Pieces of a Real Heart
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Sanctus Real Since releasing Say It Loud on Sparrow records Sanctus Real has been a consistent voice is CCM. Hits like "Things Like You (Everyone's Everything)," "I'm Not Alright," and "We Need Each Other" have...
Breaking The Silence EP
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The Letter Black Known as Breaking The Silence, The Letter Black or a Flyleaf/Fireflight re-make, one Tooth and Nail’s newest artists have now provided fans with their first project, Breaking The Silence EP. The band is...
Forget And Not Slow Down
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Relient K Forget And Not Slow Down sis not a Relient K album. Yes, on the side of an album is says ‘Relient K’, but comparing this release to Relient K’s career is difficult. This Relient K uses five new weapons...
There came Ivoryline | Posted June-09-2008
Leaving Texas behind, and the name Dead End Driveway, Ivoryline is already making a impact with their emo rock. Focusing on the music more than girls and stars, Ivoryline’s determination is already commendable. With help from one of the best produces in the business, Aaron Sprinkle, Ivoryline is out with their debut album There came a Lion.
Wondering about Ivoryline’s music? Emo rock with a heavy Anberlin influence, with an early Falling Up album formula and don’t forget the “dense blasts of guitars”. The launch of the debut album is “days end” a hard fast paced rock song which frequently changes from a light tune to a softer one, the one drawback is the ‘sleep’ and ’sweep’ part in the song gets repetitive quickly. The sense of emergency in Jeremy Gray vocals aids the good rock song, so is “parade” which is a faced paced rock song. The reason the metaphors about the music stay unchanged is the result of the similarity between many of the songs. When the chemistry does change, it is the result of the music switching from just a bad verse to a better part of the chorus in “all you ever”, which still isn’t very impressive.
One of the more Anberlin influenced songs and single “be still and breathe” sounds just a little off at parts, but is still a huge rock highlight. “Remind me I’m alive”, also with a Anberlin flair, has a pretty hard but melodic tune. “let us falling” is more the same solid emo rock, but “and the truth will end this” has a more upbeat rock style. Will an super chorus, “bravery” is a above average rock song for the album, but “hearts and minds” still falls into the category of good rock, with a tune which is not distant enough from most of the other songs. A major highlight “ is last words” which employs a similar style to that of “be still and breath” but it changes tunes more frequently with more grace than most of the album.
Trying to bridge their way past usual emo rock band simplicity when it comes to lyrics, Ivoryline does a better job then some. Among the vague references to Christianity, are clear cut references to their faith on “remind me I‘m alive” (‘everything I see reminds me/Of just how beautiful you can be’) and “be still and breathe” which is a hopeful statement. “Days end” has so many good things to say (‘we should scream "thank you" /with every waking breath… It is then when we will cry for forgiveness,/yet not understand the weight of our words/nor the depth of His love./But he will deliver’), and “hearts and minds” is solid too. But other lyrics are not so clear as parade says: ‘Kindness/is dead in this town /and drama has been crowned’.
Chances are Ivoryline could have been more direct, but as some projects go it’s more than clear enough. Individually most of the songs are good, some are even great but as a whole the music is in need of a little help. More musical diversity would be appreciated in future projects, but There came a Lion is a great place to start.
Mainstay is becoming who they are | Posted June-09-2008
Coming off their debut, Well Meaning Fiction, and a hit single (“take away”) the alternative light rock band Mainstay is geared up for their sophomore project. Aside from their sometimes solemn rock sound, Mainstay, is more interested in writing powerful lyrics. “Lyrically we want to write lyrics that challenge believers and unbelievers alike” says front man Justin Anderson. Now with more recognition, the pressure is on for Mainstay to maintain and improve on their reputation.
Mainly light rock, Mainstays music has some alternative, and a surprising amount of praise and worship, but the albums opener and title track, “become who you are”, is a tremendous alternative medium rock tune where Justin Anderson’s vocals shine. “Stars are singing” has a pretty good up tempo sound, but it has a worship tune at heart, and “away from you” has a solid sound especially at the end of the refrain. The single “where my heart belongs” is soft rock, but its radio friendly. “Am I keeping you away” picks up as the song goes along and “when you came down” is an upbeat song, but neither are particularly impressive.
A fan favorite “believe” has a more melancholy rock approach to the tune which turns out well. The music in the verses in “only one” set up well for the light and emotional refrain. The light alternative solemn sounding “island” is a solid song where more emotion comes out. One of the harder songs on the album, “roads” has a heavy intro and continues to present a medium upbeat rock tune. The refrain of “don’t I look the same” over arches a solid solemn sounding song but the importance of “story” is low on the album. The ending song “hang on” doesn’t flatter the album a whole lot.
Anderson is very passionate about not selling out or dumbing down the lyrics and getting back to sin and repentance. But alas, much is the same with Mainstay’s lyrics as they fall into more than enough cliché’s and leave too many song unengaging. The best bits of song writing are some of the more indirect, but clear mentions of faith on “island” and “away from you”. “Roads” is a solid song and so is “become who you are” (‘and I’m finding each time that you fall, /You’re just becoming who you are’). “Where my heart belongs” is all about redemption after making bad decisions (‘You gave yourself to those /Who never cared about your soul’), but most the album is simply solemn sounding praise and worship that has been going around (“when you come down”, “only one”, and “hang on”).
Mainstay’s music is solid, as there is just enough verity to stay above cheesy reproduction of the modern Christian music light rock/praise and worship scene. But sadly despite a handful of songs on Become who you Are is pretty much that: praise and worship. And it won’t attract the type of audience that the band was hoping for.
A Kut above the rest | Posted June-09-2008
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.
No "Exaggeration" | Posted June-02-2008
After a solid album (Boy vs. the Cynic) John Reuben returns with one of his most ambitious efforts. Always known for his creative rap with good cuts of rock and pop and his wit, Reuben takes a different approach to his latest album Word of Mouth changing his style of both the music and the lyrics.
John Reuben has always been original so to avoid lame and repetitive beats of regular rappers so on the opening, “sing it like you mean it”, the western rap/rock should not surprise fans. There is almost a hint of techno in the chorus of the upbeat “trying to hard”, but the chorus is not very distinguished. The banjo makes an entrance in light hearted song “make money, money”, but the momentum dies some with “focus”, which gets a little insipid. The title track is usually reserved for Reuben’s best song, and the tradition continues with “word of mouth” a fun light rap song.
One problem with the album is that John Rueben normally makes the verse of the song very central musically, but on Word of Mouth it almost takes a back seat as the most original tunes are saved for the chorus. getting to the refrain on the relatively bland “miserable exaggeration” is a chore but the unexpected off beat sound is appreciated. Getting a chorus to help with “universal” was more unforeseen than good, but the albums routine does get shaken up some with “curiosity”. The intro and on is a good rock rap, a component which is direly missed on this project, but it falls when the chorus comes around. “Cool te underdog” has a repetitive, but catchy chorus and finally the hip hop, pop act it revealed in its highest dose on “cool the underdog”.
True to form John Rueben takes his humor, and his strong Biblical worldview to work on his newest project, only this time there is a different spin. Among a more vague John Rueben than we are used to it’s clear that “Word of Mouth” isn’t just a cleverly written song without an origin (Ecclesiastes 1:9) and “miserable exaggeration” is a glance at what we are searching for. “Curiosity” and “good evening” both has great lyrics, but listeners may miss out on the message of the song overall and be distracted by the witty and seemingly proverbial lines (‘Rap's a game that mostly amateurs play/and there are very few professionals that are getting paid’ on “make money, money”).
Not so much solid rock as fans are used to, as catchy more original, catchy, light rap is being introduced, while the lyrics focus on the business side of life and how it affects our relationship with others and God. While it’s somewhat odd what was done with Word of Mouth it only furthers John Reuben’s skill as a song writer and his about “amateur” rap music.
Don't put to much "trust" in Lost Ocean's debut | Posted May-30-2008
Hailing from Bakersfield, California, the alternative rock Lost Ocean began their career with their self titled debut. Traveling with bands like P.O.D., Ruth, and Lifehouse the young band got some recognition and hopefully some fan base out of the tours. Lost Ocean opens with the light rock/alternative sounding “believe”, which introduces Jeff Grey’s vocals which are light but very solid, unfortunately the simple music is not as impressive. But the band does have some ability to play with music to make sound smooth. Example: the organic medium rock song “still life”.
“Just glide” is a solemn party song which sounds bizarre but turns out pretty well. The melancholy mood continues with “you are” which is a simple rock tune. “Mute” doesn’t have much musical complexity, but the piano and drums are blended together expertly in the bands smoothest song. The upbeat “dreams” is a solid alternative light rock tune and “everything is” is a piano fueled rock song with Lost Ocean’s most daring chorus. “Trust” is solid soft alternative melody that flows well, and but “lights” is a one of the best on the ten track disc, as organic solemn feel tales the album to one of it’s highest point musically. The ending song, “vast”, starts with an acoustic guitar before finishing strongly as a rock song.
Seeking to be “Christian by Faith; Not by genre”, Lost Ocean tries to be spiritually blatant but also theologically vague. References of the bands faith in God is found in “mute” (‘Your fingerprints are everywhere’) and possibly on “still life” as well. But with a party song like “just glide” and the strange “trust” (Your head, your head/Ohhhh, your head) it’s really hard to take Lost Ocean seriously. Many of the lyrics are unclear and in some cases too vague, also a gun metaphor shows up on “vast”. Nice to see the solemn alternative pop rock act that Lost Ocean pulls in their self titled debut but for more challenging lyrics and more complex music this is not the CD
Only Ok | Posted May-25-2008
Although I Wish we all could Win wasn’t a particularly impressive, one song really stuck out (“beautiful love”) leaving some optimism and anticipation about future Afters releases. After two and a half years the Afters are back with Never going Back to Ok a rock album making a statement that quickness isn’t important but quality.
The opening to Never going back to Ok is “secret parade” a short old style pop song which quickly establishes that this album isn’t all work and no play. The title track and number one hit single “Never going back to OK” is a quick up beat catchy rock tune, but for the rock genre it isn’t particularly impressive. “keeping me alive” is just catchy enough to remain from being a stale ballad that seem to rule most the album, the end of the bridge and into the chorus is a strong part in the song. While “tonight” is a pretty good up tempo rock tune it’s edgy, and “ocean” is another ballad that is solid. The fan favorite because of its catchy tune, “myspace girl” has a fun punk/pop melody that is infections and it’s surprising that such a song would be on the album but the surprise is welcome.
“We are sound” is a daring rock song that even has a little sprinkle of techno in the chorus. Among the many catchy medium rock tunes “falling into place” is a solid one, with the last line in the refrain giving it a nice feel. “Beautiful words” uses it’s emotional tune in places to get passed its average light rock music. The fast paced “forty two” is a pretty faced paced rock song which has the chorus strength of “falling into place”. The highlight of the album is “summer again” an almost purely piano ballad, that really is outstanding. The departing song “one moment away” is a light song but is lost among the other ballads and particularly” summer again”.
The music is very impressive, a huge step up from their debut, but to make this album perfect would be even solid lyrics, however that bit is a little harder to come by this time around. The first song doesn’t mean anything, nor should it, but “Never going back to okay” which has good lyrics never articulates what the problem was in the first place and God is absent in the reformation. Track eleven laments about a girl and yearns for “summer days again”, and “tonight” doesn’t progress past forgetting past failures and moving on (‘When tomorrow comes we're gonna feel alive’) the downside is God is virtually absent.
What seems like a clear worship song “keeping me alive” is only confusing at a close glance at the lyrics. With phrases like ‘It's like I've never lived/Before my life with you’, ‘I bleed if you bleed’, ‘I'll hold you near/Together, we'll never die’ it’s clear that it’s not about Christ but a mere love song. “Myspace girl” is intentionally silly, but what’s not as silly is the fact that even a song like “we are the sound” which seems to be a wakeup call to believers never gets specific. While the “falling into place” point to God, it too never gets explicit. The closest is “forty-two” which ends with a man going to God (never named though).
The band has come a ways from serving star bucks coffee and their New Artist of the year award at the Dove awards in 2006. Many of their songs are radio friendly so expect lots of hits before another album. What a little strange is for a rock band that there are so many ballads on Never going back to Ok, but that’s okay because most of them are pretty solid. Although the music s good and the lyrics have positive messages the lack of spiritual influence is a little disturbing.
Josh Havens said “we hope people judge our music by musical merit not on the faith beliefs we have. I don’t want people to pass up our music or other great music done by a Christian artist just because it’s in a section labeled faith.” Well if it’s worth compromising the lyrics than Never going back to Ok is a success because there is little difference between them and a positive mainstream release. The music is great but, to use the pun only once, the lyrics are only Ok.
Not much Tension about this album | Posted May-23-2008
Hailing from southern California, the modern rock band Dizmas are back with their sophomore album. The band scratched most of its screaming act, to allow itself to be understood by listening to the words rather than looking at the CD booklet for the lyrics . But the time from Dizmas’ debut, On a Search for America, and their second album, Tenson, improved as much on the melodic and sonic aspect as much as the aspirin need.
Leading off the album is “jealousy hurts” which starts slowly before igniting into a rock song, but it lacks a perfect rhythm. “Shake it off” could have used fewer “shake it’s” and “oh’s” and used a not so reckless rock tune. Although some comparisons have been made from Dizmas to P.O.D. and Pillar, Dizmas’s music it an edgier and not so refined, So it’s a bad comparison. The rawness of Tension is shown with play it safe, which is a more alternative rock song.
The intro is great on “if you love someone” and the light music, while not unheard of, adds stability to the album, one downside is the vocals are not quite as impressive. The tune on “see the daylight” is not so disjointed as other tracks and this solid rock song gets a big lift from the bridge. One of the songs which is more familiar to Dizmas’s first album is “dance” which has a certain degree of screaming to the reckless rock song. In the lengthy “this is a warning” the tune changes a number of times as this fast paced rock song doesn’t like to stay with the same melody for long.
After getting past the opening vocals “voice is ghostly” is a good song, and “nothing at all” long is light rock song with an undefined refrain. A highlight of Tension is “October”, which is a alterative medium rock song with a great background chorus. Perhaps the most daring song on the album is “until you rescue me” which is an upbeat punk/rock song. The last song,”sun” reflects the overall maturity Dizmas gained with this album as the light pop song stays strong because lead singer Zach Zegan doesn’t extend his voice father than he needs to.
Trying to challenge believers to have a richer faith but understanding the grey areas of life, Dizmas tires to improve their lyrics like they have with their music. While “”shake off” is about defecting hurtful words the execution is imperfect, but “this is a warning” counsels ‘This is a warning for all of us that are falling/For the lie that we could bigger than God’. The lead singer wants honesty and no double standard when taking advice on “until you rescue me”.
“Play it safe” centers around the simple truth “No one seeks God, no, not one” and while demonstrating his point further the song says ‘Seeing is believing/But belief is not like faith/Faith takes chances/Faith moves mountains’. While “dance” is a simple song and seemingly pointless, “jealousy hurts” and “nothing at all” are both solid songs. Dizmas gets personal with “if you love someone” and “October” which both focus on troubled relationships that will make fans relate more with this band.
Definitely a change in the music scene for Dizmas one which will probably get more fans, and turn some away. While still a little disjoined in places and edgy, the music has improved and but the biggest development would have to be realizing that screaming isn’t the only way to get a great point across.
Unrevealed Condition | Posted May-21-2008
Named after hypothetical collaboration of Thomas Alva Edison and composer Philip Glass, indie rock band Edison Glass is bent on bringing a wide verity of music to appeal to the younger generation. In between their debut release A Burn or a Shiver and their sophomore album, “time is fiction” the band agrees they have become better song writers because of their downed boundaries, as this album offers more of anti genre of music allowing themselves to become more musically diverse. Thus the first step is taken with their Let Go EP.
The EP opens with up with the title track which starts very smoothly with a light alternative sound, but as the song moves along the vocals and music get a little more loud and reckless. It’s not until the refrain does Edison Glass become a little more intense, but “cold condition” stays more in control as the indie rock song moves along quickly and remains solid. “All our memory’s starts off muffled as the incoherent alternative rock music is strange and just a little bit disturbing. The ballad “A burn or a shiver” is a light song fueled mostly by piano, the style of music is slightly reminiscent of Falling Up.
The lyrics are a bit vague though, as the band tries to avoid clichés. “cold condition” says ‘We need warmth to come/In our cold condition/We need you to visit us’, Gods name is never mentioned but it’s implied. “All our memories” has the singers desiring to become more than lovely, but after that the other two songs have vague meanings. Trying to get something going before their second album, Edison Glass introduces new sounds and interesting lyrics. But the strength of the four song EP is low which means Let Go EP won’t have much of a positive impact on their second album Time is Fiction.
Not completely Satisfied | Posted May-10-2008
The first single, love is here", off of Tenth Avenue North's new album is getting steady radio play already. Over and Underneath is a relatively quick release after the light rock worships bands last project Don't look back. On the surface the new one has skillful song writing and great soft music to back it up.
The opening song and single "love is here" doesn't challenge much in terms of music, as it's only a soft worship song. While "lift us up" is a decent upbeat light rock song, "by your side" has far more inspiring music to go along with it. Tenth Avenue North doesn't do much rock with "Let it go", but they send their hardest rock song comes in the form of "break me down", unfortunately with the worship angle on the song, the rock is not really convincing.
The emotional "hold my heart" is heavily helped by the light music and a good bridge. "Times" is run by an acoustic guitar and the song is strange because this type of ballad is usually the song that gets saved for the end of an album. The light pop tune of "beloved" is not really impressive, and although "you are" speeds up as the song goes on, but the trend of the light rock tunes without much difference is annoying. "Satisfy" is a light rock worship song and the albums finishes with worship track "hallelujah".
Behind the emotionally powerful music lie the lyrics that they cover. "love is here" has a nice salvation chorus but fumbles with the line ('come to the Father/you who work/and you will work no more'). The theme of the album must be going back to God since that's the way track one, two and three are constructed with a few small lyrical differences. "Hold my heart" and "times" both have a very emotional feel to them, but rearrange the songs music and it leaves you with messages that have been said time and again. The song "Beloved" can have two meanings: either Gods love for man or a slandered girl/guy love song, so take your pick.
The messages of two of Natalie Grants biggest hits ("held" and "in better hand") are fairly simple but are propelled by soft heart string tugging music, much of that can be said of Tenth Avenue North. Give credit to lead singer Mike Donehey for pulling ordinary songs into what appears to be an arsenal of hits out of decent and repetitive lyrics messages. Overall Over rand Underneath has a strong first half but when it comes to the many basic worship tunes like "satisfy" saying 'you're all I want/you're all I need' it also says 'haven't I heard this before?'.
Love at the Core hits the target | Posted May-09-2008
After a pretty mediocre debut album, This is Who we are, it was clear that Run Kid Run had some problems with disguising one song from another, However their sophomore album Love at the core looked to be a step in the right direction for this punk/rock band.
From the very first electric guitar strings it was clear that it was Run Kid Run, but the first song, "rescue me" was not predictable, and was a highlight already. The first single "Captives come Home" starts well and is a solid rock song, and by the time the fast paced punk song "fall into the light" came around musical diversity was not an issue. The album slows a little with "one in a million" which halts the albums speed but keeps a good flow of songs up, but it is a mite plain.
The title track "Love at the Core" is a excellent punk rock song, that is very ear friendly. "Sure shot" is pretty simple but it's snappy and has a great bridge and "My Sweet Escape" starts slow and has a lighter more melodic tune that some of the other songs lack. A pretty good electric guitar start fuels the good rock tune "The Emergency" and on "set the dial" it's the end that makes the song unforgettable. The best song Run Kid Run saved for the finish, as "freedom" is an excellent ballad which balances the album out wonderfully.
The lyrics are never really the strong spots for Run Kid Run, examples are "Sure Shot", which does celebrate everyone's potential to do good today, and "one in a million". But the singer in "Rescue me" puts his faith in God ('As I take the fall/Catch me'), the song Freedom holds a similar message. "Captives come home" embraces those who have lost their way, but on "the emergency" it only elaborates on fighting for the right and the light, but it doesn't go much deeper.
Still not their yet lyrically, but musically Run Kid Run cannot be ignored after this. The Punk/rock is great and the songs are much more distinguished. Although Love at the Core is short, it's defiantly sweet.
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