{"id":40298,"date":"2007-05-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/speak-to-me\/"},"modified":"2007-05-29T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2007-05-29T00:00:00","slug":"speak-to-me","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/speak-to-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Speak To Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

I did not realize how much I\u2019d missed Geoff Moore\u2019s voice until the first time his gruff baritone flowed out of my speakers on his newest album, Speak To Me<\/i>. I first experienced <\/place><\/city>Moore in 1995 when he and his band, The Distance, released the album that made them the Mercy Me of their time, Home Run<\/i>. <\/p>\n

Sure, I\u2019d heard scattered Geoff Moore and The Distance tracks before then (\u201cEvolution: Redefined,\u201d \u201cA Friend Like You,\u201d \u201c\u201dLife Together\u201d), but with Home Run <\/i>garnering no fewer than six hit singles, the album was pretty much everywhere that summer \u2013 and that was a great thing. Since then, I\u2019ve followed <\/place><\/city>Moore\u2019s career, with the group and solo, with interest and appreciation.<\/p>\n

So when the opportunity to review Speak To Me <\/i>presented itself, it was a no-brainer. It had been five years since his last, A Beautiful Sound<\/i>, and I was ready. <\/p>\n

Since disbanding The Distance with his self-titled disc in 1999, <\/place><\/city>Moore has undergone a maturation process that has produced one of the industry\u2019s most prized \u201celder statesmen.\u201d It\u2019s a shame the music industry values youth over almost every other quality, because though I mean the title \u201celder statesmen\u201d as a supreme compliment, some people will read that and say \u201cmore fogey folk-rock\u201d and move on. <\/p>\n

That would be a mistake.<\/p>\n

Speak To Me <\/i>opens with the title track written by Jim Cooper and Phillip LaRue, a soft plea for Jesus to restore a fallen believer to full life in Him: “Please restore my faith \/ To the place when I first met you \/ A fire bright and clear \/ Speak to me Lord Jesus \/ I am listening.”<\/p>\n

But as the verse gives way to the chorus, the soft entreaty gives way to a bold declaration that Jesus\u2019 words give this broken man \u201clife and their hope keeps me alive.\u201d As the song ends, <\/place><\/city>Moore is singing, \u201cI am waiting Lord, I am resting on my knees. I am waiting for You to speak.\u201d What better place for a believer to be?<\/p>\n

Moore has long had a knack for picking great cover songs. Remember The Who song \u201cI\u2019m Free\u201d and the \u201chidden\u201d cover of Sly and the Family Stone\u2019s \u201cStand\u201d on the last Distance album (Threads<\/i> in 1997)?<\/p>\n

On Speak To Me<\/i>, <\/place><\/city>Moore once again mines other people\u2019s songs to great effect. His cover of Rivers Rutherford and George G. Teren III\u2019s \u201cWhen I Get Where I\u2019m Going,\u201d first recorded by Brad Paisley (with Dolly Parton) on his Time Well Wasted<\/i> project, is the disc\u2019s first single. <\/city>Moore\u2019s world-weary voice lends the song the depth <\/place>Paisley\u2019s version lacked. And when Christy Nockels of Watermark chimes in with Parton\u2019s harmonies, it creates one of those goosebump moments. <\/p>\n

Moore said the song is a reminder that, while some people can be \u201ctoo heavenly minded for any earthly good,\u201d in our society today the opposite is too often true and believers are too earthly minded to be any heavenly good. He said, \u201cI believe living in the light of eternity will <\/i>impact the way we live today. This song reminds me to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other highlights: \u201cHe Knows My Name\u201d with Kendall Payne, \u201cYour Day\u201d written with Joel Hanson, a cover of Hanson\u2019s solo song, \u201cCaptured,\u201d the hymn \u201cThis Is My Father\u2019s World,\u201d and album closer, \u201cErase,\u201d a plea to be more like Jesus. <\/p>\n

Moore does have a soft spot for \u201chidden\u201d tracks. Look for another one, this time a pointless remix of \u201cEvery Single One,\u201d a song inspired by <\/city><\/place>Moore\u2019s work with Compassion International. That aside, though, this is an excellent album well worth hearing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":28800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[6146],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-40298","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-geoff-moore","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40298"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}