Breathing is an essential part of life. In fact, the average person breathes around 21,000 times per day. Most would say worship is something every Christian should do on a regular basis, but in actuality, many Christians barely worship God once per week let alone daily. Every Time I Breathe is Big Daddy Weave's attempt to challenge Christians to evolve worship into a necessity of life. BDW made a promising debut in 2002 with One and Only, and even followed with Fields of Grace, which is one of their best selling albums to date. Their third release was a bit of a letdown due to a lack in lyrical inspiration. This fourth effort is no better and offers up little more than a plate of disappointment.

The album opens with "Let It Rise," which contains a single line that sums up the aim of the whole album: "For Christians to treat worship as the art of breathing and live as relentless worshippers." Aside from this predictably produced cover of an old church favorite, BDW also does a rendition of Rich Mullins' "Hold me Jesus." Neither cover offers a fresh take musically or thematically. Both come off as space fillers for an album that's already too bland. The rest of the record is upbeat and may be a good choice for background music at a get together or while you are busily doing chores, but when listened to more closely, this album will do little more than disappoint. It may even drive you to the point of wishing you had never picked it up in the first place. That would more than likely explain why there was only one song off the album that received heavy radio play, the track that shares the same title as the album itself.

Big Daddy Weave has proven capable of musical creativity in the past, but this release doesn't help the band's case when it comes to improving on each record. Fans and new listeners alike can only hope and pray that Big Daddy Weave spends more time writing and less time covering already perfectly crafted songs on their next album. Your best bet would be to pick up Fields of Grace and if that title is already in your collection, you'd probably be more satisfied with picking a random album at the store than investing in this poor excuse for a fourth release.

- Review date: 1/3/08, written by Jessica Gregorius