Kingsway announces the May 22 release of The Cutting Edge Years - 20th Anniversary Edition. This four-disc (3 CDs/1DVD) collection draws together the earliest releases from Delirious?, the Dove Award winning, Grammy nominated worship band.
While most bands take a while to find their voice, Delirious? was a prophetic, powerful presence right from the start. Originally named the Cutting Edge Band after a local church-based event, The Cutting Edge Years - 20th Anniversary Edition is full of songs that changed a generation of worshippers and helped clear a path for many of the global Church’s current worship leaders and songwriters. From “I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever” and “Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?” to “The Happy Song” and “Lord You Have My Heart,” the band’s first sounds were some of their loudest and longest lasting.
If there was any doubt about their impact, The Cutting Edge Years – 20th Anniversary Edition includes Cutting Edge 1&2, the very album that in January of this year was voted by Worship Leader magazine to be the “most influential worship album of the last twenty years. Over time, the Delirious? story grew with international awards and sales to match. But its earliest chapters as the Cutting Edge Band focused solely on their hometown.
In October 1992, the core team of Martin Smith, Stewart Smith and Tim Jupp played their opening notes at a small youth event in Littlehampton, an overlooked town on England’s south coast. Though only 75 people turned up for that event, the impact was clear from the start as Martin Smith remembers.
“Cutting Edge was a unique time in our lives and these songs were the soundtrack to a movement that hungered after God in a new way, a movement that sang in the streets and saw the mountains tremble,” says Smith.
Other artists and worship leaders agree, including Toby Mac: “They’ve redefined the praise and worship scene… these guys are true artists who point the way to God. They’re also one of those rare bands whose music appeals to nearly all generations.”
Throughout the Delirious? story, it was the songs that spoke volumes, that inspired worship and unlocked change.
“I remember the first time I ever listened to Obsession,” says Tim Hughes. “I was blown away by the honesty and passion. It was a worship song like I had never heard before… fresh lyrics full of imagination and vivid imagery with a deep heart cry for more of God. I would listen to this song again and again, crying out to God, telling him how much I loved him and how much I wanted to know him more. It is so simple and yet so powerful.”
Referring to the song “Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?,” Chris Tomlin says: “It is one of the best-written and most unique worship songs of our time. It’s a song that I have played countless times through the years… there is a special touch from God on this one and it is evident every time I hear it or play it.”
The Cutting Edge Years - 20th Anniversary Edition contains 42 tracks on three CDs and one DVD containing special footage. The audio is made up of the band’s first four EPs (Cutting Edge One, Two, Three and Fore) as well as the landmark album Live And In The Can. And the DVD features the band’s live performance of many of these early classics. In addition, the collection features bonus material including “Live at Studio One Abbey Road” and a video of “I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever” featuring the London Community Gospel Choir.
