, and having each of their first four projects go platinum, what could Casting Crowns possibly do next? The answer, at least after listening to The Altar and the Door, it seems, is to stick with what works. Generally choosing to stick with their well-known pop-rock style, the band, as with past projects, chooses to let the music take a back seat to the lyrics, allowing frontman Mark Hall to deliver his message through his raspy, shout-like vocals. Similar to the band's other efforts, some of the songs fall short in originality, but then there are some that truly speak to the problems that the church is facing today.

The album starts out with one of Casting Crowns most hard-hitting songs to date. “What This World Needs” talks about how we as Christians often need to get out of the way with our pride and baggage and simply let God work in the lives of the lost. The first line rips to the core, saying, What this world needs / is not another one-hit wonder with an axe to grind / another two-bit politician peddling lies / another three ring circus society. Those lines, delivered with Hall's low, almost growling vocals, along with the deliberate, driving rhythm really catch the listener's attention. “Slow Fade” talks about how all addictions we face as people never happen all at once, but one decision at a time, giving in to Satan on the small things as they progress to bigger things until we are in over our head. As a result, it warns us to always be on guard of what we do, and even ends with a young child singing, “be careful little eyes what you see,” just to drive the point home.

The first single off the album (and seventh consecutive No. 1), “East to West,” points out the struggle we have with God's forgiveness, thus keeping us from forgiving ourselves, and how Satan keeps reminding us of all that we've done wrong. Among it's uplifting melody though, we are reminded that we are as far from our sins as The east is from the west / one scarred hand to the other. The album's title track deals with the very real problem of how we often get very emotional and holy before God, making all these sweeping promises to do things better in prayer at “The Altar,” but by the time we get done praying, or by the time we get to “The Door,” our minds have already wandered to other things, and we break our promises once again. This song asks for forgiveness and for the strength to actually follow through with our promises.

The rest of the album tends to be filler material, with the remaining songs sounding nearly identical to songs on previous Casting Crowns projects. “Prayer For a Friend” is just like “Love Them Like Jesus” on Lifesong and “All Because of Jesus” sounds exactly like “Father Spirit Jesus” which is also on Lifesong.

Overall, the album is a little more grungy and less over-produced than their first two projects. This is actually a good thing, however, as the lyrics tend to be a little more honest and the material a little more original. Fans of past Casting Crowns projects will definitely like this one, and newcomers might just find something to enjoy too.

Reviewed by Jonathan Fields on October 28th, 2007

Music Testing

We rely on you, the listener, to tell us what you like so we can deliver the best music possible. Our identified core artists are those that are consistently ranked highly by a survey performed each year. If a particular song tests well, it is played with more frequency. If a song tests poorly, it is removed. Your feedback as a listener is crucial to us.

At Resound, music testing is essential to our philosophy of operation. It's your station, so you should pick the music. Every month, you will have an opportunity to participate in our in-studio music test and receive a free candy bar for your help. If you are interested in being a part of our online music testing group which will launch later this semester, email our Music Director and let us know!