Casting Crowns – The Altar And The Door

On their third studio album, Casting Crowns continue in the same vein that rocketed them to superstars in the Christian rock genre.

The sound is very much the kind of soft rock that recalls influences such as Creed, Switchfoot and Lifehouse. It is all very pleasant, with a few stompers and power ballads alike. There is nothing new or innovative here, just solid musicianship.

This album will certainly offer loyal fans a new bunch of favourites, but none of the songs have “hit” written on them as clearly as songs like “Lifesong” from the previous album.

Fans of worship songs will be delighted with the inclusion of two such tracks, both pretty good.

Casting Crowns’ real potency resides in the lyrics, all of them unambiguously Christian and Christ-centred.

Opener “What This World Needs” (which features a rather cloying spoken interlude, an annoying tendency also on other songs) sets the agenda: “What this world needs is for us to care more about the inside than the outside.”

Our inner qualities and faith, the album’s theme suggests, should empower us to be witnesses to Christ also outside the Christian environment, in conduct and in our concern for others.

The title track is especially observant, pointing to the contradiction of many Christians’ behaviour when they are before the altar, and that which takes over when they reach the church door.

The words have the power to inspire and lead one to a closer relationship with God. The lyrics work best when Casting Crowns sing from the point of view of the first person, which, after all, is a form of prayer.

The group, whose members are ministers in their Baptist church, occasionally come across as a little too evangelical. Maybe a little preachiness is necessary. “Slow Fade”, for example, warns against complacency in faith, pointing out that one tends to drift away slowly from God, rather than experiencing an epiphany of agnosticism.

This album is a great response to critics who suggest that rock music inherently and invariably corrupts the listener.

Listen to: East And West; The Altar And The Door; Somewhere In The Middle; Slow Fade; Every Man.