Music Reviews

Hillsong UNITED – Zion (X)

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Capitol CMG

Release Date: October 6th 2023

Reviewed by: Jonathan Andre

Hillsong UNITED – Zion (X) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

  1. Relentless
  2. Up In Arms
  3. Scandal of Grace
  4. Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)
  5. Stay and Wait
  6. Mercy Mercy
  7. Love is War
  8. Nothing Like Your Love
  9. Zion (Interlude)
  10. Heartbeats
  11. A Million Suns
  12. Tapestry
  13. King of Heaven
  14. Arise
  15. Mountain
  16. Mercy Mercy (Reloaded)
  17. Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) [Reloaded]
  18. Stay and Wait (Reloaded)
  19. Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) Matt Crocker Demo
  20. Scandal Of Grace (Live At Red Rocks)
  21. Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) (Live at Red Rocks 2013) (Ft. TAYA)
  22. Stay And Wait (Live At Red Rocks)
  23. Nothing Like Your Love (Live From Atlanta)
  24. Love Is War (Live From Atlanta)
  25. King Of Heaven (Live From Atlanta)
  26. Relentless (Live At Team Night)
  27. Up In Arms (Live At Team Night)
  28. Scandal Of Grace (Live At Team Night)
  29. Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) Live At Team Night
  30. Stay And Wait (Live At Team Night)
  31. Mercy Mercy (Live At Team Night)
  32. Love Is War (Live At Team Night)
  33. Nothing Like Your Love (Live At Team Night)
  34. Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) Slowed Down
  35. Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) Sped Up
  36. Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) Slowed Down/Pitched Up
  37. Relentless (Redux)
  38. Up In Arms (Redux)
  39. Scandal Of Grace (Redux)
  40. Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) Redux
  41. Stay And Wait (Redux)
  42. Mercy Mercy (Redux)
  43. Love Is War (Redux)
  44. Nothing Like Your Love (Redux)
  45. Zion (Interlude) (Redux)
  46. Heartbeats (Redux)
  47. A Million Suns (Redux)
  48. Tapestry (Redux)
  49. King Of Heaven (Redux)

‘…I don’t know what your stance is, on this conglomerate of a megachurch called Hillsong. Everyone would have their own opinion. Including me. People may feel like Hillsong have harmed the community and society in general more so than they have wanted, more so than the good that they profess they want to do, and so, Hillsong is a word that brings up a lot of guilt, shame, hurt, anger and disappointment in some people. Others may swear by it, declare that Hillsong in all its music and sermons, are the best they’ve heard and seen in years, and may only listen to Hillsong Music (Worship, UNITED and Y&F) and will only listen to Brian and Bobbie Houston preach, alongside their ministry team. Again others would also think of Hillsong as a decent worship band, but in the grand scheme of things, they may think of their sermons as being too structured and ‘religious’, too leaning on prosperity doctrine that they may still listen to music from Hillsong, but just listen to someone else for their sermon ‘fill’- besides there are many pastors and international speakers out there, from Louie Giglio, Andy Stanley, Francis Chan and Levi Lusko, to Ravi Zacharias, Brad Jones, Erwin McManus, Beth Moore, Christine Caine and Nick Vujicic, to name a few. And so herein, lies the point: that Hillsong in all its facets and nuances, in all its attempts to do right, and how at many times there’s been instances and occurrences where people may think they’re intentionally doing wrong; in all of that, Hillsong have continued to plough through, at least musically, to create a catalogue of musical albums across three different distinct outlets to create a worship ministry that has been delivering powerful songs and heartfelt melodies all the way from the start with songs like ‘Shout to the Lord’ and ‘The Power of Your Love’, to the most recent with ‘King of Kings’, ‘Good Grace’ and ‘Another in the Fire’. We may all have opinions as to their validity in society today, and whether they are truly as important, influential, and impactful as what people also say as well. And regardless where we all stand on the ‘love for Hillsong’ spectrum, one thing cannot be denied- their songs nevertheless, have an emotion and heartfelt poignancy about them that, for me personally, rivals only that of Chris Tomlin and Casting Crowns, as they (Hillsong Worship, Hillsong UNITED and Hillsong Young & Free (Y&F)) give to us songs that can touch and move our spirits, especially in this time and place in the world today. Say all we want about Brian and his Hillsong ministry, but much of the discographies of these three incarnations of Hillsong, are touching people’s lives around the world. Just maybe, it’s only going to be a matter of time before the songs touch yours as well…’

This above quote is from my blog about Hillsong (all the facets of it) that I wrote way back in April 2020- the link is here. And so, as we are now in October 2023, I am able to look back at my blog post that I wrote around a year ago, and really understand that yes, as polarising as Hillsong is amongst the community, their music still has weight, gravity, heart, and value. This is certainly expressed all the more with the unveiling of albums since I unveiled and wrote about Hillsong and their music way back in 2020- Hillsong Worship released their deluxe version of Awake, while also releasing their intimate album Take Heart (Again), released in November 2020 and featuring stripped down acoustic versions of their already-powerful hits from over the years. Hillsong Worship also released These Same Skies at the end of 2021, as well as Team Night in 2022 as well. UNITED and Y&F have also had a busy 2+ years, since my unveiling of the blog- namely albums released like Are We There Yet? (UNITED), Out There On a Friday When It All Began (Y&F), The People Tour: Live From Madison Square Garden (UNITED), All of My Best Friends (Y&F) and In the meantime (ep) (UNITED). Now here we are in 2023, and in spite of all the busyness Hillsong (in all its musical facets) has endured over the years, they still have some more left in the tank, so as to release another musical offering to those who hear it. This time, it’s ZION (X), an expanded album of their 2013 hit release, ZION. With the album itself coming out of no-where and with virtually no publicity on it whatsoever, Hillsong has once again delivered an extended album that is a must for anyone who has seriously loved ZION and all it had to offer, especially 10 years ago. Now how does this release stack up compare to other Hillsong UNITED expanded album projects of the past? Is this album, just another extended album that doesn’t offer that music, or is this 49 track album something special?

First lemme just say that I have respect for Hillsong, at least their music arm, in delivering countless praise and worship songs over the years. Regardless of how I may feel about their prosperity doctrine, I firmly believe the Lord is still using them to bring people to Christ. Nevertheless, a deluxe album titled ZION (X), which is an expanded version of their 2013 album ZION (in which the original track listing of 18 tracks is blown out to 49 audio tracks and 10+ video tracks), can seem a little too much, don’t you think? Yes, I know that this album includes a live portion where the songs on ZION are showcased live, as well as some remixes and some bonus songs as well; and while I have respect and admiration for the band and all of their songs, let me just say that this release is a must- but only if you’re a diehard Hillsong UNITED fan, one who has especially loved ZION…and that’s it. If you’re a casual listener of Hillsong and their music, then just stream this album on spotify, and listen to ZION first before this, and…that’s about it. It’s not an album to go out of the way to purchase, but if you feel like you must, to complete your Hillsong collection, then by all means. Regardless, the songs are objectively good, the remixes are good, the live material is good, but I feel like this album wasn’t a really necessary release from UNITED. All these songs are on ZION, so it’s not like you’re missing out on much if you skip this album release. I maybe feel like this album release would mean more to people who have more of a connection with ZION (of which I unfortunately don’t to the extend of other fans of the album). Alas, it is what it is, and as it stands right now, this 49 track album (+ videos), on face value, is a decent UNITED album, but not one to be totally WOWed over. For me, I’d just stick to whatever the next new album will be, after Are We There Yet?. Dunno about you though. Maybe just listen to this album on Spotify once through. If you don’t like Hillsong enough to do that, I guess there’s always Bethel and Jesus Culture, right? Nevertheless, this is a release that is sure to rile people up as they share their opinions of Hillsong as a whole. For me, I’ll listen to the songs, and allow God to speak. For if He can use Balaam’s donkey to speak to Balaam, then surely, He can use Hillsong to speak to us all, right?

3 songs to listen to: Relentless, Oceans, Scandal of Grace

Score: 3/5 (based on the fact that all these songs are present on albums previously), 4/5 (taking the album at face value)

RIYL: Chris Tomlin, Kari Jobe, Matt Redman, Melodie Malone, Kristian Stanfill

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