Casting Crowns Album: “The Altar And The Door [Blister]”

Christian soft rock group Casting Crowns has taken the Christian music world by storm thanks to two strong previous releases. And their third project should continue the trend.

The group has captured audiences with challenging lyrics and great music. There's nothing earth shattering with either, but both work together to create some great music.

The disc starts off with the rock anthem "What This World Needs." Think "If We are the Body" but faster. The song reminds us that the world needs Christ more then it needs 100% perfect outward appearances. After all, the heart is what counts.

The title of the album comes from the idea that somewhere between hearing what we should do during church (the altar) and driving away (the door), we loose the certainty and conviction we had. I'll just say been there, done that. That theme is explored in two songs. The first is the title track, which really explains the theme better then I ever could. And it's rather convicting to hear my struggle put into words. The second is the next track, "Somewhere in the Middle." In fact, the phrase "between the altar and the door" shows up in this song, too. The song is a challenge to get out of the luke warm world we too often live in.

As with other Casting Crown's CDs, this one features a couple worship songs. And, once again, they don't grab me. There's nothing wrong with "I Know You're There" and "All Because of Jesus," but they aren't as special as some of their other tracks.

My two favorite songs are back to back. "Slow Fade" is a challenge to all men to not fall away from the faith. It really drives home the importance of constantly standing guard because no one crumbles in a day. It's a slower song with a haunting sound. And it ends with lead singer Mark Hall's daughter singing "Because Little Eyes." It's enough to give me chills.

Appropriately enough, the next song is "East to West." As you might guess, this song talks about forgiveness. It explores the difficulty we have in accepting God's forgiveness and the weight of shame we try to live under. As with so many of their songs, the lyrics are powerful.

Musically, there are few surprises here for the long time fan. But that's just fine because their music is wonderful.

I'm surprised I haven't worn out Casting Crown's first two releases I've listened to them so often. This one will certainly suffer the same fate.

I liked their first two albums much better but this one is still worth buying. I think they had too much large chorus work and little kids singing at odd times but I love CC so I would still buy it again having heard it.

If you enjoyed songs like 'What if His people prayed?', and 'We are the body.' Than you will love 'What this World Needs.' Once again Casting Crowns releases a well timed, well produced, well sung cd. With their soft core rock style (that gets me everytime) its no wonder they sell out everywhere they go. I loved this cd. Instead of being another worship band (which is not a bad thing) Casting crowns continues to challenge 'everyday Christians' to take further steps in reaching their families, friends, and God. And to do so we need to take that first step of looking at ourselves in the mirror.

As my title suggests, Casting Crowns wants the people to get up and do, rather than sit back and watch, as the title to this CD subtly suggests. Once you get into this disk, you'll get what I mean. The major message that I'm taking from this one that we still have to be Christians outside of the building that some call a "church". If you look the word up, a church is actually a group of people acting together or gathering together to serve Christ. Serving Christ doesn't mean just sitting together on a Sunday morning in a building together and listening to the pastor and singing and reading the Gospel. Sure, all of these things are great, but the way to really connect with your true Christian calling is by serving the Lord through outreach and participating in our communities the way his Son did. These truths are evident in the tracks "The Altar and the Door", "What this World Needs", and "Somewhere in the Middle". Another theme that I found on this disk is forgiveness. This is found in my second favorite track "East to West". I think this one is about a guy that is ashamed of something that he's done in the past, and if he can't receive forgiveness, he'll do it again. However, the message here is that through God, you can find anything you need, and that HE is merciful and full of forgiveness. Very powerful stuff. My favorite track though would have to be "The Word is Alive". The message to this one is self evident. All in all, Casting Crowns hasn't made a bad CD yet, and I don't expect them to really. Please buy this CD and listen to it closely. Its messages may change you, or at least encourage you. Peace and Love.

Relevant, down to Earth message in every song. This album is made for all ages. It is obvious from the lyrics that this band is completely in touch with the issues and lives of the youth that they sing and minister to. I purchased this Album as a fan of Casting Crowns and wanting to hear more of East to West, but I'm now loving Slow Fade, Every Man and several other songs. Great music with an even greater message. Very impressive and definitely a great gift for the holidays.