Chris Tomlin - Love Ran Red

First of all, before I start this review, I want to commend Chris and his team for continuing to make great Sunday morning worship music for the masses. Truly, I do. It is hard to write this many songs and keep them worshipful without being entirely flippant in a church service. So, Mr. Tomlin, I thank you, as a fellow worship leader, for giving all this music to be at the church's disposal.

However, I'm not reviewing a collection of songs for a worship service. I'm reviewing an album.

That is the unfortunate consequence of being an avid music fan: as much as you want to like something, you sometimes just can't. Chris has a tendency to write music that doesn't always work in a studio recording, and that trend sadly continues on Love Ran Red. As a whole, the album fails to ever truly capture my full attention for very long. There are many good moments, but they fail to make a good album on the whole.

Thankfully, these good moments aren't hard to come by on Love Ran Red. The opener "Greater" has a better build-up than other similar tracks like "Sing, Sing, Sing" from Hello Love but also never manages to go into a full-on cliched worship track. "At the Cross" manages to be a solid redux of a classic hymn without feeling formulaic like "Crown Him" from Buring Lights last year. "Boundary Lines" tends to push the envelope on Tomlin's signature sound, being quite pleasing to the ear, while also having a solid lyric about becoming closer to God. "The Table" and "Psalm 100" are pleasant surprises towards the end of the album (a traditional weak spot for Tomlin), changing up the genre slightly from adult contemporary worship to mainstream pop, all the while making solid lyrical statements about communion and the worship of our God. The running order is also better, making for a nice arc throughout the album.

That being said, most of the rest of the album is easy to pan. If I had to pick a low point, it would be "Almighty." Never have I seen a song have this formulaic of a lyrical and sonic approach. However, it might have a place in a worship service. The same could be said for every other track, albeit with less of a downside. Oh, the sad reality of the state of worship music today. There are so few artists who are willing to label themselves with the "worship music" tag who push the envelope musically and lyrically that can also successful commercially. I'd love to see Tomlin branch out more like he did on Burning Lights. Songs like "Lay Me Down" and "God's Great Dance Floor" pushed him to different styles (nu-folk and EDM, respectively) more than most of his work while still maintaining a worshipful slant that made them accessible to the average Sunday morning worshiper.

I won't personally be using any of Tomlin's tracks from Love Ran Red this year in my song list, but that's for logistical reasons. I would definitely say that many of these songs are ready to plug into a Sunday morning setlist or a CCM radio playlist; however, due to its general complacency throughout, I won't be putting it in my regular listening rotation. I'd recommend it to fans of Tomlin's previous work or worship leaders who will need it as reference material, but more avid and discerning listeners should steer clear.

Lyrics: 3.5/5
Music: 2.5/5
Overall rating: 3/5

Recommended tracks: "At the Cross (Love Ran Red)," "Boundary Lines," "Psalm 100"