Search - Rich Mullins :: Brother's Keeper

Rich's Best Album

G. Panos | Nashville, TN | 08/04/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rich Mullins was Christianity's piano-pop sage, goof-off and resident Franciscan poet. Sentimental eulogies aside, Mullins was one of the most important figures in Contemporary Christian Music of the last 25 years. His songwriting, both thoughtful and unpretentious, was always delivered with a kind of unvarnished honesty that set him worlds apart from his contemporaries. This was never more clear than in Rich's live shows, where usually with nothing more than a piano, a hammer dulcimer and faithful sidekick Beaker, he would open up that heart full of wonder and earth-weary loneliness and invite listeners to join him.



Over the years, my biggest gripe was that Rich's over-produced studio albums seemed to belie the homespun presentation of the shows-- where his songs clearly shined. Although his biggest selling studio albums contained some amazing music, Reed Arvin's often schmaltzy production and CCM radio-friendly gloss seemed to badly date most of his early work. That is one reason why Brothers Keeper is Rich Mullins' best album.



Leaving behind the synths and pop stylizations of"

Amazing for a demo

Jeremy M. Johnson | 07/18/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Much like "Winds Of Heaven, Stuff Of Earth" Rich's first album from '88, at which after sending a in a demo tape of songs he was trying to sell the rights too, Reunion Records called him and let him know they liked the album and wanted to release it "ALL 10 SONGS AS IS" which had never been don't before in music, so he sent them the reels and they released it, with out a single change to the original demo mix, with that said not all of the songs on "Brother's Keeper" are demos, but many were and that is really saying something about a TRUE MUSICIAN when he can nail it on the first try, even if it does sometimes sound a little basic in the music it is at this point that Mullins showed the world he not was but IS the World's Greatest Christian Lyricist since David him self."