| Written by David Wang, The Catholic Register,
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 This month, I am pleased to report on two new developments that indicate that Catholic music is continuing to break through to a larger audience.
Matt Maher an artist hailing from Newfoundland, but now residing in Arizona and working with the Life Teen organization, must be hailed as 2008’s most successful Catholic musician. Three years ago, Christian praise superstar Chris Tomlin, took one of Maher’s songs, “His Grace is Enough,” and made it one of the biggest songs of the year. This year, Maher has released, through Essential Records, the most successful Catholic record in years. The re-release of Maher’s song has hit the no. 2 position on the Adult Contemporary Christian Billboard Charts this summer. His success is now opening doors for other Catholic musicians.
The second development is quite unusual. Sony Records, recognizing the potential market of more than a billion Catholics, has signed three priests, Fr. Eugene O’Hagan, Fr. Martin O’ Hagan (brothers) and Fr. David Delargy from Northern Ireland, to release an album of traditional songs in Latin. They will be fittingly called simply The Priests. In November, be prepared to see a huge marketing campaign around this release. It would be ironic if it takes a secular label to finally break through into a market that numerous Catholic record companies have been valiantly trying to reach for decades.
Matt Maher — Empty and Beautiful
Outside of the monster hit, Maher has put together a solid album firmly entrenched in the Praise and Worship category. Songs like “For Your Glory” and “I rejoice” have the catchy repetitive lyrics so common in this genre of music. The lyrics to the title track “Empty and Beautiful” show, however, the depths of Maher’s songwriting abilities. Overall, this album deserves its place among the top releases in Christian music in 2008.
Nicole C. Mullens — A Dream to Believe In Vol. 2
I have always liked this artist’s urban sound. On this album, Mullens takes a Rhianna-like slant on the first track “I Have a Dream” that is pretty catchy. Topics include issues of racism, respect and spirituality. The album falls a bit flat with songs like “Treat her like a lady” and “Brainwash” with terribly corny lyrics. Overall, interesting but not her best effort
P.O.D — When Angels and Serpents Dance
P.O.D has been one of the most consistent hard rock bands performing in a mainly secular vein but never compromising their Christian message. On this album, the original group has reunited and the production has been stripped down. This has a two-edged effect. It strips bare a song to its essentials, allowing a good song to really show through. However, when a song is weak, there is not a sonic onslaught to hide behind, as is the case with a few songs on the album. However, songs like “Kaliforn-Eye-A” comes together with that recognizable P.O.D energy. P.O.D is morphing away from the sound that gave them monstrous secular success. It will be interesting to see if they can continue this success with a new sound.
Kutless — To know that you are alive
This is Kutless’ best release. In the past six years, this band has been called a copycat band with a sound similar to Nickelback. However, the band has produced an excellent hard rock album with catchy melodies and strongly spiritual lyrics. From the anthemic “The Feeling” to the catchy title track “To Know that You’re Alive” to the “The Disease and the Cure,” there is a consistency here that is great to hear. There isn’t a weak track on the album. Kutless may have some critical naysayers. I am not one of them. Highly recommended if you like melodic hard rock.
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