As the Rock N Roll Worship Circus has continued to grow and develop their sound over the past couple years, enduring several lineup changes in the process, it's been a joy to watch the band experiment with different things. Easily one of the best and most intriguing and creative modern worship groups around, the Worship Circus is offering a unique musical journey this Summer entitled The Listening EP.

The Listening EP is a different recording for the Worship Circus. Anyone who has seen the band's live performance this Spring and Summer, has more than likely had the pleasure of hearing their latest artistic direction. Their sound is still heavily influenced by music from the 60s and 70s including Pink Floyd, The Beatles, and even more recent artists like Radiohead. Listening is a bold step musically for the Circus. It captures the band's live sound and persona better than any of their earlier releases. It's also one of the more complex worship projects you can possibly find. The Worship Circus is one of the few praise and worship artists who worships not just with their voice and words, but with each note in each song.

From the ambience that opens the record through to the eerie sounds of "Dead Man," it's a powerful project that just touches on the amazing things to come from this band. With incredible, intimate songs like "I Love The Rain" and "Like I Do," The Listening EP is quite easily one of the top projects of the year.

- Review date: 7/10/04, written by John DiBiase