Michael W. Smith
This Is Your Time (Reunion)
At a time when established artists rarely release studio albums in consecutive years, Michael W. Smith’s “This Is Your Time” picks up where last year’s “Live the Life” left off, melding themes of spiritual urgency with accessible pop soundtracks. Smith ranges from the Celtic opening instrumental (“Rince De”) to Richard Marx-flavored rock (“Reach Out To Me”) to the orchestrated title cut, a meditation on the Littleton tragedy — a subtext for the entire album that Smith utilizes without preachiness. Though many Christians have harped endlessly about victim Cassie Bernall, who supposedly said “Yes” when the killers asked her if she believed in God, Smith makes the most eloquent statement by saying nothing at all. His closing cut “Cassie” is also an instrumental. As a simple celebration of the girl’s life, “Cassie” reworks the theme of the title track and tugs the heartstrings.