Well it may come as no shock that on many levels Lincoln is my personal favorite worship artist out there. I'll admit there are better corporate worship writers out there (Mr. Tomlin and the Hillsong Team win those awards IMHO) but for the best blend of great songs with great lyrics, musical excellence, great production and just enjoyable listening Linc wins for me.
His new album, Today is the Day, is just a continuation of this. For us at WLA it probably doesn't hold more than 2 songs we could do on a Sunday but it's quite diverse and I think you'll see churches of many styles and creeds using music from this album. Lincoln asserts himself even more solidly on this record as the king of guitarists because some of the riffs and licks he does are simply sick! For me, I find myself praising God for the talents he gives to his children because of Lincoln's guitar skills.
All in all I'd reccomend this record to you as a solid listen and an inspiration on many levels.
This is purely subjective, yes, but I couldn’t' disagree more on Lincoln being a great lyricist or the production of his albums. I find his lyrics quite hokey. That being said, most of his songs (at least on his last 2 albums I own) are very congregational-friendly and easy to sing. Also, I find the production of the albums are a bit too artificial and like they were done on a personal home computer (ie: “Everlasting God” which was entirely recorded in his office in one night). They are mixed well, though.
ReplyDeleteAll that being said, I do like Lincoln as an artist, and especially as a musician. I haven’t heard the new record so I can’t speak on it’s lyrical or production value. But, I will buy it for sure and hope that your description of being “diverse” applies as I find Lincoln’s stuff can be a bit monotonous. Then again, his tone and chops always bring me back! I think I just have trouble hearing Lincoln’s name up there in the upper-echelon on worship writers like Tomlin, Crowder, Baloche, Hughes, or the Hillsong-crew.
The thing I appreciate most about Lincoln, though (other than his guitar chops) is that he’s a local-church leader first, and performer second. I think it’s important that a lot of worship leaders be involved as much as possible in their local church and go “outside” in between. Michael W. Smith is also a follower of this and I have tones of respect for that.
Admit it: you just like him because you can call him "Linc" and it reminds you of Prison Break...
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