By: James Southworth
Rating: 1/5 Stars
There was a time when Kutless was one of my favorite bands. "To Know That You're Alive" is one of the best songs I've ever heard, and the album of that same name is at least one of my top 20 favorite album releases of all time. For a long time, Kutless was consistently putting out great rock albums that were accessible and interesting. Things started to turn around when the band released "It Is Well", a worship album which I did actually enjoy as it had some unique worship covers and some great original songs. But, after that album, the band continued to deviate from rock and went completely with tame, cookie-cutter worship music. Their album "Believer" has some decent songs but is otherwise sort of mediocre, and "Glory" is absolutely awful. Kutless showed promise once again two years ago with "Surrender", which put them back towards their rock roots and even had one of their best songs to date in "My Heart is a Ghost". Unfortunately, this album takes away any promise that Kutless would return to originality. "Alpha/Omega" is by far the band's weakest release to date, and follows every single cliche of CCM and worship music.
I really hate to be so harsh to a band who has so many albums I love, but my anger comes from vast disappointment. I KNOW Kutless can do so much more. Unfortunately lead vocalist John Micah Sumrall has said many times that he thinks rock music is a sign of immaturity. I don't know why he believes that, as Kutless's most mature work has come from their rock based releases, not the ones where they release worship songs that say cliched things about God. There are only two songs here I can construe as "good". In reality they are, at best, serviceable. While I've never liked how "King of My Heart" says "You are good" over and over in reference to God (Exactly what kind of truth is revealed in that?), I do appreciate the pop/rock spin the band puts on it. It makes the song a little more energetic and interesting. I wouldn't exactly say I liked the song though, it's only good in comparison to everything else here. The only song I do honestly enjoy is "Shepherd of My Soul". It is the best song on this album. It's one of only four songs in this release that isn't a cover, and it's the only song on here with some sort of lyrical substance. It still can't compare to other monumentally superior Kutless songs. Sumrall sounds good vocally, which lifts the song up slightly above the others in the album.
As far as the rest of the album goes, it is pure, unadulteraded, CCM garbage. I am not forgiving of bands when it comes to making worship music, and I will not treat Kutless any differently. This album starts on a very boring, underwhelming note with "Your Great Name". This song is so run-of-the-mill as far as worship goes, and I've always found this song to embody a lot of problems with worship music in the modern day. "Cornerstone" is a cover that's been done to death by this point; it's a little dated honestly. This song has always bored me. Kutless does nothing new with the song, as even the "climax" they put in the song feels processed and dull. That can really describe this whole album: it feels like this whole release was so carefully calculated to have success on the radio. This could be in part due to BEC, but then again BEC had Ashes Remain releasing a great rock album just a couple weeks ago. I hate to say it, but I think Kutless is more to blame for this. I understand wanting to have radio success so more people can hear God's word, but I can't honestly picture that many people being attracted to songs so generic. Speaking of generic, the reprise of "Strong Tower" is insulting to the rocking original, and it's completely unnecessary. It's maddening to see Kutless actually making one of their more interesting worship originals sound like every other slow, droning CCM song out there.
There is pretty much nothing to say about "You Are Love", it comes and goes without leaving a single impact. "Great Are You Lord" is probably my least favorite song on here, simply because it's the most cliched choice for a worship cover. All Sons and Daughters, the writers of the song, are the only ones who were able to give this song the weight that it actually deserves. This song has potential to be a good cover, but unfortunately as it's been covered more and more, it's been turned into a corporate worship clone which is unidentifiable from any other worship song. Kutless takes away any potential emotional heft that this song has, and instead makes it sound basic and formulaic. It's so angering to see an originally gorgeous worship anthem reduced to nothing more than an insultingly simple sing along. Not much can be said about "Your Love Awakens Me", "Gave It All", or "No Wonder". They all are radio ready CCM songs with no qualities that distinguish them. They all say some half-baked thing about God that's been said a dozen times before, reducing God to a bunch of personality traits and taking away any sort of real truth about Him.
I have actually come to like many worship albums over the past few years. Kings Kaleidoscope, Citizens and Saints, All Sons and Daughters, and even Hillsong have released some really good worship music recently. While they're jumping ahead in redefining what worship can be, Kutless is taking a back step into redundancy, appealing to the absolute lowest common denominator. I can only see people who constantly listen to Air1 and KLove really liking this, and even that might be a stretch. There's so much better worship music out there, and it's finally gaining traction, while bands like Kutless who are attempting the same kind of stuff are falling behind the curve. What happened to this band? It's looking more and more like we'll never get a truly great Kutless release again, and that really is a shame. This is one of the worst albums of the year.
Favorite Songs: "Shepherd of My Soul"
Least Favorite Songs: "Great Are You Lord", "Strong Tower (Reprise)", "Your Great Name", "Cornerstone", "You Are Love", "Gave It All"
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