BLESSED BE YOUR NAME

This is a curious mix. On one hand, Matt and Beth Redman's choice to open with their song "Blessed Be Your Name," which won the Dove Award, an award for Christian music, gives the listening experience focus that could not be found in a book. On the other hand, though they talk about the need to fully feel the traumas of the world and the need to worship joyfully, the couple's voices seem distant and lacking any intense emotion. The result renders their thoughts on the very important events of our time--contemporary tragedies and spiritual responses to them--uninvolved and unconvincing. G.T.B. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/ MAY 06]