Hearts of the Innocent

Kutless really made an album that blends the heavy rock tone of many contemporaries (but much better) with passionate lyrics. Hearts of the Innocent is a keeper!

Hearts of the Innocent: An excellent drive of what we so blatantly expose the youngsters of the world to at such an age where they don't know any different. We're teaching them to fail. Jon Micah Sumrall's lyrics could pierce even the most hardened mind. The passion is overwhelming and awesome. With loud guitar riffs and heavy sounds, this can simply not be thrown away.

Shut Me Out: If track one was purely awesome, imagine something even better! With jamming guitars and passionate, never-give-up lyrics, this one is revolutionary!

Beyond the Surface: A thought-provoking look at the watered down modern day gospel message. Prepare to jam for this track.

Smile: The lighter side of Kutless shines through on this song. With a message about simple Christian joy and love, it demonstrates what the world needs so simply yet so correctly.

Promise of a Lifetime: The only song I didn't particularly care for on the '06 record. Too soft and light. Though the lyrics are still good, they don't penetrate the spirit like the others do.

Winds of Change: A look at what we don't and can't expect out of life, this song tells the world what with a heavier sound.

Somewhere In The Sky: Reminiscent of "Your Touch", this song rockets the guitars in well-laid maturity.

Mistakes: Soft and light, but an excellent theme.

Push Me Away: Hard but not heavy, this provocative song is great.

Changing World: Light again, but the message is always outstanding!

Million Dollar Man: The heaviest on the album, this has a Casting Crowns' "American Dream" theme. Way awesome.

Legacy: They finish with booming guitars and a little screaming, which I hate, but good besides that with a good message.

Kutless has their best album on this one. A definite hit. Go Kutless! It is a prime example that good music still exists.

After a successful worship based album, Strong Tower, the guys from Portland, Oregon return with their fourth studio project, Hearts of the Innocent. Returning to the rock theme is easy for Kutless but maintaining their poise was interesting after their worship project.

Kutless has always been Kut above the rest with their rock, as they always place among Pillar, Thousand Foot Krutch, and Skillet, and it’s clear that they can still rock with one listen to the first song on the album. The title track, Hearts of the innocence, is a solid, but edgy rock song with some great guitar riffs, plus lead singer Jon Micah Sumrall vocals are very emotional here. “Shut me up” gears into the song well with its pre chorus before lighting up into a heavy rock song, and “beyond the surface” is solid also. The first three songs of the album have been hard and musically blended so the result is not so much diversity but the album slows down with “smile” which isn’t overly impressive because the song is simple, but it’s a great touch for the album. The single “promise of a lifetime” isn’t as good as the previous track musically, but the soft music is fine.

Kutless gets back into the rock in the form of “winds o change” which is a gritty rock song, that doesn’t have a smooth flow. Trying to use a little of “your touch” in the bridge in “something in the sky” works pretty well, but the song falls into the lesser half of the rock group. Unfortunately catchy tunes seem to avoid Hearts of the Innocent and more gritty tunes control like “Mistakes” which is a simple rock tune that is a little bland and “push me away” which isn’t terribly impressive either. But “changing the world” is a pretty solid soft rock song, that has a very high-quality tune. The heaviest song on the album is “million dollar man” which incorporates some screaming in this short song. The songs named “legacy” seem to be saved for last these days, but this song is a highlight with an outstanding refrain.

Kutless takes on some big issues, and doesn’t try to make them indecipherable or make God’s part in their lyrics vague. The title track is about awareness for the next generation, and neglected children. Sacrifice is a big theme on this CD (“change the world”) and so is flying as Kutless seems obsessed with flying (“something in the sky” and “winds of change”). “Beyond the surface” has great lyrics (‘Don’t give in to everything the world around tells you to be/…”Stop the lying, stop comparing who you are to what you see’) and so does “mistakes” which caution listeners not to go down the path that the singer has gone. Of course the album does have its weaker spots with “promise” and “shut me up”.

“Smile” has a great message about the effect we can have on people and gods joy in life and so does “push me away” where the singer would rather be friends than stand alone (‘You can lean on me/Stand by my side/We will fight/We are much stronger as one’). While “million dollar man’s” theme has been down before, the strong lyrics have not grown old (‘He’s got everything he wanted /But now what he wants is what he had/But he threw it all away’). To conclude things is the true and good tune, “legacy” which says: ‘Nightmares of the past will fade away/The future of your name is what will stay/Never try to blame the past for everything you say/You have the power you need to change your legacy’.

Coming off of a big worship album is easier than this writer thought, as Hearts of the innocent really proved to be solid musically and lyrically. Kutless has no outstanding songs, no eye popping music, just a big Heart.

I don't regret buying this CD for a second! I really love it! The songs just flow together with a message of bold faith with a statement to this world that we don't need what it feeds us! I enjoy the entire CD but the highlights for me are...

Hearts of The Innocent-I love the message of this song about how messed up society is and how its the youth that are paying for it. The musical quality is great because lets face it Kutless knows how to rock!

Shut Me Out-I love this song!! Its is the hardest rock song on the album and what i love is despite how hard rock it is the message is still delivered and understood loud and clear. I love the approach of fearless missionary work and having that out look of what i have to offer is the truth so i will never back down and shut my mouth!

Smile-This is my favorite song on the album. John micah summerall sings it so well. He has this incredible talent for singing with reverence when he needs too and in this song he really sings beautifully and you can just hear how much his heart is in this song. Its the "sea of faces" of the Hearts album. I really do agree that a Smile really can say it all.

Promise of a lifetime-What a powerful song! I love its message more then anything and we can all relate to that feeling of feeling lost or confused but knowing we have our fathers eternal promise that he will never leave us. Again John sings it perfectly!

I love Hearts of the Innocent and I am eagerly anticipating their new album because they have a great talent for knowing when to rock and when to worship and I think thats something that some Christian rock bands don't do so well so i have a lot of respect for Kutless because they leave no question about who and what motivates their music and they walk the line between spiritual and entertaining seamlessly.

Finally, an album that sounds like Kutless. Before, the only way to tell Kutless was singing a song was by the guy’s voice. Each of their albums was totally different. I’m happy to say they’ve seemed to settle on style that suits them perfectly.

The intro riff marks a turning for Kutless. They are actually creating a riff that doesn’t consist mainly of power chords! That’s a pleasant touch. It also marks Kutless’ first solo, which has a tacky 80’s feel, but is still very welcome, as it shows Kutless does have more skill than just playing power chords.

Not that they aren’t bad when it comes to power chords; the hard rockin’, very catchy, ‘Shut Me Out’, which challenges us to declare our faith in Christ, though the enemy may try to ‘shut us out’, is very power-chordy, as is the notably darker ‘Beyond the Surface,’ which deals with self-image and cutting. ‘Winds of Change’ is a great, rocker, as is the fast paced, ‘Somewhere in the Sky.’ Even though this album has some of Kutless’ hardest songs, it has the most ballads for any of their albums (save the Strong Tower album). The catchy, poppy, and unique ‘Smile’ is very un-Kutless, but, like the rest of this album, is a breath of fresh air; Kutless isn’t afraid to mix things up, which is great. The brit-pop sound of ‘Changing World’ is fine, but the melancholy, though touching ‘Mistakes’ handles the softer sound excellently, as Jon tells his son, ‘There’s so much I could say/ There’s so much that I’ve learned/ Don’t make my mistakes/There’s no time to delay/Take my hand and learn from my heartache.’ But, most certainly, the best of the softer set is ‘Promise of a Lifetime,’ a powerful Kutless ballad that equals all its former rock ballads with its powerful lyrics and soaring, catchy choruses.

But Kutless hasn’t gone soft in case you were wondering. ‘Push Me Away’, a song about drowning our pride, is a nice rocker that has some keyboard laced through the verses, but Kutless’ best rockers come flying in hard at the end. The simple, yet delectably hard ‘Million Dollar Man’, with its sweet intro, catchy chorus, and intense scream (something I’d prefer Kutless go without) makes this song one of Kutless’ best heavier feats. But this might even be outdone by the following song and the album closer, ‘Legacy’, with its insanely fast intro riff, hyper catchy chorus, and hard rockin’ closing riff. Kutless ends with a bang on this album.

Although this is not my favorite Kutless album (Sea of Faces remains my personal favorite; mostly because of 'Treason'), it is clear that Kutless is taking promising new steps; they’re not staying put, which is a relief. Their lyrics remain spot on, their skills are growing, and the future looks bright. Anticipating their next album greatly.