All That Is Within Me is the fifth studio album by American Christian rock band MercyMe. Produced by Brown Bannister, it was released on November 20, 2007 through INO Records. The album, intended by the band to be a worship album split between covers and original songs, was recorded following the band's tour with Audio Adrenaline in promotion of their previous studio album Coming Up to Breathe (2006). Although the band intended to write material for a new album during the tour, they had only written one song by the time they entered their recording studio, Cider Mountain Studio in Athol, Idaho. The band wrote so many songs at the studio that they decided not to include any cover songs; all of the songs on the album but were written or co-written by the band. The album was described as being a rock and worship album, being aimed directly at a Christian audience.
All That Is Within Me received mostly positive reviews from critics, some of which considered it MercyMe's best record to that point. However, some critics felt the album was too similar to the band's previous works. The album sold 84,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number one on the Billboard Christian Albums chart and number 15 on the Billboard 200. Three singles were released to radio: "God with Us", which spent eight weeks at number one on the Billboard Christian Songs chart, "You Reign", which peaked at number two on the Christian Songs chart and spent four weeks atop the Billboard Christian AC Songs chart, and "Finally Home", which peaked at number three on the Christian Songs chart and number 16 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. All That Is Within Me has been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), signifying shipments of over 500,000 copies.
Background and recording
In 2007, MercyMe went on tour with Audio Adrenaline. According to lead singer Bart Millard, the band had initially intended to record something akin to a "a full-blown Third Day-style worship album, where part of it was cover tunes, and part of it stuff we've written ourselves". Although Millard noted the band had more than enough time to write material, they had a difficult time doing so because they were "having so much fun" during the tour. By May, the deadline was nearing for the band to begin studio recording The band began having jam sessions, and Millard would look over the material later in the day to try and write lyrics to. By the time the band went to the studio, they had only one complete song and some ideas for choruses on other songs. As with Coming Up to Breathe, the band decided not to record the album in Nashville or their hometown of Dallas. They chose Cider Mountain Studio, located on a ranch in rural Idaho, and "drew inspiration and motivation from the 'beautiful' surroundings." Strings were recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London by the London Sessions Orchestra.
The band ultimately wrote so many songs while in the studio that they ditched the idea of including any cover material. All of the songs on All That Is Within Me were written by the band, with the exception of "You Reign", which they co-wrote with Steven Curtis Chapman. The final song to be recorded for the album, it resulted from Millard had contacting Chapman over the Internet. He sent Millard some few recordings of songs he had failed to complete while working on his own record. Upon getting to what would become "You Reign", Millard was interested by the verse, and paired it with a chorus that he had previously written but could never write a verse for; the chorus Chapman had originally written for the song became its bridge.
Composition
All That Is Within Me has been described as a rock and worship album. The album presents a "[return] to a church-focused theme" in comparison to the band's previous albums, which had crossover appeal to mainstream radio. Lyrically, it adopts a more "exuberant" and "defiant" tone in comparison to the band's previous albums, which had reflected the "personal tragedies" the band had endured, while the album's production was noted as being "smooth" and "clean".