Thrive | ||||
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Studio album by Casting Crowns | ||||
Released | January 28, 2014 | |||
Recorded | 2013 | |||
Studio | Zoo Studio (Franklin, TN) | |||
Genre | Contemporary Christian, rock | |||
Length | 51:41 | |||
Label | Beach Street/Reunion | |||
Producer | Mark A. Miller | |||
Casting Crowns chronology | ||||
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Singles from Thrive | ||||
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Thrive (stylized as THRIVE) is the sixth studio album by American contemporary Christian music band Casting Crowns. Released on January 28, 2014 through Beach Street and Reunion Records, the album was produced by Mark A. Miller. Musically, the album, whose concept was inspired by Psalms 1 from the Bible, has a rock and contemporary Christian sound with influences from folk and bluegrass. The album received mostly positive reviews from music critics for its lyrics and musical diversity, but some critics felt that some songs were too similar to the work of other artists or to their own previous work.
Thrive sold 43,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release; although this was short of projections to sell 75,000 copies, it peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on the Billboard Christian Albums chart, while also charting in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and the UK. The album was preceded by the lead single "All You've Ever Wanted", which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Christian Songs chart. It has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Thrive was recorded at Zoo Studio in Franklin, Tennessee, with producer Mark A. Miller. According to lead vocalist Mark Hall, the idea behind Thrive came from the student ministry he is involved in. As a youth pastor, Hall frequently uses Psalms 1, which metaphorically compares the concept of a righteous man to a prosperous tree planted by a river. Hall said that many people he has talked with are simply surviving, which he feels contrasts with this — he felt that, although hard times can come upon anyone, people are not put in these situations to simply survive through them, but rather to thrive through the adversity. Using the metaphor, Hall noted that, if one were to pull away all the dirt from around a tree, one would find roots digging into the ground in addition to the limbs of the tree reaching out. Hall elaborated that "you need to get your strength from God; you don’t get it on your own. If you’re all limbs, the thorns of life will knock you over. You need to dig your roots in and let God reach out through you". Accordingly, half of the record focuses on 'reaching out', while the other half focuses on 'digging deep'. Hall described the record as being "an effort to draw a picture of what a believer, a follower of Jesus, would look like if they dug into their roots and understood God and themselves more, and then instead of trying to go be Christian for God, they just let God give them chances to be a Christian".