Search - Keith Green :: Ultimate Collection (CD & Dvd)

A fine intro to a legend...

Daniel L Edelen | Mt. Orab, OH USA | 12/31/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you've never once before heard Keith Green, this new collection of some of his better songs - as if there were ANY lesser songs in his impressive portfolio - is a great place to start. That this CD set is reasonably priced and includes a DVD covering the late singer/songwriter's biography makes it a unique combo for those who are green to Green.Keith Green came out of nowhere in the late Seventies and set the Christian music scene on fire. That more than twenty years after his death you can still buy everything he put out is testament to his enduring music and message. His was a contribution to Christianity unseen since his passing.Some considered Keith a prophet, and when compared to the .... music being passed off to the Christian masses today, he indeed seems like John the Baptist on piano. Indeed, many Christian music stations still religiously play Keith's worship songs pieces while routinely avoiding songs like "Asleep in the Light" (included on this collection), "No One Believes In Me Anymore" (actually an anti-Satan song), and "You Love the World (and You're Avoiding Me)". The ministry he founded, Last Days Ministries, still exists and publishes some of Keith's more incendiary tracts and teachings. If you have never heard Keith preach, he's a revelation.This is not to say he's all fire and brimstone. In fact, he brought a lighthearted humor to his music. Case in point: the song "So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt" (included in this collection) is a wickedly funny take on the grumbling that occurred right after the Hebrews' flight from Pharoah's oppression. His vibrant joy streams through the stereo on (included) songs like "He'll Take Care of the Rest" and "You Put This Love in My Heart."More than any other Christian artist, Keith Green touches people in ways rarely seen. I can truly say that his music, even after his death more than twenty years ago in a plane crash, still reaches deep into the soul. There are songs of his I have heard a hundred times and they still bring a tear to my eye.But the best thing that can be said of Keith Green's music is that is made for adults. On songs such as "My Eyes Are Dry" and "Grace By Which I Stand" (included here) he sings as a man who has seen the good and the bad, learning the way of Christ in the deserts of life. It is not simplistic, boring, or stifled theologically. There's more meat in two verses of what Green sings than in entire Christian albums today. You can't hear his music and not be quickened.Some would say that Keith's more contemporary (and strangely enough, also tragically dead at the height of his work) compadre was Rich Mullins. If you like Mullins, then Keith Green is the next step up. Beyond those two (and possibly Larry Norman) there is a gaping hole unfilled on the current Christian music scene.One star has to be kept back, though, since it is possible to purchase the pair of 2-CD "Keith Green: The Ministry Years" CDs that contain everything he ever committed to tape (including a couple bootlegs.) Those four CDs are a revelation. However, let's give that star back since this collection includes a DVD that covers Green's ministry. Call it a wash.If you want music that is joyful, soul-stirring, convicting, and just downright excellent, "The Ultimate Collection" is a great way to grow while enjoying great music at the same time.(Note: I have not seen the DVD. Still, it's icing on the cake and can only help one to understand the man behind the superb musical vision.)"

Keith is the real deal

Daniel L Edelen | 01/16/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was never a "fan" of Keith Green back when he was still on this earth. I didn't dislike his music, but never pursued it beyond second-hand glimpses. I heard Keith, really, for the first time last week, as the CD played in the background while my husband wrote a review for local paper. We then watched the companion DVD and I was hooked as I perceived the passion with which Keith (& Melody) lived. Today I listened to the whole CD again and could listen over and over. Keith's sound is infectiously joyful; but he knows that there's a "time to cry" as well. He sings the true gospel. I'm sorry, but I haven't heard much modern Christian music that compares with this. The church is, as Keith said, "asleep in the light.""

DVD Review

Kaz Trypuc | San Diego, CA United States | 01/08/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a follow up to the other review for this item, I have seen the DVD and can testify to how great it is. If you are reading this, then I'm sure you've gotten a glimpse of the passion he brings to his minstry either by word of mouth or through his music. The DVD tells that story and only further makes this ordinary person so extra-ordinary. One of the particular parts that is so amazing is the story of the beginning of Last Days Ministries, which got its start in Keith's home as he invited in dozens of drug addicts, homeless, single mothers, and the like to be cared for and discipled. Watch this DVD and see how one man answered God's call to "care for the least of these.""