The World as Best as I Remember It, Vol. 2

Track Listings

1. Hello Old Friends

2. Sometimes by Step

3. Everyman

4. Just Shall Live

5. Waiting

6. To Tell Them

7. Maker of Noses

8. What Susan Said

9. Growing Young

10. All the Way My Savior Leads Me

11. Sometimes by Step (Reprise)

The World as Best as I Remember It, Vol. 2, Music, Rich Mullins, CCM, Gospel, Religious / Contemp. Christian

Average customer rating:

Incredibly Ambitious Album That Gets Better With Age

Musical memories from a magnificent man

Outstanding music from an outstanding man!

there is nothing like the music of Rich Mullins

What "Jesus" means

The World As Best As I Remember It, Vol. 2
Rich Mullins
Manufacturer: Reunion
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music
Gospel | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music
Christian Contemporary Music | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music
General | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

The World As Best As I Remember It, Volume 1

A Liturgy, A Legacy & A Ragamuffin Band

Winds Of Heaven, Stuff Of Earth

Songs 2

Songs

ASIN: B0000004RW
Release Date: 1993-02-01

Tracks:

Sometimes By Step (Reprise)

Customer Reviews:

Incredibly Ambitious Album That Gets Better With Age.......2004-08-29

When this album first came out in the late spring of '92, I was disappointed. While clearly a very good album, it just didn't seem to live up to its predecessor, The World As Best As I Remember It, Volume 1. On top of that, producer Reed Arvin had seemed to go overboard with the strings this time around, making the album seem overproduced.

Well, I put this album on for its first spin in several years a few weeks ago, and while I still see the same flaws, they seem much less pronounced now. This album is the work of an artist who is near the top of his game, although (I'd argue) not quite there.

The album begins with as close-to-perfect of an album opener as I can imagine, "Hello, Old Friends." There's a bittersweetness to this tune that tugs at your heart immediately. At the time, this was (reportedly) to be Mullins' last album (thankfully, it was not), and now, it's about seven years since we lost Rich. So even 12 years after this album first came out, when Mullins sings, "There's really nothing new to say/But the old old story bears repeating," both sadness and joy hits you in an inexplicable way. It's quite a feat when a singer can sing a line like "When you find something worth believing/That's a joy that nothing can take you away" in a way that makes the listener feel a joy that's come only through trial, adversity, and sorrow. Never schmaltzy, this tune seems perfect for an album that ostensibly is one part of a culminating life's work.

We next get the expanded version of the previous album's "Step by Step" in "Sometimes by Step"; Mullins added verses to Beaker's chorus. The childlike innocence of the previous album's opening track had been changed to a more mature mixture of joy and weariness by that album's closing reprise; now, we get the mature reflection of a speaker looking back over his or her life. The verses still seem somewhat incomplete to me, as they did 12 years ago, and Arvin lays on the strings a bit too heavy, but the song's still a very good one.

"Everyman" is a gem, similar in sentiment to Volume 1's "Who God Is Gonna Use," except that the focus is now not who God will use, but who is welcome at the foot of the cross. Rich said once near the end of his life that he was definitely not a Calvinist, and this track proves it, as Rich joyfully exclaims "With a thorn in His brow, a spear in His side/Nails in His hands He died/For you and I and everyman." This is followed, however, by a track that displays a more traditionally Refomed theology in "The Just Shall Live."

"Waiting," the side 1 (to date myself) closer is one of the better pieces of poetry on the album. "To Tell Them" musically seems out of place on the album; I'm betting that it was one of the songs added after Reunion Records decided that 15 or so tracks was too much for one album and broke The World As Best As I Remember It into two releases. Still, it displays Rich's quirky side quite well.

"The Maker of Noses" is, to my mind, the second best track on the album, as Rich examines the cost of following Christ and the futility of any other pursuit. If the idea of following the One who has made your nose is a personal sentiment, "What Susan Said" is an even more personal track detailing the friendship Mullins had with cohort and frequent cowriter Beaker. A reference to "Wally and the Beaver" would be pure hokum in the hands of most writers, but Mullins' obvious emotion makes it seem fresh.

The album now comes to its climax. "Growing Young," inspired by an analogy used by G.K. Chesterton, is the album's high point. This is what it all of life boils down to, according to Rich: "And when I thought that I was all alone/It was your voice I heard calling me back home/And I wonder now Lord what was it made me wait so long/And what kept you waiting for me all that time/Was your love stronger than my foolish pride/Won't you take me back now/Take me back and let me be your child/'Cause I've been broken now, I've been shamed/I've learned to cry and I've learned how to pray/And I'm learning, I'm learning even I can be changed." Literary influences aside, it takes quite a writer to put such a deeply personal spin on the story of the prodigal son and make it seem so original. This song is heartbreaking and can leave you feeling wracked emotionally.

Appropriately enough, that emotional climax is followed by a childlike expression of trust in Rich's soothing rendition of the hymn "All the Way My Savior Leads Me." And the denouement continues with the album closer, a brief reprise of "Sometimes by Step."

At the time this album came out, some reviewers said that Volume 1 is from a child's perspective, while there's more maturity in Volume 2. That's too simplistic a conclusion. For all of the maturity evident in this album, no song in either volume is as mature or world-weary as Rich's ruminations on lost relationships and death in "The River," off of Volume 1. And both "Growing Young" and the simple trust of "All the Way My Savior Leads Me" brings Volume 2 back to a childlike perspective.

To my mind, this album is still not the equal of Volume 1, but Volume 1 was an incredibly hard act to follow. Volume 2 is an excellent album no matter which way you slice it; while not all songs are of the same quality, the album is an incredibly ambitious one that succeeds in 90 to 95 percent of its intentions. And that's a high enough success rate to make it worth 5 stars -- and every minute of your time.

Musical memories from a magnificent man.......2004-08-28

If you ask ten people what entering heaven will be like, you'll likely get ten different answers. I imagine I will find myself sitting around a warm campfire with a group of people, watching and listening as Rich Mullins plays acoustic guitar and sings "Hello Old Friends." Having the opportunity to listen to this song, and the others on this wonderful CD, is a taste of Heaven on Earth.

Rich Mullins was an incredible artist, a poetic painter with words and melody. This disc laid the groundwork for his masterpiece: "A Liturgy, a Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band" - while it is not quite that masterpiece, it is nonetheless an incredible work of art, well deserving of a five star rating.

The disc begins with Rich playing acoustic guitar and singing: "Hello old friends / There's really nothing new to say / But the old, old story bears repeating /And the plain old truth grows dearer every day / When you find something worth believing / Well, that's a joy that nothin' could take away." Listening to this disc brings me great joy, and I like to start most every day off by listening to it.

Rich revisits the tune Step By Step (now titled "Sometimes By Step"), played on the hammered dulcimer. The chorus remains familiar ("Oh God, You are my God / And I will ever praise you / I will seek you in the morning / And I will learn to walk in your ways / And Step by Step you lead me / And I will follow you all of my days"), and the new verses are beautifully poetic.

Orchestral strings lead off "Everyman" - a song that refers to various Biblical characters who were touched by Jesus during their lives, in many different circumstances, and reminds the listener: "At the foot of the cross there's room for everyone / And love that is not blind / It can look at who we are and still see beyond / The differences we find / But with thorns in His brow and a spear in His side / Nails in His hand, He died for you and I / For you and I and everyman."

A solo piano introduces "The Just Shall Live" - The song grows as it goes, with percussion being added, then strings, and then a chorus as the listener is taken on a journey to the last days, when "the meek shall inherit the earth" and the just shall live - then the song resolves with solo piano.

"Waiting" is one of my favorite songs by Rich. A song to listen to when you need encouragement, when you feel that you are being tested, yet you just can't walk away from the Truth - and so you wait upon the Lord, having the faith that your strength will be renewed.

"To Tell Them" is an experiemental departure - a different song, with an odd time signature, piano and percussion, and sort of a funky world beat. Kevin Max Smith (from DC Talk) sings background on this track.

It's back to a familiar sound with "The Maker of Noses", a song that slowly builds in great Rich style. A wonderful song about seeking justice, and getting frustrated with the advice of this world to follow our hearts, our noses, our dreams - since these things don't lead to the Truth. We must follow the Father of hearts, the Maker of noses, and the Giver of dreams.

"What Susan Said" is a great story song about friendship. Whether it is Paul and Silas, or Abbot and Costello, nothing beats having a friend by your side. But what did Susan say?
"How love is found in the things we've given up / More than in the things that we have kept."

"Growing Young" is a beautiful and poetic song about running back to God with tears in our eyes after our multitude of sins. It serves as a reminder that we are all sinners in need of a Savior and as a foreshadowing of the ragamuffin theory that Rich would explore in more detail on his next album.

Rich closes the album with a beautiful version of the Crosby Hymn "All the Way my Savior Leads Me" and a reprise of his own praise and worship classic "Step By Step."

This is a great follow-up to Volume One, and a wonderful precursor to his masterpiece.

Outstanding music from an outstanding man!.......2001-12-31

Rich Mullins, once again, stirs souls with this sequel to TWASBIRI-Vol. 1. Some of the more noteworthy songs are "Sometimes by Step", "Everyman", "To Tell Them", "The Maker of Noses", "Growing Young", and "All The Way My Savior Leads Me". Of course, any song he wrote has significant meaning. The meoldies further amplify the ever-important messages he delivers.

there is nothing like the music of Rich Mullins.......2001-09-10

The other day, I was walking through a mall in London Ontario when suddenly, my wife and I passed a man playing a piano in the food court. From what I could tell, he was not a professional--he had laid his shopping bags beside him and just started playing. He was playing Rich Mullins's "Sometimes by Step." Even without words, the music that Rich Mullins created has the power to stir my soul.

"Sometimes by Step" is just one of the great songs on "The World As Best As I Remember It vol. 2." I know I've said it a lot...but I must say it again...Rich never made bad or even mediocre music. All the songs on this disc are great.

The highlights of this disc to me are: "Waiting," "What Susan Said," "Growing Young" (probably my favorite track), and Rich's rendition of "All the Way My Savior Leads Me" (Rich was great with hymns by Robert Lowery).

The thing that appeal to me most about the work of Rich Mullins is the deep insight of his lyrics. This disc is particularly strong in the lyrics department. Some examples:

"When a million voices whisper, and they tell me I should leave, into the shadows that the moon casts on these alleys and these streets. But I know that chasing shadows won't get me anywhere 'cause I've been there..." (Waiting)

"Two full grown men in a huddle of kids and they're trying to help them to believe what is too good to be real but is more real than the air they breathe. And it's Wally and the Beaver, David and Jonathan...it's the Love of Jesus puttin' on flesh and bone." (What Susan Said)

"And everybody used to tell me big boys don't cry. Well I've been around enough to know that that was the lie that held back the tears in the eyes of a thousand prodigal sons. Well we are children no more, we have sinned and grown old and our Father still waits and He watches down the road to see the crying boys come running back to His arms and be growing young." (Growing Young)

I cannot recommend this disc, and all of Rich's music enough. Get it. There is nothing like it.

What "Jesus" means.......2001-06-16

If you do a search for Jesus here on Amazon, you're bound to come up with all kinds of stuff...stuff from the Jesus Seminar talking about what a great cynic sage or Jewish Rabbi Jesus was; stuff from the Wiccans--no doubt describing Jesus as yet another earth mystic; stuff from Theologians that you have to work out to be able to lift while at the same time requiring that you keep a dictionary at hand for the every third word you don't know...well scrap all that stuff. I can tell you all you need to know about Jesus by playing you "Growing Young" and handing you a Bible. This stuff is great. Nobody makes music or writes songs like Rich did. This disc is just another case in point.

The World as Best as I Remember It, Vol. 2

Average customer rating:

The World as Best as I Remember It, Vol. 2
Rich Mullins
Manufacturer: Geffen Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music

Gospel | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music

Christian Contemporary Music | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Winds of Heaven, Stuff of Earth
The World As Best As I Remember It, Volume 1
Brother's Keeper
A Liturgy, A Legacy & A Ragamuffin Band

ASIN: B000008IQ6
Release Date: 1992-06-23

Tracks:

Hello Old Friends
Sometimes by Step
Everyman
Just Shall Live
Waiting
To Tell Them
Maker of Noses
What Susan Said
Growing Young
All the Way My Savior Leads Me
Sometimes by Step (Reprise)

Music Review:

Music Review

Music Review

1. Hello Old Friends
2. Sometimes by Step
3. Everyman
4. Just Shall Live
5. Waiting
6. To Tell Them
7. Maker of Noses
8. What Susan Said
9. Growing Young
10. All the Way My Savior Leads Me
11. Sometimes by Step (Reprise)