History Makers: Greatest Hits

Album Review

For a band that never went platinum, had marginal radio recognition, and only hit the lower reaches of the Billboard pop charts in their more than 15 years together, the legend of Delirious?, in America at least, is certainly grander than the group itself. They started out as the little church band that could in their native England, but it wasn't long until they became, both in spirit and song, Christian music's answer to U2 — playing arenas, cranking out anthems, and igniting a movement, albeit within the confines of the church. Right down to its title, History Makers: Greatest Hits perpetuates the myth, forever immortalizing Delirious? as one of faith-based music's quintessential cornerstones. However real or perceived this supremacy was, a sense of transcendence runs through this entire single-disc anthology, a 14-track retrospective capturing nearly every Delirious? song that ever mattered — from the modern worship relic "Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble?" to the haunting "Our God Reigns," the latter of which is inexplicably excluded from a more expansive, deluxe version of this best-of set. While style and rock posturing at times fought neck in neck with the quintet's substance, in the end these songs always emerged as champions, instilling a passion for worship in legions of believers, psalmists, and would-be praise leaders, some of whom later shot to stardom themselves. Some of these songs, like "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever" and "Majesty (Here I Am)," rightfully found a place in Sunday morning playlists, while others had a more subliminal, subversive effect: they showed that praise music could all at once have teeth, be intimate, and remain vertically focused. Delirious? probably didn't realize the ground they were breaking at the time, but it didn't take long for the contemporary church to take notice, and for the CCM machine to want a piece of the pie — for a brief stretch, Delirious? even toyed with the idea of a pop music breakthrough. All the pieces seemed to be in place, but their big break kept eluding them; to the very day they announced they'd be calling it quits, they were yet to earn power player status or at least a Dove Award, gospel music's Grammy, of their own. Be that as it may, History Makers: Greatest Hits is an acknowledgment of Delirious?'s place in the church music pantheon, a look back at the life and times of one of the early pioneers of Christian music's modern-worship movement. [History Makers: Greatest Hits was also issued as a limited-edition, three-disc set containing an additional 17 songs, a DVD with all of the group's promotional clips, and a 60-page book with essay and photos.]