Review of No Other Name, by Hillsong Worship

Zac HicksAlbum Reviews8 Comments

Hillsong Worship, 
No Other Name (Live)
(Hillsong Music)
Released: July 1, 2014 

As Hillsong continues to put out Western-worship-influencing album after album at an amazingly rapid rate, I am reminded of what seems to have been Charles Wesley’s (intentional or unintentional) principle of influence: put out a lot of material, and the handful of songs that are supposed to stand the test of time will. I admire this about the vision of Hillsong’s now quite diversified worship offerings. As with most of my reviews, I try to funnel my ideas down two evaluative tracks: musicality and theological content.

Review Summary

Musically, No Other Name is beautiful, though “safe” and middle-of-the-road. The production is exquisite, and the musical vibe is largely the trademark, now classic, Hillsong sound: backing choir, lots of pad layers, simple but captivating electric guitar melodies, and lots of diverse drum work. The songs are singable (though high as always), with a few surprising melodic twists. Theologically, I’m moved and incredibly encouraged by an embracing and contextualizing of tradition (the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer), by a relative absence of triumphalism present on most, if not all, preceding Hillsong records, and by an intense focus on the person and the work of Jesus.

Songs I would most likely incorporate in my context:
“This I Believe (The Creed)”
“Our Father”

Musicality

I said above that the sound is “classic Hillsong,” but there are tinges of 80s “synthology” on several tracks, a sound that is hot on current worship records. You notice it in the opening of “My Story” and the musical hook of “Heaven and Earth.” 

“Heaven and Earth” has an unusual approach to the Chorus which is worth songwriters giving a listen. There’s a push and pull of the downbeat of the Chorus. Though it starts on the word “heaven,” the tonic chord and the overall “drop” into the Chorus doesn’t happen until “-lide” of “collide.” It creates an interesting musical moment of collision, painting the text in a helpful way. It gives you the sensation of singing over a mixed meter when you’re not.

I always admire (envy? 🙂 ) the imaginative simplicity of the electric guitar parts. They are always tasteful and fitting, yet melodic and colorful. They’re not overblown, but they add interest and movement to the music that I find satisfying and beautifying. Listen to what the electrics do, for instance, in “No Other Name.”

Finally, noteworthy is an unconventional (for Hillsong) melodic turn in “Depths.” In the second half of each verse (e.g. on the syllable “-va-” of “salvation’s song”), the melody jumps unexpectedly. It gives the song a folk-Celtic quality that is unusual for the pop melodies we’ve come to expect.

Theological Content

Overall, the album is quite focused on Christ’s atonement…not a bad center-point at all! The Bridge of “Heaven and Earth,” for instance, grounds the reconciling love foretold by the prophets in the sacrifice of Christ:

By His stripes we are healed
By His death we can live
In Jesus’ name
All oppression will cease
Every captive released
In Jesus’ name

There are a few fresh, imaginative turns of phrase, like, “Salvation’s robe” and “freedom in His scars” in the same song. The second verse of “No Other Name” grounds the general praise of Christ in His work on the cross. And “Calvary” is all about the freedom and “covering” (a biblical word laden, especially in Hebrew, with atonement-overtones).

As I mentioned above, for the first time to my detection, Hillsong has minimized triumphalist lyrics and expressions like “Jesus, I’m living for You,” “I give it all away for You,” “I’m standing up for You,” etc. I’m really encouraged by this, and I pray it is a sign of their theological editors (my understanding is that they have a group of people who edit their lyrical content) taking this dynamic that I’ve pointed out over the years seriously. Even in moments on this record when we are declaring our love for and commitment to God, it is couched in the context of God’s prior love for us. “Depths” captures this beautifully:

Verse 1
In Your presence I quiet my soul
And I hear Your voice
In my spirit I hear the sound
Of salvation’s song
Jesus, Jesus

Verse 2
I will wait in Your Word, O Lord
There Your Spirit speaks
Bringing life to the weary soul
To the depths of me
Jesus, Jesus

Chorus
I love You with all my heart
I love You with all my soul, Lord
I love You with alll my strength
With all that is within me

Notice several things. First, the Spirit is mentioned as speaking through God’s Word. That’s not a small thing, given the strong emphasis in Pentecostalism on the Spirit speaking directly to individuals. I appreciate, too, how, throughout the album, we’re noticing a better definition/distinction of the persons and work of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in places like these. Second, the Chorus, based on the shema, is a simple but beautiful response to the psalm-like verses. It may be that this song, without the proper context, could be a bit too individualized (“me and God”) to be regularly utilized in corporate worship, but I don’t think it should be written off.

One aspect of No Other Name‘s content is VERY encouraging. There is an embracing of and interaction with the Church’s Great Tradition like I’ve never seen before. The opening song parts from the standard fare of an upbeat song focused inward. Instead, “This I Believe (The Creed)” looks out and up, ground the album in nothing short of a sung version of the Apostles’ Creed. Amazing! Several songs later, “Our Father” begins with these lines that are quite uncommon in the songs of the Pentecostal tradition:

The words of Christ
Passed down through generations
The Son of God
Teaching us to pray
Echoed words
Father, have Your will, Your way in me
Completely

The Chorus then recites the first section of the Lord’s Prayer. It’s simply beautiful, and it appears to be yet another indicator that evangelicals are continuing to explore and embrace the Church’s tradition in increasing measure.  This is extremely encouraging. 

I might finally mention “Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace).” I love the song’s idea of wedding a beatuiful re-tune of “Amazing Grace” with the 2 Corinthians 4 language of broken pottery and jars of clay. Perhaps this song could have been more powerful if it had lingered longer in confession before singing of amazing grace. As with many gospel- and salvation-oriented songs, we evangelicals make short shrift of our Confession of Sin. I was hoping that this song would stay there a while longer. We need more confession songs. Hillsong, please write some!

In sum, No Other Name doesn’t really break new ground for Hillsong musically, but it certainly does theologically and lyrically…for Hillsong. More of their songs are avoiding looking down and in, but instead look out and up to Jesus, and there is a refreshing picture of how they’re attempting to contextualize the Great Tradition in their music. It’s an important marker in the evolution of this very influential worship resource provider.

UPDATE:

A friend pointed to me to the interaction of John Dickson with Hillsong over the song based on the Apostles’ Creed. Fascinating to hear what Ben Fielding had to say. Check out this video, but first, a quote from Fielding:

We [songwriters] are writing the liturgies of the church today…recognizing that in a lot of contemporary churches these liturgies aren’t read. And so, the songs of today literally become the confession of the church.

Yes, and amen. Thank you, Hillsong, for your open ears and your passion for the church universal! 

8 Comments on “Review of No Other Name, by Hillsong Worship”

  1. My big surprise for this album was how slow it is. After Y&F and the United remix project (and listening to Planetshakers) I was hoping for some good upbeat songs. Everything here is solidly mid-tempo to slow. Of course, Hillsongs' most successful songs have always been their mid-tempo stuff. Listening to the project, it starts to feel a little sleepy unfortunately, which is not to say that there aren't some great songs in the mix. It does seem that Hillsongs has taken a different lyrical direction on this project, particularly after the success of Man of Sorrows last year.

    It will be interesting to see if the next Y&F or United projects have the same lyrical depth with some more upbeat music.

  2. Zac, I'm curious to hear if you have incorporated any song in this album since this review. If so, how did you manage the keys the song were in? In other words, did you change the key to any song to support congregational singing?

    I appreciate the direction Hillsong went in for this album, but the reality is, arguably their best song "This I Believe (the Creed)" is not in what I would call a "congregational key". Perhaps you could provide some feedback on what to do with a song like this (This I Believe)?

    Thanks in advance!

  3. Thanks, Ronald. That's a great question. I tend to set songs such that D is the high note of the song. "This I Believe" IS unique, but it actually has a pretty small range (less than an octave), so I think it can be easily set to a singable key…I'd probably chose G or A (putting the top note at a D or E).

    I haven't incorporated any songs into what we do, but I have plans for This I Believe. 🙂

  4. Thanks for the response, Zack!

    On a side note – our church has been really blessed by "Sola" and your setting of "His Be the Victor's Name".

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