Ever since The Singles Ward Soundtrack surprised the LDS community 5 years ago, LDS music has hardly been the same, thanks to the creative modern arrangements of hymns the likes of which LDS listeners had rarely heard. The R.M. Soundtrack, with music performed by various artists, gives us more of the same rocking, groovin’, and skankin’.

Some of my family’s personal favorites are, “Give Said the Little Stream”, sung by Matt Harding. It is a grooving tune with a reggae feel. The children singing along on the chorus give it a sweet appeal. This was one of our favorite tracks from the CD. Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband is a local Utah favorite band. Their rendition of “I Hope They Call Me On a Mission” has a nice olde-timey cowboy sound that reminds me of early radio, and makes me long for the Grand Ole Opry! “Onward Christian Soldiers,” sung by The Cretins, sounds suspiciously like the Ramones, “I Wanna Be Sedated” and “Blitzkreig Bop”. That isn’t a bad thing; we very much enjoy singing, “Eh! Oh! Onward go!” along with the guys.

My family fell in love with Ponchillo’s distinctive vocals and guitar work from The Singles Ward Soundtrack. “Abide With Me; Tis’ Eventide” didn’t disappoint. We still love his voice and the distinctive guitar wah. Stretch Armstrong’s cover of “Onward Christian Soldiers,” is reminiscent of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, a band my family loves, thanks to the ska music education we received at the hands of my ska-loving son.  Stretch Armstrong’s version has a hip second half that changes the rhythm and builds to a skanking (I’m told that means good) ending.

“If you Could Hie to Kolob,” has always been a closet-favorite hymn, due to it’s less-than-mainstream message… Kirby Heybourne and Marc Thorup’s arrangement is totally cool, and takes what tends to be a repetitive hymn and makes it very compelling. I would expect to hear something like this on my top 100 radio station.

This music is fun, upbeat and uplifting, all at the same time. We loved the creative interpretations and modern musical twists given to these songs we have grown up loving. Is there a place for these kind of musical arrangements in our church? It is definitely up to the individual to decide, but as for me and teenager-aged family, we love it! If you enjoy the music from The Singles Ward, or if you haven’t heard it before but have an ear for music that rocks, you will love The R.M. Soundtrack. If you haven’t heard what these guys can do to our hymns, you definitely should check it out!

S. Christensen
Layton, Utah