Tonight saw the last ever Delirious? gig in London at the Hammersmith Apollo. There will be many gushing tributes and a bucket load of hyperbole about what they have done as 'History Makers' - it can be difficult not to get too sentimental at such times - and in that regard I have no idea how one ministry contributes to the Kingdom of God in comparison to any other, but I can tell you some of the ways this incredible band have influenced me...
"Cutting Edge 3" - I had heard a lot of the songs from Cutting Edge 1 & 2, a number of them had quickly become church favourites - 'Lord You have my heart'; 'Thankyou for saving me'; the hoedown of the 'Happy song' - the songs were amazing but the recordings were a little too, well, happy-clappy-folky for a boy who was into Nirvana and Blur and the Stone Roses. But then came Cutting Edge 3. It is hard to imagine that there was a time when worship bands didn't sound like U2, but Martin Smith was the first to write these epic songs, with huge guitars and big themes. The scope of the record was hugely impressive; 'Did you feel the Mountains Tremble' is still the bench mark for epic worship songs and 'Oh Lead me' is achingly, spine tinglingly beautiful, whilst 'I'm not Ashamed' is as raw and unabashed and unafraid as any popular worship song since. On 6 track cassettes, self funded and produced, they pioneered it all.
"Live & in the Can" - I remember first seeing that cool looking can in the London branch of Wesley Owen, off Oxford Street behind Selfridges, and I can remember exactly where I was when I first heard it. That is how important this album was for me. It opened my eyes and ears to what could be done on a worship album. The riff driven 'Come Like You promise', the fragile intimacy of 'What a friend' the thundering desire of 'Obsession' - here were a band (their first album as 'Delirious?' in fact) utterly passionate and full of a revolutionary hunger - when you play this album you feel that change is imminent, the Kingdom is coming and God is with us. Alongside that year's Soul Survivor album (1996 - on which they featured) , 'Live & in the Can' represents all that is good (and now sadly lost) about live worship albums. You could feel the hunger, you could sense the Presence. There is no higher accolade than that.
"Draw Me Near" - I'm sure Martin can't even remember how it goes, but this is a song I wrote when I was 15 that he ended up singing on 'The People's Album' when I was 16. I was so delighted - and still am.
"Deeper" - When this hit the charts (even if it was only number 20) it felt like a landmark. Think about it - a song about going deeper into God, knowing Him more, loving Him deeper, was in the top 20. Remarkable.
"And the wonder of it all is that I'm living just to fall more in love with You"
"Glo" - They had two great stabs at infecting the charts (King of Fools & Mezzamorphis) which were packed full of great songs, some with explicit references to God, but largely had more ambiguous lyrics of searching and desire. I bought all the singles (including Deeper again as an EP) and was fully behind their chart assault. Then came 'Glo' and suddenly we all got a glimpse of what we were missing. 'God's Romance'; 'Investigate'; 'My Glorious'; 'What would I have done' and the brilliant 'Jesus Blood'. My head said 'Go for the Charts!' but my heart said 'I want more songs like these!' - This is a GREAT worship album - 'Audio Lessonover' didn't stand a chance.
"World Service" - By the time this album came around in 2003 the Americans had got very good at copying Delirious. (Well, we all had). Rather than churn out a worship album straight down the MOR route of Nashville they reminded everyone that not every song had to be mid-tempo or cliche ridden. The highlight of this album, 'Majesty' was probably their last great contribution to the wider church's song canon (apart from the 'Our God reigns' chorus - can 7 simple words ever have so much impact). A worship band once more - 'To God in Heaven/Be the Glory".
So thank you Martin, Stu, Tim, Jon and Stew (and lately Paul) for all you gave us. For all your songs meant and still mean to me. For writing from the depths and singing it with all your hearts.
I thank God for Delirious. I really do.
dg
