Delirious set the standard for modern worship in the early 90s with the Cutting Edge releases and have been raising those standards ever since. Best known for worship classics such as "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever," "Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble," and more recently "My Glorious" and "Majesty," Delirious continue to turn out modern worship anthems in a fresh way.

By now we should know never to expect the same thing twice from Delirious, and The Mission Bell is no exception to that rule. Continuing in the worshipful style of projects like Glo and World Service, The Mission Bell is the result of a decade of musical and spiritual growth.

"Now is the Time" (co-written with Matt Redman, who wrote worship classics "The Heart of Worship," "Better is One Day," and "Blessed Be Your Name") and "Paint the Town Red" emphasize the need for the church to get out and spread the Gospel. And on "Our God Reigns," Delirious address the fact that the church has lost its reign and influence in society and also take on the issues such as abortion, murder, and the fact that people would rather pay a couple of dollars for Chinese take out rather than donating to help find a cure for aids. The song is reminiscent of "White Ribbon Day" and "America," and reminds us that no matter how bad the world gets, our God still reigns.

Other highlights on the album include "Miracle Maker," which starts off as a ballad before exploding with passion in traditional Delirious flare. "Solid Rock" features an instantly likeable blues/rock groove that builds up to an anthemic choir-driven chorus that begs to be sung. While some of the choir's "oooh's" and "yeah's" detract from the song, it's TobyMac's rap that kills an otherwise perfect song. I appreciate TobyMac and Delirious trying something different, but unfortunately it just feels out of place on this song.

Like Audio Lessonover (also known as Touch in the US), The Mission Bell is an album with some songs that aren't that impressive on the first listen, but will grow on you with repeated listening. With its worshipful lyrics, passionate vocals, soaring guitars, and beautiful ballads, The Mission Bell has everything that we have come to expect of Delirious over the years and more, and is sure to be a classic for Delirious fans.

- Review date: 10/24/05, Revised: 12/20/05; written by David Taylor