The Worship Project is the fifth independent album by the contemporary Christian

Contemporary Christian music

Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...

/Christian Rock

Christian rock

Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...

 band

Band (music)

In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

 MercyMe

MercyMe

MercyMe is an American Christian rock band founded in Greenville, Texas. The band consists of vocalist Bart Millard, keyboardist James Bryson, percussionist Robby Shaffer, bassist Nathan Cochran and guitarists Michael Scheuchzer and Barry Graul....

. The album was intended to contain easy-to-sing worship songs, and contains the first version of the band's future hit single "I Can Only Imagine

I Can Only Imagine

"I Can Only Imagine" is a single recorded by contemporary Christian and Christian rock band MercyMe. Written and composed by Bart Millard, the song, based around a main piano track, was inspired by the death of Millard's father and considers what it would be like in Heaven and to be standing...

". The Worship Sessions sold over 60,000 copies, and helped MercyMe gain a record deal with INO Records

INO Records

INO Records, also known as Fair Trade Services, is an American record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, specializing in Contemporary Christian music . It is distributed through Sony Music Entertainment, and was owned by Integrity Media until June 2011. When Integrity Media sold its assets...

.

Background

MercyMe's goal with The Worship Project was to create an album of worship songs. Guitarist Mike Scheuchzer commented that "We were trying to do a worship record, you know, verses and chorus, verses and chorus. You put it up on PowerPoint and everyone sings it over and over". The band's future hit single "I Can Only Imagine

I Can Only Imagine

"I Can Only Imagine" is a single recorded by contemporary Christian and Christian rock band MercyMe. Written and composed by Bart Millard, the song, based around a main piano track, was inspired by the death of Millard's father and considers what it would be like in Heaven and to be standing...

" was written as the last song to go on the record; although the band enjoyed the song, they didn't see how the song would fit on The Worship Project. However, they included it because the song meant a great deal to lead singer Bart Millard.

Critical reception

Cross Rhythms

Cross Rhythms

Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England.-History:The roots of what was to become Cross Rhythms go back to two separate sources which merged in 1991. In 1983, broadcaster Chris Cole started a 30-minute weekly Christian music radio show on Plymouth Sound FM, a...

 reviewer Mike Rimmer gave the album seven out of ten stars, commenting that "Mixing rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

, pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 and alternative

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 styles together, there are some rootsy things breaking through here and there and some nice Hammond style organ sounds, pleasant vocals and faint violins a fiddlin'... It all sounds curiously familiar without being distinctive. Occasionally something leaps out... but overall whilst this is a good effort, it falls short of being amazing".

Release

The Worship Project was released in 1999 on an independent record. It sold over 60,000 copies, and its success helped MercyMe gain a record contract with INO Records

INO Records

INO Records, also known as Fair Trade Services, is an American record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, specializing in Contemporary Christian music . It is distributed through Sony Music Entertainment, and was owned by Integrity Media until June 2011. When Integrity Media sold its assets...

.

Track listing

1. "Here For You"
2. "Happy Little Love Song"
3. "It's My Joy"
4. "Say Amen"
5. "I Can Only Imagine
   I Can Only Imagine
   "I Can Only Imagine" is a single recorded by contemporary Christian and Christian rock band MercyMe. Written and composed by Bart Millard, the song, based around a main piano track, was inspired by the death of Millard's father and considers what it would be like in Heaven and to be standing...
   
   "
6. "Cannot Say Enough"
7. "Hearts Sing Louder"
8. "Psalm 104
   Psalm 104
   Psalm 104 is a poem from the Book of Psalms in the Hebrew Bible, describing the ongoing act of God continuously bringing the world into existence. German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder remarked, "It is worth studying the Hebrew language for ten years in order to read Psalm 104 in the original"...
   
   "
9. "Jesus Come Quickly"
10. "Beautiful"