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.

[6] According to lead vocalist Mark Hall, the idea behind Thrive came from the student ministry he is involved in.

[7] 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.

[11] "All You've Ever Wanted" is led by a piano riff,[15] and displays an adult contemporary sound similar to much of the rest of the band's discography.

[15][16] "Broken Together", described as "Coldplay pop",[19] is a piano ballad;[16] the song's protagonist "smashes the facade of a fairy-tale relationship, forgoing the happy ending with the realization that 'maybe you and I were never meant to be complete'".

[12] "Love You with the Truth" is an orchestral rock song,[16] and has been described as a softer version of the music of Skillet.

[15] "This Is Now" and "Dream for You" utilize a mix of electric and acoustic guitars,[15] with the latter noted as having a "bluesy" sound.

[36] Lins Honeyman of Cross Rhythms rated the album nine out of ten squares, calling it "outstanding" and praising its musically diversity.

[18] Other critics praised the album's overall quality, both in comparison to the band's previous work and the Christian music genre.

Although she noted the album covered some lyrical topics the band had discussed before, she felt this was not a bad thing, considering it "less of a rehash and more of a reminder".

[38] Jeremy Armstrong of Worship Leader rated Thrive three and a half out of five stars, praising the band as having a "broad appeal" and describing the album as a "fine release".

[17] At About.com, Kim Jones rated Thrive four-and-a-half stars out of five, praising the album as being "delivered with [...] passion" and saying that it has "arrows [pointed] straight to the heart".

[35] Other critics presented a more mixed response; Mark Rice of Jesus Freak Hideout rated the album three out of five stars, arguing it was an improvement over their previous efforts in some respects but feeling it was, for the most part, either "stagnation or regression".

[16] Although Piet Levy of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel praised the songwriting, saying it "stands out [...] at times featuring troubled protagonists and earned redemption", he felt several songs sounded too similar to the work of other artists.

[12] Brian Mansfield of USA Today rated it two and a half out of four stars, describing the band as "chameleonic" but praising "House of Their Dreams" and "Broken Together".

[19] Credits taken from Allmusic[39] Casting Crowns Additional musicians The Nashville Recording Orchestra