Alternative rock quintet Kutless has released an album of some sort continuously for just about each of the past seven or eight years, and it seems that 2009 will end in the same fashion. To date, their most popular release is their worship album, Strong Tower, and now the boys from Portland have released their second rock worship offering, titled It Is Well. Will it garner the same record sales? Will it be accepted by fans of multiple genres? Will it do justice to the wonderful God that we serve? Simply stated: yes.

It Is Well opens with the title track, a very unique rendition of one of the most popular classic hymns of all time. The timeless words are the same of course, but the background music is updated and carries a more electronica rock sound. Overall, the final product comes out nicely. The album itself covers some other wonderful praise songs like "Hungry," "God Of Wonders," and "Remember Me," but Kutless also has some of their own material on here too. "You Are Everything" is a very nice praise song while "I'm Still Yours" is absolutely beautiful. Mixing acoustic strings and soft vocals together make this original a song for everyone's favorite list. The grouping of cover songs really combines well with the ones written by the band members themselves.

There's not a lot that stands out as anything particularly different on It Is Well, but perhaps that was the band's intent when putting together another worship album. Here it's all about placing the focus on a wonderful God through making beautiful music, and Kutless has accomplished that in full. There are no tracks worth skipping, and I think that any fan of Kutless, their Strong Tower release, or those who like the lighter side of rock-n-roll will definitely enjoy this one.

- Review date: 10/16/09, written by Kevin Hoskins of Jesusfreakhideout.com