The Passion of The Christ: Songs
- reviewed by Andree Farias Copyright Christianity Today International
- Updated Nov 24, 2009
- Steven Curtis Chapman / Bart Millard / Mac Powell—I See Love
- Scott Stapp—Relearn Love
- P.O.D.—Truly Amazing
- Brad Paisley & Sara Evans—New Again
- Big Dismal—Rainy Day
- Lauryn Hill—The Passion
- Kirk Franklin feat. Yolanda Adams—How Many Lashes
- MxPx feat. Mark Hoppus—The Empire
- Charlotte Church—Finding My Own Way
- BeBe Winans & Angie Stone—Miracle of Love
- Dan Lavery—To Give Love
- Big Dismal—Reason I Live
Whenever a record label sets out to assemble a compilation based on the life of Christ, problems are bound to arise. Since the gospel affects people from varied racial and ethnic backgrounds, not everybody responds to it in similar ways—and that in turn can affect the continuity and congruency of any "various artists" project. Some are moved deeply and react emotively. Some are touched intellectually, and react accordingly. Some even respond superficially, going about their daily business as if they'd just simply heard a nice story.
That's the feel one gets with
The album opens strongly with "I See Love," a picture-perfect pop-rock anthem manned by Steven Curtis Chapman, Third Day's Mac Powell, and MercyMe's Bart Millard; the tune examines the different characters that people see in Jesus: a teacher, a healer, a dreamer, a "fool dying for his dream," according to the lyrics. "But I see Love, light of heaven breaking through." This early high is quickly dulled by the unimpressive "Relearn Love," the much-publicized solo debut of former Creed frontman Scott Stapp. The song's theme is noble—how Christ's love helps reshape our own view of love—but the melody and structure of the song are unorthodox and even awkward. Despite its lyrical brevity, P.O.D.'s "Truly Amazing" is up next, recalling the haunting balladry from their
Stronger than anything on their major label debut, Big Dismal's "Rainy Days" brims with melodic confidence and wisely sidesteps the marked Creed pretensions the band was previously indicted for. At this point, the pacing suffers one more time with Lauryn Hill's "The Passion," her first composition since 2002's anticlimactic
Perhaps the most explicit reaction to the movie is Kirk Franklin and Yolanda Adams' "How Many Lashes," a first-person confessional in which Franklin likens Jesus' lashings to each of his sins, while Adams' vocal ad-libs punctuate the guilt even further. The powerful impact of the song quickly fades as MxPx's rough-around-the-edges "The Empire" and Charlotte Church's saccharine "Finding My Own Way" try to find their place amidst the other stylistic choices. If not for Tonic bassist Dan Lavery, who turns in a surprisingly good classic rock performance with "To Give Love" (and sounding every bit as gritty as PFR's Joel Hanson in the process), the inconsistencies would outweigh the few inspired moments.
I guess my biggest qualm with