Third Day: Offerings II: All I Have To Give (2003)

1. Sing a Song
2. You Are So Good to Me
3. Creed
4. Offering
5. Show Me Your Glory
6. Nothing Compares
7. Anything
8. God of Wonders
9. May Your Wonders Never Cease
10. The Everlasting
11. Medley: Give/Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus/With or Without You/Your Love Oh Lord
12. Take My Life

The Georgia boys' first foray into worship music proved so successful that they went back and drew deeper from the well for Offerings II.  They followed the same paradigm from the first album: a half live/half studio mix of originals and covers, some traditional-sounding and some re-worked, rocking out where appropriate and bringing friends like Michael Tait along for the ride.  And just like last time, the band solidified their image as the Southern Fried version of the Rock and Roll Worship Circus.  

The opening two tracks sound ready for Sunday morning...if the church in question's worship band moonlighted as a .38 Special tribute band.  "Sing a Song" and "You Are So Good to Me" are simple worship songs with big singalong choruses and Southern Gospel trimmings.  The band come up with a couple of meditative/spiritual tunes like "Offering" (which sounds like a made-to-order title track), "Anything" and "The Everlasting."  These studio tracks follow in the direction of the "deeper" songs from Come Together: Slow to mid-tempo ballads, spacious arrangements and lots of ethereal guitar effects.  

Speaking of which, "Show Me Your Glory" and "Nothing Compares" are featured among the live material, and stay fairly close to the studio versions, although "Nothing" features a spoken interlude from Mac (which is edited from the usual raps that went on for at least five minutes at the shows).  There's also "God of Wonders" from the City On A Hill album, featuring the aforementioned Mr. Tait on the second verse.  There's even another acoustic closer from Third Day, "Take My Life."  

But the most memorable tracks are the most warped in their arrangements. "Creed," which Mac rightfully attributes to "late great Rich Mullins," starts out with a plodding intro à la "War Pigs," then kicks into the typical TD workout, with an expected stop at the line, "On the third day, He rose again."  Then a long medley of seemingly unrelated worship tunes, built around the Time closer "Give." The band actually finds a better setting for it than the drawn-out feedback fest of the original, rolling right into the old hymn "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus," then a snippet from U2's "With or Without You," finishing off with another Time track, the now-ubiquitous "Your Love Oh Lord."  

This second installment leaves me the same feelings I had with the first:  The band sounds earnestly in the Spirit as they worship the Lord, even though the songs do seem a little formulaic at times.  They're not going to be the next Christ Tomlin or Dave Crowder, but it's clear they love the Lord and appreciate their fans, and have established their sound.