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In a world where Christians seem willing to embrace as genuine every football player who kneels and crosses himself after a touchdown and every baseball player who "thanks God" for his performance, there are still some celebrities worth embracing. Steven Curtis Chapman is one.
Chapman started his music career roughly a decade ago with the desire to share his music and the gospel with all who would listen. Three Grammy Awards, 32 Dove Awards and 25 number 1 Christian Contemporary Radio Singles later, it is apparent that many people are willing to listen.
The video The Walk is a 60-minute ramble through Chapman's life and early beginnings during his 80-city "Signs of Life" tour. Starting in his hometown of Paducah, Kentucky, it touches briefly on all the stops of his life. Each one confirms that Chapman is a man who deeply wants to share the gospel with others and live his life in such a way that others will know who controls his life.
In terms of production values, style and all that other stuff that reviewers are supposed to look for, it is a superb piece of video. Seamlessly edited, it blends music and interviews with full-length videos seen on national television.
As far as the album goes, a "Greatest Hits" album is rarely worth buying unless you are new to an artist and need to catch up on what has been going on for the past while. This is one of those rare cases where the reverse is true. You need to buy the "Greatest Hits" CD to experience in one album how this artist has grown and matured, and yet how his vision has been a part of his music since day one.
Two new recordings are to be found on this CD: "Not Home Yet" and "I am Found in You". Also, since the CD was recorded in England's famed Abbey Road Studio, there are two "jam" versions of previously released hits. "Lord of the Dance" and "The Walk" are raucously rerecorded and a real joy to hear at the end of the CD. In between are to be found Chapman standards such as "Heaven in the Real World", "For the Sake of the Call", "His Strength is Perfect" and "More to this Life".
Clay Bergen lives in Big River, Sask., and loves his new iMac.
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