Worship God Explained

Worship God
Type:	studio
Artist:	Rebecca St. James
Cover:	Album_Art-Worship_God.jpg
Released:	26 February 2002
Genre:	Gospel, CCM, worship
Length:	44:42
Label:	ForeFront
Producer:	Matt Bronleewe, Tedd T
Prev Title:	Transform
Prev Year:	2000
Next Year:	2003

Worship God is the seventh studio album by Rebecca St. James, released on 26 February 2002.^[1] It is her highest charting album to date, peaking at No. 94 on the Billboard 200. The album produced the hit singles "Song of Love" and "Breathe".

Writing and development

Unlike her prior albums, St. James only co-wrote four out of the eleven songs. Because of its worship genre, the other seven songs are standard worship cover songs. These songs are Matt Redman's "Let My Words Be Few" and "Better Is One Day", Marie Barnett's "Breathe", City on a Hill's "God of Wonders", Lenny LeBlanc and Paul Baloche's "Above All", Jeremy Casella's "More Than the Watchmen", and the hymn "It Is Well".

St. James says "Song of Love" was partly inspired by the lorikeets outside her grandparents' home in Australia.^[2] "Lamb of God" was written and vocally recorded in just an hour and a half. St. James says of the track, "My favorite moments in songwriting are when God miraculously drops a verse, or a chorus, or even a whole song into my lap. It was definitely that way with this song."^[2] The song "You" was written while St. James was on vacation in Australia.^[3] "It Is Well" was recorded on 11 September 2001.^[4] The album also includes a bonus remix of her 1998 song, "Omega".

The album was solely produced by Matt Bronleewe, except for the "Omega Remix", which was produced by Tedd T. The string arrangements for this album were done by Jeremy Bose.

Music structure and lyrics

St. James describes the entire album as "passionate, edgy pop/rock". Lyrical content is mainly worship songs about God's love.

Personnel

• Rebecca St. James – lead and backing vocals
• Matt Bronleewe – acoustic piano, keyboards, Minimoog, guitars, bass, drum programming
• Randall Waller – guitars
• Justin York – guitars
• James Gregory – bass
• Aaron Redfield – drums
• John Catchings – cello
• Jeremy Bose – string arrangements

Production

• Matt Bronleewe – producer (1-11), mixing
• Tedd T. – producer (12)
• Greg Ham – executive producer
• Steve Hartley – executive producer, A&R
• Skye McCaskey – engineer, mixing
• Shawn Andrews – digital editing
• Ken Love – mastering
• Susannah Parrish – creative coordinator
• Scott McDaniel – art direction
• Neal Ashby – design
• Kristin Barlowe – photography
• Smallbone Management – management
• Recorded and Mixed at Pentavarit (Nashville, Tennessee).
• Mastered at MasterMix (Nashville, Tennessee).

Release and reception

Critical reception

Both Jesusfreakhideout (JFH) and AllMusic gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars.^[1] JFH says, "Rebecca St. James has outdone herself on Worship God. She has set a new standard for modern worship here. Miss out on this project and you may miss out on an incredible worship experience", while AllMusic wrote "Worship God is not just another album latching onto the [worship] genre's popularity. It is a reflection of Rebecca St. James' lifestyle of worship and one that will not quickly leave CD players."

Chart performance

The album is St. James's most successful to date. It is her only album to peak inside the top 100 on the Billboard 200, at No. 94. It also peaked at No. 5 on Billboards Hot Christian Albums chart.

Singles and popular songs

• "Song of Love" was released to Christian radio in 2002, as well as a physical double-A side single with "Wait for Me" (from Transform) on 8 April 2003. The song proved to be extremely successful in her home country of Australia, where it charted at No. 3 on Australian Christian radio's 2002 Year-End Charts, and No. 1 on the Australasian 2002 Year-End Charts.^[5] The song has also been featured on every Rebecca St. James compilation to date (except The Early Years), and was included on WOW Hits 2003.
• "Breathe" was released as the first radio single in the United States. It was well received and was featured on , , The Ultimate Collection, and GreatestHits. The song also fared well in Australia where it charted at No. 22 on their 2002 Year-End chart, and No. 5 on the Australasian 2002 Year-End chart.^[5]
• "God of Wonders" and "Let My Words Be Few" peaked at No. 19 and No. 35 respectively on Billboards Hot Christian Songs chart.^[6] The former was also included on The Ultimate Collection. The latter was released as a single in Australia, where it peaked at No. 41 on their 2003 Year-End chart. It also charted at No. 16 on the Australasian 2003 Year-End chart.^[5]
• "Quiet You with My Love" was released as a single in the UK where it peaked at No. 12 on their 2003 Year-End Charts.^[7]

Promotion

St. James embarked on a Worship God Tour in 2003. The set list consisted mainly of songs from Worship God, but also featured some earlier songs.

• Set List:^[8]

1. "Reborn"
2. "I Thank You"
3. "Song of Love"
4. "Go and Sin No More"
5. "Wait for Me"
6. "You"
7. "Quiet You with My Love"
8. "Let My Words Be Few"
9. "Lamb of God"
10. "Breathe"
11. "Above All"
12. "Awesome God"
13. "Yes, I Believe in God"
14. "God"
15. "Awesome God" (reprise)

Songs from Worship God have also been performed on her Adoration Tour,^[9] the If I Had One Chance To Tell You Something Tour,^[10] and the Worship Revolution Tour.^[11] An entire taped concert from the If I Had One Chance... Tour can be found on her 2007 CD/DVD release ALive in Florida.

Compilation contributions

Songs from Worship God have been released on many compilations over the years. Here is a complete list of songs from the album featured on other releases.

• WOW Hits 2003... "Song of Love"^[12]
• Dove Hits 2003... "Song of Love"^[13]
• Wow Worship: Yellow... "Breathe"^[14]
• ... "Song of Love", "Breathe" and "Lamb of God"^[15]
• Worship Together: Here I Am to Worship... "God of Wonders"^[16]
• Worship Together: Be Glorified... "Song of Love"^[17]
• Left Behind Worship: God Is With Us... "God of Wonders"^[18]
• Left Behind Tribulation Force Soundtrack: Contemporary Christian... "God of Wonders"^[19]
• The Best Worship Songs... Ever!... "Above All"^[20]
• Worship Together Platinum... "Breathe"^[21]
• Worship: The Ultimate Collection... "Above All" and "God of Wonders"^[22]
• Rebecca St. James: Top 5 Hits... "Breathe" and "God of Wonders"^[23]
• WOW Hymns... "It Is Well"^[24]
• The Ultimate Collection... "Song of Love", "Breathe", "God of Wonders" and "Better Is One Day"^[25]
• Songs That Changed the Church: CCM... "God of Wonders"^[26]
• Greatest Hits... "Song of Love", "Better Is One Day" and "Breathe"^[27]
• Worship For the Family: 35 Top Worship Songs... "God of Wonders"^[28]

DVD

Also in 2002, St. James released her first DVD, Worship God. It featured music videos of "Wait For Me", "Song of Love", "Reborn", eight audio clips from Worship God, an interview, photos, a "My Australia" featurette and more.^[29]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Rebecca St. James, "Worship God" Review . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 26 February 2002 . 15 March 2012.
2. Worship God liner notes.
3. Web site: Rebecca St. James Worship God You lyrics . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 15 March 2012.
4. Web site: Rebecca St. James Worship God It Is Well lyrics . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 11 September 2001 . 15 March 2012.
5. Web site: Worship God . www.therockacrossaustralia.com . 7 February 2013.
6. Web site: Music News, Reviews, Articles, Information, News Online & Free Music . Billboard.com . 15 March 2012.
7. Web site: Cross Rhythms Annual Chart . Crossrhythms.co.uk . 15 March 2012.
8. Web site: The JfH Concert Reviews and Dates: Worship God Tour . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 15 March 2012.
9. Web site: The JfH Concert Reviews and Dates: The Adoration Tour . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 15 March 2012.
10. Web site: The JfH Concert Reviews and Dates: Rebecca St. James, BarlowGirl, Jadon Lavik Tour 2006 . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 15 March 2012.
11. Web site: The JfH Concert Reviews and Dates: Delirious?, Rebecca St. James, Vicky Beeching The Worship Revolution Tour Spring 2007 . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 15 March 2012.
12. Web site: Various Artists, "WOW Hits 2003" Review . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 1 October 2002 . 15 March 2012.
13. Web site: various artists, "Dove Hits 2003" Review . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 18 March 2003 . 15 March 2012.
14. Web site: various artists, "WOW Worship (Yellow)" Review . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 18 March 2003 . 15 March 2012.
15. Web site: Rebecca St. James, "Wait For Me: The Best From Rebecca St. James" Review . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 25 March 2003 . 15 March 2012.
16. Web site: Here I Am to Worship: Various Artists: Music . Amazon . 15 March 2012.
17. Web site: various artists, "Be Glorified" Review . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 27 May 2003 . 15 March 2012.
18. Web site: Left Behind Worship: God Is With Us: Various Artists: Music . Amazon . 15 March 2012.
19. Web site: Left Behind II - Tribulation Force - Contemporary Christian: Various Artists, Russ Lee, John Tesh, Paul Alan, Rebecca St. James, Matt Brouwer: Music . Amazon . 15 March 2012.
20. Web site: Best Worship Song Ever: Various Artists: Music . Amazon . 15 March 2012.
21. Web site: Worship Together Platinum: Various Artists: Music . Amazon . 15 March 2012.
22. Web site: ~ Kristian Stanfill . Ultimate Collection: Worship: Various Artists: Music . Amazon . 15 March 2012.
23. Web site: St . Rebecca . rebecca st. james top 5 hits: MP3 Downloads . Amazon.com . 15 March 2012.
24. Web site: Time . WOW Hymns, 2 CDs . Christianbook.com . 15 March 2012.
25. Web site: Rebecca St. James, "The Ultimate Collection" Review . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 11 March 2008 . 15 March 2012.
26. Web site: various artists, "Songs That Changed The Church: CCM" Review . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 5 August 2008 . 15 March 2012.
27. Web site: Rebecca St. James, "Greatest Hits" Review . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 28 October 2008 . 15 March 2012.
28. Web site: Various Artists, "Worship for the Family: 35 Top Worship Songs" Review . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 26 January 2010 . 15 March 2012.
29. Web site: Rebecca St. James, "Worship God" DVD Review . Jesusfreakhideout.com . 19 November 2002 . 15 March 2012.