Associate Editor Troy Lilly reminds us about an oldie but goodie…
Back in 1996, a CD player was something you had installed at a Circuit City or Best Buy. I mean lots of people had Walkmans, but in the car, we were still listening to cassette tapes – one side at a time. Boy how the times have changed.
Anyway, that same year a guy named Keith Staten released an album called Worship in the House as part of Integrity Music’s “Urban Praise” series. You may (and should) remember Keith as one-fifth of a successful male ensemble during the late 80s and early 90s: Commissioned.
But this time the concept was a little different. Keith isn’t just singing with the guys, he’s out front. And instead of featured the cutting-edge studio production value of earlier Commissioned albums, this project was recorded live at Lifeline Christian Center Church to capture an organic worship atmosphere.
With songs like “Praise Looks Good on You,” “Awesome in This Place,” “Healing Grace” and “Lord I Thirst for You,” Worship in the House is essentially a collection of contemporary praise and worship songs recorded in a more urban and soulful vein.
Fred Hammond, who handled the production for his former Commissioned group member, adds just enough rhythm to make the 12 tracks groove-worthy, but not so much that they lose the authenticity of original versions by Don Moen, Gary Sadler, Hillsong and Alleluia Music. And now, more than 14 years later, the integrity of the sound and music still stands. However, the cassette tape I bought back in ’96 is long gone.
Thankfully, advances in technology have provided us with the compact disc and mp3 downloads, which means if you’ve never heard Worship in the House before, there’s a new, shiny copy waiting for you on iTunes and Amazon.com.
If you have heard the album before, feel free to chime in. Either way take a(nother) listen. It’ll bless your life, I promise.
EJ’s note: According to Twitter reports, Keith Staten was JUST in the studio with Donald Lawrence– he’s making a guest appearance on Donald’s upcoming album, YRM (Your Righteous Mind), due in stores in the Spring of 2011.
Troy!!!!!!!!!!!! The "In The House" CD's and Fred's "Spirit of David" changed my life and my time spent with God. This is great man!!!! Thank you soooooooooooooooooo much!
I loved the flow of the album, the harmonies of RFC and the anointing. This album is ANOINTED!!!! "Praise Looks Good On You", "Be Where You Are", "Healing Grace", "Lord I Thirst For You"!!! Then you have the uptempo songs such as "Such Joy", "Not By Power". Dude, you have struck a nerve. It helped bridge gaps between races and denominations. Fred and Keith were some of the first ones that did worship that people in black churches might not have given attention to. They were doing worship before many CCM artists were doing it. Seriously. Thank GOd for the church that I was going to because I was getting exposed to those songs at first. Then the "In the House" series just gave them a different edge.
I rarely chime in myself, but Dwayne... you're dead-on! One of the reasons Fred Hammond is referred to as the creator of Urban Praise and Worship is because was instrumental in saturating radio waves and sanctuaries with more contemporary music. And he did this by with his Radical for Christ projects AND by working behind the scenes with Face-to-Face Productions on albums like "Worship in the House." Glad you enjoyed it man!
My FAVORITE song on that album is Shout to the Lord. Beautiful, beautiful anointed filled worship! The words to the song just make you want to cry and tell the Lord "THANK YA!"
The In the House tapes defined worship for me in a unique way at a time when i needed it, Thank God for technology now we can keep on listening to amazing production.
This album is a CLASSIC! I was six years old when this came out.
oh wow, Troy...you got me excited all over again with this project...anytime one of these projects in this series came out, I was all over it!! my favorite is "Jehovah Jireh"...if he cares about the sparrow, then I know he cares me!!!! I need to go look for the cassette in my stash, and convert it to MP3 now.
Oh, yeah! I remember this and "Word In The House"! That's what's up! My mom played these ALL THE TIME! lol I loved them especially the last song "Jehovah Jireh".
@Ima Guest...you know it!
@Dwayne...that Spirit of David was no joke!! most intimate time with the Father, i play that one!! Nuthin' has been able to touch that one since!
Troy, Thanks for resurrecting this CD. It was one of my favorites at the time. I've downloaded it again from Amazon. I really love the songs that Don Moen writes and Keith does a great job with them.
I really love the whole series and am glad Keith is still out there ministering;now if we can get a full length CD of new material for those who don't get to experience him in person on the regular!
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS ALBUM!!! "SUCH JOY" "PRAISE LOOKS GOOD ON YOU"...ALL THE SONGS!! I LOVE ALL OF THE "IN THE HOUSE" ALBUMS. THERE WAS A SONG PAMKENYON SUNG CALLED "BE MAGNIFIED"!!! PURE WORSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the confirmation it's still out there and available. I made one last effort by going to WIKIPEDIA and Praise sounds good (through)you, for the power of this recording to still have the effort to usher you in twinkling of an eye into a different atmosphere. God Bless Gawain (Waco, Tx)