Christian Music by Jeff Johnson
Review of Rock Worship Album Glorious Day
Many listeners will be surprised by the unexpected power of Jeff Johnson's "Glorious Day."
Jeff Johnson’s indie offering, Glorious Day, might not come across to some listeners as a worship album in the purest sense, as it also contains a few pop tracks and even a Rascal Flatts cover. But a strong worship orientation does definitely permeate its 10 strong tracks of well constructed soft rock, with no small thanks to producer Will Hunt.
The thoughtfully-arranged project opens strong with “God Over Us,” a thunderous rocker notable for its intelligent lyrics. The melodic, nuanced “Ruin Me” invites the Lord to step into listener's hearts and shut down whatever isn’t of Him.
But the first real showstopper is the triumphant title track, Johnson’s straightforward vocals perfect over the ambient edge given to the turn of the century hymn. Only 3 tracks in and listeners are wondering why they haven’t heard of Johnson before, as this is his third album.
A thick organ keeps the buoyant vocals of “Jesus Is Mine” grounded, and the very Scriptural lyrics of “Glory To Your Name” ride atop a lush bed of rock, thick with sound. The disc’s longest track is a fairly straightforward rendition of “The Old Rugged Cross.”
It might seem initially that the somewhat industrial programming isn’t going to work, but Johnson does manage to pull it all together. It comes across as an effect for the sake of effect, but Johnson and guest singer Shane Barnard keep pushing those sweet vocal harmonies through to an explosive crescendo of praise, and ultimately their success is beautifully triumphant.
Another nuanced rocker, “So High,” confesses the limitations of man's language to express the wonders of God before the second standout track hits, “He Rose,” powerful in its simplicity, both Biblically and sonically.
The aforementioned Rascal Flatts cover is “I’m Movin’ On,” an interesting inclusion as it’s not a straight-up worship track, but has much of value to say about the growth behind our decisions to move on from the circumstances we outgrow spiritually. The track will be extremely encouraging to many listeners, country music lovers or not.
Jeff Johnson closes out Glorious Day with “Home,” a joyous song of homecoming, notable once again for more of Johnson’s muscular arrangements. Johnson is somehow managing to stay under the pop culture radar, but he’s definitely worth checking out if you’re a worshipper that likes your rock from the middle of the road. Released last August, pick up Jeff Johnson’s Glorious Day at his website.
