ChristianMusicDaily

Here's something you don't normally see in contemporary Christian music: a former opera singer crossing over to the adult contemporary/pop style. Tim Juillet used to sing with various opera companies in Los Angeles, but now the happily married husband and father of two little girls is singing songs about Jesus on his new inspirational CD, Give Me Words.

One of Juillet's goals, as he worked with producer Patrick Andrew (of the late, great Christian rock band PFR) was to “lose the opera sound,” as he says on his myspace page. On Give Me Words, he does just that, trading it in for a theatrical, musical sound.

Imagine if tenor David Phelps had a slightly deeper voice and sang songs from the Broadway musical Rent, albeit with a Christian bent, and then you will have summed up the music on Give Me Words.

While songs like “Still I'll Worship,” featuring tenderly-played piano and warm strings, and “This Is God,” with its potent mix of ethereal organ, electric guitar, and drums, help enrapture the listener, it's the 9-minute opus at the end of the disc-- “Unimagined Glory”-- that's the reason to get this particular CD.

“Unimagined Glory” transcends typical music as it draws the listener into imagining what it's like entering heaven. At first, you'll hear some spoken Hebrew, followed by a heavenly harp, and then Juillet acts as a musical tour guide to what heaven might sound and feel like, complete with more guests showing up, including a children's choir and a soprano solo. If a church is ever looking for a unique song to present to its congregation, utilizing all of its singers, “Unimagined Glory” is a must-hear, must-perform song.

One more song of note on Give Me Words is the anthemic “America Repent,” which will have prayerful people waving their hands in the air at future political, patriotic, and/or Christian rallies all over the United States.

For fans of Ray Boltz in the Christian market, and Josh Groban in the mainstream, you need to add this versatile baritone's CD to your collection, as Tim Juillet provides a very encouraging, professionally-produced batch of heartfelt songs on Give Me Words.

Check out www.myspace.com/timjuillet for more info.

--Mark Weber, ChristianMusicDaily.com