print: BlackGospel.com: Stronger (Myron Butler & Levi) | GOSPEL MUSIC REVIEW | January 2007 on BlackGospel.com

Stronger / Myron Butler & Levi
(EMI Gospel)

August, 2007 on BlackGospel.com - Review by Jennifer Belot

Surpassing expectations and boding longevity Myron Butler & Levi, after four deserving Stellar Awards and countless accolades, return with a victorious jubilance that’s practically palpable and infinitely audible: they’re savvier, sweeter and certainly more anointed than ever before in their latest CD aptly entitled Stronger slated for nationwide release August 28^th on EMI Gospel, with a live DVD to follow in the autumn. The album, a musical sequel to Set Me Free is according to Butler “…what God has given me to give his people… My goal as a songwriter and as a leader is to deliver a message that empowers people to do what God has called them to do.”

His calling as a musician led Myron Butler on a journey which yielded a multifaceted musical offering ranging from the hype to the humble, from the raucous to the reverent and everything in between. From the onset, one can tell Levi means business. Stronger comes at you in such declarative proclamation that it makes Stomp (co-produced by Butler) sound like a lullaby. It is a testimony to the longevity of the ministers (10 years and counting), most of whom came out of God’s Property “All the things we had been through … the ups & downs… the struggles… I realized that the sum total of all of those things made us (me) stronger, better and wiser.”

“The album is a little bit of everything,” says Butler “God is not just one thing and our music shouldn’t be either. Everybody is at a different place and they may need something different to propel them into their destiny.” Thus, Myron Butler & Levi take us through a kaleidoscope of musical cultures from the classic rock sounds of I Live, rife with gospelized electric guitar to the hybrid Celtic sounds of Here With Me to God Of All which takes us back to the heyday of chorale music, lyrically, vocally and musically, with an ode to funk thrown in the mix for good measure.

More Than You’ll Ever Know is written as a narrative from the voice of the Almighty to the hearts of His people, reassuring us of his everlasting love. Perhaps in response to that is Unrestrained, a worshipful melody crying out in awe and adoration “I pour my love on you, My whole life belongs to you, I worship you completely unashamed, unrestrained…”

Taking it back, (way back) are new takes on old school gems. From the church pews, Jesus Saves mixes traditional gospel vocals with new millennium musicality and ensconces listeners in righteous revelry. Remaking another classic, Levi’s version of Above All takes the CCM hit and just sings the tune unapologetically. The uncomplicated reverence of this version lets us revel in the beauty of the sacrifice of God’s great love “Crucified, laid behind a stone, You lived to die rejected and alone, like a rose trampled on the ground, You took the fall and thought of me, above all”

Ending on a majestic note, Give Us This Day gloriously sings the Lord’s Prayer in harmonized beauty, letting the audience in on the reason why Levi can be said to have among the most cohesive and versatile vocals today; they are truly the canvas upon which rests the artful creations of their director.

Having been through, the fire, the flood and the mountaintop over their 10 years in ministry, Myron Butler & Levi are proving that their lauding is not in vain as they bring forth a message of steadfast hope throughout the trials of this life, althewhile maintaining a song of praise. In Butler’s own words, “Opposing forces are what make us stronger…By living through the trying times and handling the pressure, THAT is what makes us stronger people. Then we can look back and say ‘all those things were not for my destruction but rather for my construction’.”

Reviewer’s Choice Singles: “Stronger”, “More Than You’ll Ever Know” & “Unrestrained”

Comparable Album Picks:
Set Me Free (EMI) By Myron Butler & Levi, Victory…Live (Columbia) By Tye Tribbett & GA, Kirk Franklin Presents God’s Property (GospoCentric)