Search - Various Artists :: Jesus: Music From & Inspired by the Epic Mini Series

Jesus has been many things to many people: Son of God, carpenter, Rock of Ages, and social radical. But now inspiration for an "Epic Mini-Series" and adult-contemporary-oriented soundtrack album? Irony be damned: in the golden age of marketing, it only makes sense to wrap the gospel in slick, radio-friendly pop. Skeptics may balk at its blatant misappropriation of 1970s chestnuts like one-hit wonder Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" (its Zen overtones rewritten for dogmatic correctness by DC Talk) and Earth Wind & Fire's "Shining Star" (strangely recast here as minor-key hip-hop dirge by Yolanda Adams), but strong efforts by LeAnn Rimes and Steven Curtis Chapman will please the faithful. Compared with Patrick Williams's brooding score (available in its entirety as a separate release), the efforts of 98 Degrees and Hootie and the Blowfish almost seem to walk on water--which is a nice way to say they're lighter than air. The major sin the Jesus soundtrack seems guilty of is preaching to the converted; the music and message are full of reassurance and hope, but they're often as personally challenging as an Up with People road show. --Jerry McCulley