Search - Steven Curtis Chapman :: Beauty Will Rise

"Beauty" is a Glorious Testimony of Chapman's Faith

T. Yap | Sydney, NSW, Australia | 11/05/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Prime Cuts: Our God is in Control, Heaven is the Face, February 20th



Sometimes tears have away to wash away the manufactured superficiality encasing so many modern songs today. Though Chapman is by no means a nouveau in the contemporary Christian music market, lately his songs possess a platonic platitude. However, a freak accident tragically took away the life of one of his adoptive daughters devastating the Chapman family. After one and a half years of struggling with the pain of the tragedy, Chapman finally chronicles his pain in the light of God's Word via these 12 newly penned songs. What functions as this album's trump card is that Chapman is not afraid to confess his fears, doubt, pain and frustrations. Yet not all is left in the mire of self pity and despair. Rather, hope and faith in the sovereignty of God amidst suffering beams just as bright over the course of the CD. At the end of the day, this is one of the most balanced albums in Chapman's illustrious career.



Personal references to the death of Maria are especially poignant in the piano-led "February 20th." The title refers to the day Maria came to know Christ as her Lord and Savior, just three months shy before her death. The tracks is blanched with so much melancholy that ought to strike a chord with anyone who has had suffered lost. Despite its sleek rhythm beat, album opener and current single "Heaven is the Face" details Chapman's fatherly grief of losing his daughter. But these songs are not just specific to the catastrophic plight of the Champans, there's a universality rhetoric to them that has ways of reaching those who are suffering. Words like these from the popish acoustic "See" echoes the universal cries of the suffering, "But right now all I can say is, 'Lord, how long?' / Before You come and take away this aching / This night of weeping seems to have no end / But when the morning light breaks through / We'll open up our eyes and we will see... / Wait and see / Oh taste and see that the Lord is good / The Lord is good."



What makes "Beauty Will Rise" such a spiritual treasure trove is that Chapman knows that grief left alone will only evolve into bitterness and destruction. Rather, grief can only find healing when it's brought before the throne of God in worship. Such is the theme of the treacly worship anthem "Our God is In Control." The title track "Beauty Will Rise," a declaration of faith in the reliability of God, is old-school Chapman with this multiple Dove award winner rocking his boots off with his screeching electric riffs and pulsating drum beat. Continuing on the same theme is "Jesus Will Meet You There" here Chapman paints vignettes of Christ and his comforting presence in various trying times.



With the current obsession of today's messages on prosperity and well-being, it's easy to be too earthly-blinded for any heavenly good. However, tragedy has a way of re-directing us towards thinking about death, the after-life and heaven. "Just Have to Wait" is sober comfort for those whose trust is in Christ, yet it has a way of poking the unbeliever to think of the after-life in non-preachy yet compelling ways. On the whole, Chapman's "Beauty Will Rise" is an important sonic tome in the canon of contemporary Christian music. "Beauty Will Rise" not only addresses one of human being most searching questions, the question of suffering, but it also provides the best answer. Only in God's sovereign grace, can one find healing, insights and spiritual strength.

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Agnostic Perspective

KJS | Maumelle, AR United States | 03/25/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this album for my wife's birthday. As someone who has struggled with my faith for many years I have been quite cynical towards Christian music. I have often said that it's a watered down version of secular music with a one-dimensional theme. "If you've heard one contemporary Christian song, you've heard them all".



However, I was interested to listen to this album after hearing about the circumstances surrounding it. Being a father of two myself, I can't imagine going through what SCC has endured. I wanted to see how a person could craft songs around such a personal experience.



What I heard was nothing short of a true artistic masterpiece. Every time you listen to this album you find a new message to receive. On one hand it can be overwhelmingly depressing and it is very difficult to listen to without tearing up. And yet on the other hand it is one of the most truly inspirational collections of music I've ever heard. And like all great art not only does it contain several layers of depth, it only gets better with time.



As I said before, I struggle with the Christian faith I was raised under. I have questioned God's existence and even dismissed all religion as an easy way to explain complicated truths. But one thing I realized after hearing this album is that it's easy for a person to turn away from their faith when the unspeakable happens. And no one would blame a person for doing so. But it takes great strength to publicly affirm your faith in the face of such adversity. I have seen no better vehicle of ministry in recent years than this album. It has compelled a guy like me to write a review of a "Christian" album. Unfortunately I think the Christian label will prevent it from receiving the wide exposure that it should get. I think everybody has something to gain by giving "Beauty Will Rise" a listen.

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Chapman Lets Us Walk With Him In His Pain As We Deal With Ou

Amy E. Sondova | Emmaus, PA | 11/05/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Life hits full force with a series of circumstances that break our hearts and the hearts of those we love. After a great time of joy, all of a sudden things turn...unexpectedly. The news hits as we relive that phone call, that moment, that news that changed our lives forever.



Steven Curtis Chapman's new album, Beauty Will Rise, was written for such a time as this. Being hailed as Chapman's "most personal album to date," Beauty Will Rise releases a year and a half after the world learned of the tragic death of Chapman's young daughter, Maria. The songs are contemporary versions of biblical psalms full of poetic lamentation, proclamation, grief, and thoughtful memories--all overlaid with persistent hope for the future and praise for God.



All twelve tracks on Beauty Will Rise are excellently crafted--some are gentle like the album's first single "Heaven Is The Face" while the title track, "Beauty Will Rise" goes for a bolder, faster melody. Each song is fused with raw emotion that grips the heart. Each time I listen to the album, I have a new favorite song, lyric, or melody. It's that kind of album.



Beauty Will Rise is profound-no matter what your place of suffering--because it shows that hope for healing rests in God alone. Steven Curtis Chapman lets us walk through his pain as we try to make sense of our own. In fact, if I may be so transparent, I have yet to listen to this album without dissolving into tears--for loved ones I miss, for words that ring so true in the difficulties in my life, and for the ever-persistent notion that life can hurt but God is still good.



*I received a revew copy of this product from Sparrow Records--don't want to anger the FTC or anything.*"