Third Day: Offerings: A Worship Album (2000)

Tracks:

1.  King of Glory
2.  These Thousand Hills
3.  Your Love Oh Lord
4.  Agnus Dei/Worthy
5.  Saved
6.  My Hope is You
7.  You're Everywhere
8.  Thief
9.  Consuming Fire
10.  All The Heavens
11.  Love Song

I recently saw Third Day in concert promoting their new album Miracle, and it was one of the best concert experiences I've had in a long time.  Having seen the band twice before (in '97 and '03), it gave me a chance to reflect on the history of the band, which the guys were also keen on doing, reminding us several times that they had been around for twenty years (which made me feel slightly geezerish).  I realized two things during this concert/worship service/nostalgia trip.  First, Third Day's history can basically be divided into three epochs: The Early Years (1996-1999), The Worship Years (2000-2004), and the Radio Years (2005-Present).  And second, I have been a faithful fan through Epochs 1 and 2 but sadly absent for the third.  More on that later.

Getting back to this review, Offerings gives the band the opportunity to pick off several peaches with one shake of the tree: First, it satisfies the obligatory need for a live record.  Second, it affords an opportunity to cover songs from other artists they normally would not on a proper studio album.  Most importantly, the band is able to express their new passion for worship music both in studio and live.  (Sorry for the proliferation of lists in this review.  It's starting to read like a Buddhist sutra!)

The project is divided between new studio cuts and live versions of songs from previous albums.  The studio tracks are a mixed bag of originals and covers.  The big new song is "King of Glory," a song that stylistically follows in the footsteps of "I've Always Loved You" in that it's a quiet acoustic ballad with minimal bass and percussion and long, sliding electric guitar flourishes--at least at the beginning.  The song builds up in energy and intensity until Mac is crying out and a grave Southern gospel choir echoes him in the background, before it goes back to quiet again in the coda.  "You're Everywhere" is a gentle meditation on God's omnipresence, and "All the Heavens" is a decent attempt at writing an honest to God text-and-tune hymn.  The covers include a majestic version of "These Thousand Hills" from fellow Georgians Jacob's Trouble, and a rousing take on the title track from Bob Dylan's Saved, complete with a holy ghost choir and the soulful gal who wailed in the background on "Mama" back in the day.  

Of the live tracks, the only new song is a cover version of Michael W. Smith's "Agnus Dei."  The boys do a fairly good job of carrying the anthem's sense of grandeur, mostly on the legs of Anderson's stately bass lines.  Their commitment to worship shines through, even if its "high church" quality rides a little heavy on the band's rock saddle.  Just as they head into a mighty crescendo, they drop out and Mac leads the audience in a few rounds of the chorus "Worthy."  It's a powerful moment.

Two other standout performances are "My Hope is You" and "Thief."  The former is a superior version to the overproduced one from Conspiracy.  It's proof that you can't keep a good song down, even if you drown it in clanging mandolin noises.  The latter makes a rare appearance and also gains fresh energy from the live setting.  "Love Song" is also brought out from the debut album, as a fitting "God bless y'all" for the audience of thousands and the Audience of One.

Offerings is successful in its objective of drawing listeners into the softer sides of the band, and carrying a spirit of worship into a rock concert, something that is not automatic.  But with Mac Powell and the boys keeping the focus on Jesus and bringing the "church" around the warm glow of their music, they are able to do what a great worship team should do--lead us into the presence of God.