Back in 1994, I was about one year into my marriage and my wife and I moved into an apartment building in Fargo, ND. Living right across the hall from us was a young man by the name of Jim Vilandre. Jim and I were both Christian musicians and that year we both released our debute albums. Since that time, Jim went on to release two more albums and now a new single. I, however, am now writing album reviews. Yes, you could say Jim did a little better with his music than I did, but hey, I don't mind a bit. Jim has a major talent and I'm very happy to see do as well as he has done.
Anyway, I of course bought a copy of Jim's debute album all those years ago and really enjoyed it. After that time, however, I pretty much lost track of Jim's music and missed his next two albums. Well, now I'm getting caught back up with him and he recently sent me a copy of his new CD single, which will be the subject of this review.
The new CD single contains three songs. Two new and one that is taken from his last album "Believe the Dream." However, I don't have that album yet, so it's new to me.
First up is the song LIVE FOR THE LINE. The sound of the song is a bit like what you might expect from one Steven Curtis Chapman's more upbeat numbers. The message of the song is probably best summed up by Jim's own words. Here's what he says on his website about the song.
"One Sunday evening as I was headed to bed, I was reading my bible. I was reading about how Jesus was hanging on a cross and speaking to the two criminals who were hanging on crosses as well. Each one of the men beside Jesus had a choice to make at that moment. To either believe and live-or deny and die. Literally that whole evening the idea "What are you living for?" was going through my mind. So much that the next morning I called into work because I felt that God was literally speaking to me. From this powerful message came the song "Live For The Line". You see if you look at life as a line that goes on forever- we are just a mere dot in comparison to that eternal line. So this idea was do you live for the line- do you live for the dot? It's a matter of time, it ticks away at the clock. Is your future defined? Or is it a thought? Will you walk in the light? Won't you give it a shot? I wanna Live For The Line... That is what this song is about. Living with eternity in mind, not just today."
I really like this song and would have to say that for me, it's the best song I've heard from him since the song "By God's Grace" on his first album. But then again, I missed his last two albums, so there is a bit of a hole in that statement.
Next up is the song UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. (From Believe the Dream) This song has more of a jazzy/funky kind of feel to it. Think Petra's GOD FIXATION or Veggie Tales LARRY BOY. It's a cool song with some nice guitar work.
Finally, we have the song I GIVE YOU PRAISE. I alway love a decent praise song and this is definetly a decent praise song. This song even has strings. Jim, before you know it you'll be writing classical music. Just kidding.
In conclusion, let me just say that I really like this CD single and it has reminded of what I always liked about Jim's music. It's thoughtful. It comes from the heart and it puts God right up there to be glorified. Makes me wish I hadn't missed the last two albums, but hey, it's not too late to get them and once I do, I'll review them to. Keep livin' for the line, Jim. You're doing fine.
