City on a Hill: Songs of Worship and Praise

Description

City on a Hill: Songs of Worship and Praise is a multi-artist project released on Essential Records in August 2000. The album was produced by Steve Hindalong of The Choir fame. “In loving memory of our friend, Gene Eugene.”

The album is the first release in the four part series City on a Hill. It was followed by City on a Hill: Sing Alleluia (2002), City on a Hill: It’s Christmas Time (2002), and a final album entitled City on a Hill: The Gathering (2003).

Cynic that I am, there aren’t a large number of worship albums that I enjoy. I tend to see the genre as a whole as opportunistic, and I believe that a lot of bands aren’t in it for the right reasons. Even given that, though, I’ve been looking forward to City on a Hill, the genre’s latest effort, for quite some time now. Why? Because Steve Hindalong, drummer/lyricist for The Choir and mastermind behind the At the Foot of the Cross series (worship music before it was popular to do worship music!), spearheads the project.

City on a Hill is on Essential Records, and it shows: quite a few of the artists represented on the disc are signed to that label: Third Day, Caedmon’s Call, FFH, etc. Other artists include Sixpence None the Richer, The Choir, and the late Gene Eugene. Eugene fans will be especially interested in the project, as his parts were recorded a mere two weeks before his death in March.

Unlike the At the Foot of the Cross discs, City on a Hill doesn’t appear to have a single unifying theme that runs throughout the album. Instead, it focuses on different aspects of God and the Christian walk, and includes songs to God, from God, and about God. The result is somewhat more disjointed than ATFOTC, but it doesn’t really distract from the feeling or mood of the record.

One highlight for me is Mac Powell’s (Third Day) rendition of Adam Again’s «The Tenth Song», renamed here «I Remember You». That bleeds into «Precious Jesus», what may be the album’s most beautiful song, «Precious Jesus», sung by The Choir’s Derri Daughtery and Sixpence’s Leigh Nash. Nash also sings the self-composed «You Are There», which is a lovely, reassuring song sung from God’s perspective. Eugene tackles «Marvelous Light» wonderfully, with vocal help from every artist on the record, and FFH’s «Merciful Rain» is both catchy and touching. There are a few clunkers, but they don’t take away from the total value of the project, which may well be a classic someday. [Michial Farmer, The Phantom Tollbooth, 8/23/2000]

> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/city-on-a-hill-songs-of-worship-and-praise/1463069188)

CD tracklist:

01. Mac Powell, Cliff Young & Danielle Young – God Of Wonders – 5:09
02. Jars of Clay – The Stone – 4:03
03. Leigh Nash & Dan Haseltine – With Every Breath – 5:02
04. Mac Powell with Gene Eugene – I Remember You – 2:01
05. The Choir with Leigh Nash – Precious Jesus – 4:35
06. Sixpence None The Richer – You’re Here – 4:07
07. FFH – Where You Are – 4:09
08. FFH – Merciful Rain – 3:56
09. Sonicflood with Peter Furler – Unified – 4:12
10. Caedmon’s Call – Covenant Song – 5:04
11. Third Day – City On A Hill – 3:53
12. Gene Eugene – Marvelous Light – 3:02
13. Jars of Clay – This Road – 5:14

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Essential Records. The three City on a Hill albums Songs of Worship and Praise, Sing Alleluia, and The Gathering were re-issued as a 3CD box set in 2004 by Essential Records.

[youtube_sc url=”” playlist=”Xknw3D0EXAo,NrH0QUcw_0M,aV03Xqk91SA,ibD4_X9gAqc,ahXWWQ60MVo,xkYZbLtiI3o,D4SNBQo8IGA,PaZrNW1_Cx4,cQ5xqcvRutk,t54MAwfKiYo,gvY3SFZ0_zc,63ApowFf15w,GGo3wbepgBs” title=”Various Artists, City On A Hill – Songs of Worship and Praise – God Of Wonders + The Stone + With Every Breath + I Remember You + Precious Jesus + You’re Here + Where You Are + Merciful Rain + Unified + Covenant Song + City On A Hill + Marvelous Light + This Road” autohide=”1″ rel=”0″]