Hope for All the World - Phillips, Craig & Dean

It all revolves around the miracle of a baby that would provide hope for the world.

Hope for All the World

Artist: Phillips, Craig & Dean (www.phillipscraiganddean.com)

Label: Fair Trade

Length: 10 tracks/37 minutes

Perhaps one overlooked highlight of Phillips, Craig & Dean’s career is “Shine on Us,” the closing track to a recording inspired by the devotional My Utmost for His Highest (also the name of the album) by Oswald Chambers. It epitomizes a central feature of the group: three strong male voices praising God in unison. The Utmost track is simple and unadorned, which serves to highlight the worshipful harmonizing. By the way, this older recording is worth having for the quality performances by some of CCM’s most prominent artists at that time.

“God Bless Us” on Hope for all the World, through poetic and poignant lyrics, and an inspirational arrangement comes closest to producing the same kind of stirring emotion as “Shine on Us.” Written by Scott Krippayne and Jeff Peabody, this alone makes the CD worth having. It’s especially meaningful for those who dreams have not been realized. This song brings solace and hope.

Most of the other non-traditional songs are like modern worship anthems that celebrate the birth of Christ. I mean this as a compliment. If you are looking for a mix of Christmas and contemporary forms of adoration, this is worth checking out.

One of the most pleasant surprises is the opening “Born is the King (It’s Christmas),” which has a distinctive Celtic sound. There is a forcefulness and stomp peculiar to new folk and Irish influences.

It shows the subtle variety. “Do You Hear What I Hear?” has an appropriate celestial quality, fitting for a song that makes reference to the night wind, sky and a star. The added hook to “O Come All Ye Faithful” has punch. It’s the same beloved song in new garb.

Producer Nathan Nockels (former member of the husband/wife duo Watermark) succeeds in making traditional songs sound fresh without significantly changing them. Among the supporting musicians is the versatile Gabe Scott, who collaborates with Andrew Peterson.

I suppose you could say that the acoustic/bluegrass medley of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman/We Three Kings,” is more rustic than present day, but then again, the old is continually reinvented in music circles, becoming something new. This includes a music box-sounding keyboard.

Though similar to previous worship releases in the group’s CCM heyday, this seems a little removed from it. The music is more sophisticated and varied, which makes Phillips, Craig & Dean sound better than ever.

All of the songs are spiritual with one exception, the closing “Jingle Bells (Duck Mix).” In our day I am not one to begrudge badly needed humor. I can only surmise that someone stumbled across a long lost recording of Donald Duck and company singing this childhood classic. The producer supplied instrumental backing with the utmost of a care. It all revolves around the miracle of a baby that would provide hope for the world.