I had always heard the hype behind MercyMe. It wasn't til this summer at a camp in Canada that I actually listened to it. "I Can Only Imagine" won a Dove award for Song of the Year and I had never heard it. But at camp it became an integral part of our day with worship before our rallies. If you have ever counseled at a kids' camp for the entire summer you'd understand. What's nice about the CD is the lyrics and the overall worship feel to it. Musically, it's like FFH or any typical Contemporary Christian artist.

The CD opens up with "I Worship You," setting the feel of the album. The next song, "Here Am I," challenges the listener to go out into the world and stand up for their King. "How Great is Your Love," the fourth track opens with a nice string intro and adds some techno noise in the background. The fifth track, "I Can Only Imagine," pops in right before the mid-way point of the album. The lyrics for the song are amazing. If you haven't listened to the lyrics, because you're afraid of hearing pop music, get over it and listen to it. The next few songs pass and then "House of God" comes in. This is one of the louder songs on the album, but still quite tame for the most part, and invites you to come into the House of God. The album ends with two slower songs. The album closes out with "In You," a piano-based song with some nice strings and some good worshipful lyrics.

Musically, it's not the best, but lyrically it's one of the best albums out there. Every song is based on some sort of Scripture or Spiritual truth seldom found in some Christian music. "I Can Only Imagine" talks about how you might react seeing God face to face in heaven. Other songs are just straight-up worship in your face. I realized after this summer it's not cool to judge music only by how it sounds, but also by the lyrical content. So with that, MercyMe scores a 4 out of 5 with me.

- Review date: 9/1/02, written by Kevin Chamberlin of Jesusfreakhideout.com