I Believe There Is More

Funny that Don Moen would title his 2009 release I Believe There Is More: the album is the praise veteran's swan song for Integrity Music, the little church-geared label he helped build into one of Christian music's biggest success stories, and one of the few major players in CCM which retained its independent spirit while others sold their souls to corporate giants. Moen doesn't exactly go for broke here, but then again, he is not that kind of guy; instead, he is content with simply continuing to serve the church and his mostly middle-aged fan base with songs they can sing along to. Increasingly aware of changing trends in praise music, Moen even tries his hand at modern worship by covering Hillsong ("Mighty to Save," "Saviour King"), lifting a page from the Michael Gungor songbook ("Be Praised"), and penning a terrific anthem or two of his own ("Be Lifted Up," "Grace Is Enough"), while keeping to the parameters of propriety he is known for. Of course, he is too mindful a minister to shortchange older demographics, so there are plenty of fiddles, balladry, and countrified sensibility to go around — hardly the stuff that storms up the worship charts these days, but all components that, in one way or another, made Moen one of the original architects of contemporary praise & worship.