Paul Oakley
Probably known most as the writer of songs like It's All About You (Jesus Lover of My Soul) and Because of You, Paul as emerged as a significant name amongst a new generation of worship leaders and songwriters coming through in the U.K. Based at Church of Christ the King, Brighton, where he works alongside Dave Fellingham and Stuart Townend, Paul regularly leads worship at the 1,000 strong church and heads up the worship of re.vive@Stoneleigh, the young peoples platform at the New Frontiers International group of churches' annual Bible week.
Song Writer
Paul's reputation as a songwriter is now well established. Songs like Because of You, Jesus Lover of My soul, I Stand Amazed, River of God and Let it Rain have already become established classics.
Cross Rhythms magazine have described Paul's writing as "superb"...."earthy, soulful and imaginative. A breath of fresh air". His songs convey a powerful honesty and a passion for God. They are strong in doctrine, very often prophetic and include creative use of helpful Biblical imagery.
Style
Described by Alpha magazine as "the Paul Weller of worship" his contemporary style which spans Brit-pop, 'indie', R&B and soul has particular appeal to young people. Style-wise comparisons have been drawn with contemporary art ists such as Oasis and The Jam as well as drawing on Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and the Beatles.
Whatever your tastes in music might be Paul's strong but simple melodies and the rich Biblical content which often characterise his songs make them both accessibl e and appealing to all ages. For example songs like I Love and Fire have been just as popular with the children as some of the material that was specifically written for 'kids'. Whilst songs like Who is there like you? bring an intimate expression of worship that all generations can relate to.
Worship Leader
Paul's reputation as a worship leader at both a national and international level is growing fast. This last year has seen Paul fulfil a number of events including Fresh Wind, a Youth conference hosted by Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship and attended by 5,500. The "re.vive@stoneleighLIVE" C.D reflects the passion and energy with which Paul leads worship as well as the strong prophetic edge to his leading.
Paul has also been responsible for heading up the worship for The Net, a national conference held this year at Cardiff, for those in and around their twenties at which he successfully integrated other creative and visual arts into the whole worship experience. "Of all of life's activities, surely the one thing we do that should most reflect the fact that we were made in the image of God and given creative ability is in our worship of God, who is the supreme Creator. Yet our worship times are too often a bit predictable and lacking in any real sense of inspiration, colour and dimension on our part."
Paul has a heart to see the arts restored to the church and redeemed in worship to God..."I would love to see us experiment more with dance, painting, sculpting, video images and creative writing in worship . I believe our creativity is heightened when we draw close to God. The challenge is how do we channel that creativity in such a way as to make it mutually beneficial to the whole congregation and not just a fun exercise for the artistic 'few'. At the moment we are experimenting at Incarnation (a monthly alternative service at church of Christ the King) with artists painting on large canvases during the worship, moving visual images, dance and video projection."
Paul also leads worship at the New Frontiers' Next Generation Youth Leaders Conference and at various other events up and down the country.
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re.vive98@stoneleigh live
Artist: Paul Oakley and guests
Label: Kingsway (UK)
Length: 11 tracks/54.11 min.
Another hotly-anticipated live album, this one is led by worship-leader/songwriter Paul Oakley from the youth wing of the Stoneleigh bible week, another of the many worship/teaching conventions offered to British Christians. This album is somewhat more patchy than the Soul Survivor live release it is released alongside, but tends to be a little more creative in its use of guitar and keyboard sounds. The music is guitar-based pop-rock with a fairly contemporary feel, although at times it lacks the punchiness the songs require, and the lyrics are fairly straightforward praise/worship fare.
The strongest tracks are the Oakley-penned tunes, all fairly predictable in their inclusion but slightly stronger than on their studio debuts. Matt Redman's 'When the Music Fades (Heart of Worship)' is included but while it is a good song and competently played, there is nothing about this version that seems to justify its place in the collection.
The producers of this album and the musicians who performed it live should be credited for trying to include some variation in the sounds and there are some interesting passages as a result, but the album is too patchy to really make the breakthrough these passages suggest it could.
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Paul Oakley-Kiss The River
Paul Oakley is one of the modern new worship leaders on the Survivor Records label. After leading worship at the massive Soul Survivor and Stoneleigh events this summer Paul is here with a new up beat album. The album kicks off with the definitive version of the song “Jesus friend of Sinners” which you may have heard on some recent worship compilations. This is followed by “I have come to love you” which was a massive success at the Stoneliegh youth event Re.vive. “High Wire” tells of putting it all on the line and stepping out in faith for the father. This is followed quickly by “So Good” is a infectiouslly catchy anthem which you will be left permanently humming. The next track on this worship-fest is “Fix my eyes” was a hit on the Re.vive@stoneliegh.99 and kicks off with a highly charged guitar riff, taking us into the highly up-tempo song. Track 6 is the first slower-tempo track on the album “Kiss the River” this is perhaps one of my favorite tracks as it is like an intimate cry of worship to God. “Brighter than the Sun” is featured on this years Soul Survivor Live album and tells of the way all things are under-control of the power of the Lord. “One Thing” is a real slow, passionate worship track. Next comes a guitar driven powerful worship song called “Cover Me”. “In the shadow of the cross” is another slow Passionate guitar-driven worship song telling of the works of Christ. “As I am known” is another funky power-praise type song and the album is finished off by the epic “In the stillness”.
Overall this is a good worship CD with a mainly up-tempo feel to it, it’s style reminds me of that of the Stereophonics and I would say it has to be one of the best British worship albums of the year.
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KISS THE RIVER by Paul Oakley
from Soul Survivor Records - U.K.
Paul Oakley - lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitar
Martin Cooper - electric and acoustic guitar and vocals
Mark Prentice - bass guitar and vocals
Matt Leach - drums, percussion and vocals
The majority of the songs on this album are upbeat and loud, but not the type of loud that is annoying. All songs are written by Paul Oakley and Martin Cooper. It starts out with a few familiar songs and doesn’t slow down until it reaches the title track at song 6. Along with “Kiss the River”, other favorites of ours were track #9 “Cover Me” and the final song “In the Stillness”. GoldUSA thinks this is Paul’s best CD to-date, but not all listeners may agree. Read tom lennie’s review below.
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"Kiss The River"
Rock worship with attitude - Paul's third solo release resounds with passion and punch from start to finish. Undoubtedly 'louder' than his excellent "When Deep Calls To Deep" from two years back, and with a completely new band line-up, this 12-song collection comes with a gutsy, guitar-driven verve that allows the raw energy of this musician to blaze through. Indeed the 'sole' instruments to back Paul's vocals are electric, acoustic and bass guitar, along with drums, percussion and 'gang' vocals from band members!
Containing mainly new tunes composed by the man himself (with a few co-written by Martin Cooper), the set in fact opens with Paul's '98 'classic' - 'Jesus, Friend of Sinners', already highly popular in churches and at worship events all over town. His exuberant affection for the Lord rocks on unabated till 'Kiss the River' (with it's theologically dubious title!) - which gives the album it's name as well as it's effectively simple sleeve-design. This ambient ballad is a moving testimony to God's boundless 'streams' of grace, though also deeply rooted in 'Toronto' terminology (Paul has been a regular guest worship leader at the TACF over the years, and his '96 'River of God' was recorded there for his last output). 'In the
Shadow....' too is a refreshingly delicate piece of reflective worship, as is 'One Thing' (the first half!). But high energy shows again with the 8-minute 'In this Stillness' (though initially moody and intimate, it rises to a stirring anthem-chorus) and 'Cover Me', both D?-like in their swirling guitar drive.
Recorded/mixed in England/Nashville respectively, the project was mastered at the famous London Abbey Road Studios, and produced by Alan Shacklock, known for his work with Phil Keaggy and The Alarm. "Kiss The River" is a
one-hour musical powerhouse - sure to open appeal (if there isn't such already) to enthusiasts of Jim Stern, Sonic Flood and those other Brit-rock worship-purveyors - Delirious?.
Songs:
1. Jesus Friend of Sinners
2. I Have Come to Love You
3. High Wire
4. So Good
5. Fix My Eyes
6. Kiss the River
7. Brighter than the Sun
8. One Thing
9. Cover Me
10. In the Shadow
11. As I Am Known
12. In the Stillness
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