Michael W. Smith - Freedom

One of Christian music's most celebrated artists, Michael W. Smith has thrown a surprise to the music industry with his 14th release, Freedom. After nearly two decades of awards, hit singles, and gold records, Smith set out to compose something that had been stirring within him for a long time: an instrumental album. Freedom's title track mixes the aggressiveness of a drum cadence, the innocence of a pennywhistle and the beauty of a soaring string section into a majestic and energized soundscape. Crested by a sensitive lead piano played by Michael himself, the majority of this disc is lushly endowed with stringed instruments that swoon with reminiscent sensation. These emotive textures also embrace a distinct British Isles influence that becomes danceable at times, and some classical orchestration that adds regality to the disc. The surprises within this endeavor are Smith's misty-eyed revisiting of the classic praise song "Thy Word," and the electronica-influenced "The Call," where Smith makes his only vocal appearance. We've had snapshots of Smith's instrumental gifts on albums past, but Freedom offers a deep long look into an aspect of Michael W. Smith's creativity that has until now been waiting to bloom fully. --Israel Button Amazon.com

Wonderful

I'm not a big fan of Michael W. Smith's, but this album is absolutely brilliant. April 13, 2008

Freedom

This is an awesome instrumental CD. Michael W. Smith is incredible. The title track is by far my favorite. It keeps building and building until finally, you are expecting the sky to open up and see Christ coming to take us home. I like all of the tracks. Personally, there's not one that I would "skip" on the album. February 13, 2008

One of my all-time favs

My friend made me listen to this cd first w/o telling me who it was by so that the experience wouldn't be ruined. I loved it. I couldn't believe that it was Michael W. Smith. I count it as one of my all-time favorite cds. Great instrumental cd. January 10, 2007

Michael W. Smith Triumphs with Fully Instrumental Album

I absolutely love this album! Of course, I love any music that Smitty writes; but this fully instrumental and beautifully written album truly shows what a talented musician and music writer he truly is. I could listen to him play the piano all day.

He has since moved on to also writing movie soundtracks for movies like "Joshua" and "The Second Chance". Both are wonderful movies with great messages and his music just adds another layer to the stories they tell. October 5, 2006

Not your typical MWS music

Michael W. Smith does something different here. He doesn't do the normal pop music scores in this CD, but instead he dedicates a CD to one of his friends that has died. He creates beautiful, dramatic, and inspiring pieces that are sure to bring you to put this in the CD player more than once. I'm really definitely not a huge fan of Smith's earliest CDs, but this later one I can enjoy many times over. He uses some of his great piano talent, as well as there are orchestral sections. This is a must for anyone that enjoys beautiful and sometimes dramatic music with Christian overtones. June 8, 2006

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