Elemental

Elemental – Album Review Ben Pasley is in the zone! You know that thing that happens when someone is in their most fluent stride and everyone around remarks on how gracefully powerful they when they are on top of their game... well, this album is that thing. I know I'm a bit biased because of my deep and dear affection for Ben as a friend and confident comrade, but seriously, this is a Muscle Shoals revival record! It offers sweaty Gospel choir sing along tunes with a nod to 70's deep bass and rhythm soul, featuring lush melodies and soaring vocals that'll make you smile as you groove into the solid lyrical themes that are truly Elemental. Ben beings a current sound to ancient truths that help us rehearse again the power of the Gospel. Turn it on and turn it up, and get ready for a heart revival friends. Joe Steinke

As always, Ben's newest album is lyrical genius and musical heaven.

Ben Pasley's , Elemental, is a set of nine worship songs presented in a soulful southern rock package. Lyrically, he frames Christian spiritual concepts in simple but fresh language that engages my mind and heart more than what I hear on Christian radio. For example, we’ve heard of “God’s mission” or “God’s plan” to redeem humans, but we’ve rarely heard it described as “God’s dream.” This communicates something of God’s heart, his longing for a right relationship with the free beings he created. The stand-out track is “So By Faith.” It’s a song of determined faith and a declaration of God’s goodness in all circumstances. Blues guitar, Hammond organ, and a gospel choir add to the sweetness of this anthem. The inclusion of the choir accentuates the idea that this song would not be out of place in modern congregational worship services. I enjoy every track on this record and recommend it.

I’ve had such a good time listening through these songs, they must have been a joy to record. Alternative, country, and R&B elements are mingled together, then get caught up in great updrafts of gospel, while vital truths fix themselves inside your mind. Don’t just listen to this album, spend time with it, and then explore the rest of Ben Pasley’s recordings, and writings.

Have loved Ben's music for years. It reaches out to people with an honest simplicity that opens hearts and minds to God's love, grace and forgiveness. No mattter where you are on this journey, he challenges you to live and share your love for God and God's love for us. The cd is Southern rock, gospel and bluesy all rolled into one.

Ben's music reaches out to people with an honest simplicity that opens hearts and minds to God's love, grace and forgiveness. No matter where you are in this journey, he challenges you to live and share your love for God and God's love for us.

Ben Pasley is one of the most creative people I know of. He has made a lifetime of articulating truth in a variety of ways. The wild and innovative. The preposterously simple. The techno-bum-dum-da-dum. See? I can’t even think of categories half the time. Well, with Elemental, the onion is peeled back by one more layer to reveal a fascinating palette of blues and gospel and crunchy electric guitars and B3 organs and choirs that make you just wanna close your eyes and sink into the music and maybe sway a little or maybe fist pump and jump up and down a few times. There’s a little Skynard, a little Smoky and - with the help of some friends - a little Aretha from time to time. But there’s a LOT of Ben Pasley. You still get those deep, soulful, rock solid vocals; that masterful collaboration; some wailing here and there; and all in the context of simple, powerful, undeniable lyrics that echo timeless truths in interesting new ways that seem to work into your heart in maybe just the way you hoped they would. I hope you get this album and get worked. It’s been good for me, and I bet it’ll be good for you too.

This album is infused with years of lived out Kingdom centered wisdom and joy. Beautifully produced, musically diverse though cohesive, simultaneously chill and energetic, perfect for most anything you’re doing.

Since the Sons of Men cassette came out when I was in high school, I’ve listened to Ben Pasley’s music through the Enter the Worship Circle to Residue and now his shining glory, Elemental!!! I mean who turns a book into a CD - I’ve never heard of it!! With each album he creates, he invents himself and his sound again fresh for this generation of people who all need to hear about Jesus and how much He loves us!!! I cannot choose a favorite song because they all are so needed by my heart, reminding me of the basics of faith, love & hope!!! This CD is like a warm bubble bath for your soul!!! I’m going to soak it in…the Truth He sings so easily and so smoothly runs over your aching heart like syrup on a pancake and gets sucked in, reviving and refreshing you!!!

I’ve been following Ben Paisley and his creative endeavors ever since I first heard about “Enter The Worship Circle”, the book by that title and the series of albums produced by the same name. When I had the chance to review Ben’s latest release, “Elemental”, I knew it (1) would be good, and (2) that I would be surprised. Never one to stay pigeon-holed in musical styles, Ben is adept at moving seamlessly in and out of a variety of styles, depending on the needs and mood of the song. In “Elemental”, there are ‘elements’ of many genres and styles that you are bound to enjoy: some gospel, blues, country, and a variety in between. My favorite two songs (so far) are “Don’t You Let Go” with it’s fiddle and country flair, and “So By Faith” with a more bluesy Gospel vibe. If you are looking for an honest album by an artist that seeks to both sing the truth and tell it like it is, I would highly recommend you give “Elemental” a listen.