Vagabonds
by
The Classic Crime The title to The Classic Crime's latest long player implies a certain need to travel; and while the alternative rock act is no stranger to touring, the inspiration actually comes from a more missions-minded...
Eternity Invades
by
Vicky Before UK born and bred singer/songwriter, Vicky Beeching, began her pursuit of professional music she enrolled as a theology student at Britain's renowned Oxford University to ensure her spirit-led songs...
Miracle
by
Robbie Seay Band Quick disclaimer: What I don't mean to say is "if you've heard one Robbie Seay Band album, you've heard them all." At the same time, RSB's latest batch of worshipful pop/rock tunes, entitled Miracle, features...
INDUSTRY LEADERS DELIVER ANOTHER STELLAR EFFORT | Posted September-29-2008
The pillars holding up the modern Christian music scene will eventually crumble. It’s simply bound to happen. But Third Day boldly declares this isn’t happening anytime soon on its latest release, Revelation.
Then again, you already knew that. The moment the album’s lead single, “Call My Name,” hit radio, it was the latest in a long line of brilliantly crafted sing-along pop tunes. The response toward Mac Powell & Co. was clear. Another trail to No. 1 was blazed, and the trend only continues through the rest of the album.
The production on Revelation showcases a seasoned band working with a new-yet-veteran producer in Howard Benson (Flyleaf, P.O.D.). And the results are perhaps the band’s best work to date. It’s an industry legend stretching its wings, a sure-handed group choosing to experiment just enough. In other words, it’s the perfect combination.
Background vocals from Chris Daughtry and Lacey Mosley of Flyleaf deliver equally compelling moments on “Slow Down” and “Born Again” respectively, the latter being one of the highlights on an album full of them. “I’ll Always Be True” evokes memories of the band’s self-titled debut, while “Run To You” delivers powerful lyrics of submission and our need for God.
The surefire ballads are here, and you might as well add “Let Me Love You” to the band’s list of chart-topping hits. Other AC numbers like “Give Love” and “Take It All” are equally moving at points, and Powell saves some of his best vocal work for these tunes.
Just as Good Monsters solidified the second leg of Jars of Clay’s career, this is bound to do the same for Third Day. Revelation is just that, a musical realization that Third Day isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon. –Matt Conner
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from CCMMagazine.com. Click here to visit CCMMagazine.com today!
MATURE ALTERNATIVE ROCK EFFORT | Posted September-29-2008
The expectations might be unfair. After all, The Classic Crime’s original Tooth & Nail offering, Albatross, broke all first-week debut sales records for the label—quite a feat for the alt-rock five-piece. Seattle Sessions came next, a simple acoustic filler disc to hold fans over until the long-awaited follow-up. So the question begs to be asked: does TCC live up to the billing with The Silver Cord?
That will depend upon your rock flavors of choice; The Classic Crime seems to want to sample as many as possible. Still, no matter which direction the band heads—screamo to ballad to rock radio—it’s clear Silver Cord is the older brother, more mature, more steady and surefooted.
“Abracadavers” serves as the best example for the band’s maturity and for lead vocalist Matt MacDonald’s as well. The vocals immediately display a diversity and ownership not present on anything Albatross had to offer. MacDonald’s growl and scream stand out here, yet on “Just A Man” it’s his falsetto which takes center stage. By album’s end, you wonder if Tooth & Nail has a stronger vocalist than MacDonald.
Elvis Baskette’s production work rivals his output with Chevelle, and many songs include similarly explosive moments, such as “Salt in the Snow” and “Medisin.” Other songs linger in between, the many-sided “God and Drugs” and the laboring opener “The End.” By the time you hit album highlight “The Beginning,” which comes at the close of Silver Cord, you realize you’ve tuned in to most rock formats within one album. Yet, the production and realized maturity holds it together, revealing a band able to spin many sonic plates. –Matt Conner
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from CCMMagazine.com. Click here to visit CCMMagazine.com today!
CLICHÉ-RIDDEN POP-PUNK RELEASE | Posted September-29-2008
Is this really an outrage? I’m not quite sure what the members of Capital Lights are referring to, musically at least. The latest pop-punk product of Tooth & Nail is, well… exactly what you would expect from a band most famous for Hannah Montana cover tunes.
This Is An Outrage, then, doesn’t really represent a band angry against anything. If so, they wouldn’t be so bent on repeating everything around them. This Is An Imitation would serve as a much more accurate title. That’s not necessarily a horrible thing, as the Tulsa band certainly knows its way around the pop-punk genre’s tight constraints. Harmonies are pitch-perfect; handclaps are in place; pulsing guitars are ready to riff; and there’s even a gimmicky synth thrown in for good measure.
Lead single “Worth As Much As A Counterfeit” is a bit too typical for an audience’s first taste—the track is too easily lost in an iTunes playlist with its rubber stamp guitar work and repetitive lyrics. The band finds its footing in other songs, with stronger lyrics found in “The Night of Your Life is When You Die” or the initial track, “Outrage,” which refuses to let go once the chorus grabs hold.
Unfortunately, the bottom line is set low as many other bands simply do it better. If Tooth & Nail sticks with them, maturity is certainly a possibility as seen with other bands (i.e. Relient K). But for now, Capital Lights fails to make its mark. –Matt Conner
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from CCMMagazine.com. Click here to visit CCMMagazine.com today!
TERRIFIC, SMART POP DEBUT | Posted September-29-2008
I assume there was a bidding war. And I assume that many were disappointed when Fervent Records was left holding the trophy at stake—a contract with Ms. Francesca Battistelli. The reason for the (assumed) number of suitors? This album is a radio pop goldmine waiting to happen.
My Paper Heart is stunning in its smarts—perfectly crafted for Christian radio with no weak moments from beginning (the charming “Free To Be Me”) to end (the consummate pop ballad “Time in Between”). Even the sequencing, production and vocal work all shine with Battistelli’s perfect smile poised to win over fans young and old.
The title track is a bouncy piano effort on which she sings, “My paper heart is Yours now/I am learning in Your hands.” That same spiritual submissiveness is found on several tracks—a young artist in awe of a God so grand. “Beautiful, Beautiful” and “Forever Love” continue in this vein, the latter a simple, vertical love song.
It doesn’t matter what is thrown at her, Battistelli handles it all with the ease of an industry veteran, which leads one to believe she’s at least surrounded by them. After all, there’s no way a 22-year-old should sound this good whether singing girl-pop, radio rock anthems or AC ballads. Track after track seems destined for Top 10 status in several genres, making you realize you might as well start practicing how to properly spell her name. –Matt Conner
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from CCMMagazine.com. Click here to visit CCMMagazine.com today!
THE SHOWDOWN MELDS INFLUENCES WELL | Posted September-29-2008
It’s interesting The Showdown resorts to a title like Back Breaker for its latest release. The rest of the album—lyrical content, song titles, instrumentation—is much more thoughtful in its presentation and substance than simply slapping on a pro wrestling-styled moniker for the album’s identity.
Indeed, for those who look past the surface, The Showdown has released a Greek mythology-themed effort to describe the spiritual reality around us. The effort is centered around “Titanomachy—The Beginning” which means “War of the Gods” and sets an instrumental tone for the constant thrashing and pummeling ahead.
“You will not take what’s mine,” yells David Bunton on “Hephaestus—The Hammer of The Gods,” aptly describing The Showdown’s war cry. The opening tracks combine the varied time signatures and searing ’80s riffs of old-school Metallica (think Kill ‘Em All) with some newer metal influences. The trend continues throughout especially with the over-the-top “Infernus—You Will Move” and “Aries—I Am Vengeance.” The latter bears some rhythmic similarities to Corrosion of Conformity’s In The Arms of God.
Back Breaker closes on a slower, lumbering note of early ’90s Metallica with the metal-layered harmonies of “Medea—One Foot in Hell.” But until this point, The Showdown has sonically created a master battle. It’s an effort unafraid to pay tribute to its influences, yet confident enough to stand tall on its own. –Matt Conner
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from CCMMagazine.com. Click here to visit CCMMagazine.com today!
HALL IS GLORIOUSLY TRANSPARENT ON INTENSE 12-SONG SET | Posted September-29-2008
If there was ever a “dark” artist among the roster of worship artists trained by the Passion movement of the last 10 years, it is Charlie Hall. “Contemplative” may be a better word. Or “artsy.” Or maybe “critically thoughtful.” No matter how you try to tag the man who has become synonymous with taking modern worship deeper, The Bright Sadness pushes the listener to pause and consider more closely.
Light on fluff and heavy with real life, the brilliant thing about Hall’s songwriting is it takes the simpler language of worship music and still somehow probes the more cerebral philosophies of faith and life.
Pitting the angst of the human condition up against belief in God, “My Brightness” plays off the title: “I wish this thing could pass from me/But I’m wanting what You want/So bring me high or bring me low/Just hold me in Your love… Your love is like a rock when I’m spinning.”
“New Year,” the disc’s most creative track, continues the exploration: “My heart opens wide/And the Father pours life deep inside my soul/Where hope can hold the hand of sorrow/And we can walk until tomorrow/Where peace is found in troubled days/And the joy of Jesus carries pain.”
“Thrill” pays homage to the worship roots that have firmly established Hall’s name among church audiences nationwide, while “Hookers and Robbers,” with a Mat Kearney-like verse/chorus, mindfully renders our iniquities being transformed by “…the biggest of feasts/A night of no shame to pause and to breathe/This is the night of love’s renovation…Come as you are.”
The Bright Sadness is not worship music status quo. And that’s a really good thing, for Charlie Hall has proven he is not simply a worship leader but also an artist, one in the highest caliber. –Andrew Greer
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from CCMMagazine.com. Click here to visit CCMMagazine.com today!
NEW MELODIC TURN FOR METALCORE ACT | Posted September-29-2008
You can now place Norma Jean officially on the map. Having worked with the stellar production of Russ Robinson (Deftones, The Cure, Slipknot) and collaborated with Chino Moreno (Deftones), Cove Reber (Saosin) and Page Hamilton (Helmet), it’s quite apparent Norma Jean commands significant attention and respect in the music industry.
Of course, one listen to its fourth studio album, The Anti Mother, makes that clear as well. Never has the celebrated band sounded so accessible, and yet, the metalcore act completely retains its roots. It’s a combination sure to please older fans and reach new ones on this year’s “Warped Tour.”
“The Birth of the Anti Mother” grabs the album’s theme of deceit from the beginning and never lets go, grating just long enough before infusing cheerleader chants, of all things, in the middle of the track. “Robots 3, Humans 0” fires with militant riffs and breakdowns that reveal some of Norma Jean’s best work to date. “Opposite of Left and Wrong” is a short, searing guitar-driven tour through NJ’s heavier side.
The collaborations and partnerships work in the band’s favor here in two ways—providing the band with some outside credibility alongside the stellar work created on The Anti Mother. It’s possible this will be seen as the band’s cornerstone work in a (hopefully) storied career. –Matt Conner
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from CCMMagazine.com. Click here to visit CCMMagazine.com today!
GIRL WITH GUITAR PROVIDES INSPIRING SOUNDTRACK OF STRUGGLE | Posted September-29-2008
Christian music can be guilty of sugarcoating reality to make songs safer for radio playlists and setting up a façade that living a life under the Lord is nothing but roses. Though singer/songwriter Joy Whitlock is certainly thankful that being a believer helps her navigate through choppy waters, she’s more interested in expressing that unbreakable faith from the perspective of personal struggle (which she candidly admits ranged from drugs to promiscuity in her pre-salvation days).
It’s no wonder then that the rootsy guitar prods of “Faith Don’t Fail” appear to come from such an authentic place, with Whitlock leaning firmly on those beliefs to resist temptations and negativity. The mighty organic strums and pleading vocals of “Testify” key into specific moments of falling away, but point to Jesus’ ultimate grace to cover over our many offenses. The brooding swirls of “Fake” find the newcomer turning in her most passionate performance, concurrently dispelling the idea of letting guilt get the best of anyone.
Despite citing Sarah McLachlan as an influence, the likeness shows up more readily in her songwriting (such as the highly heartfelt “Holding Onto Me”) than from a stylistic perspective. Rather, Whitlock could be compared to secular duo Tegan and Sara, the retired but not forgotten Jennifer Knapp, a more aggressive Adie or even fellow freshman Brooke Barrettsmith. But no matter what the make-up, God and a Girl is best viewed as a candid conversation between the artist and her Creator that’s likely to find an applicable place with the public at large. –Andy Argyrakis
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from CCMMagazine.com. Click here to visit CCMMagazine.com today!
THREE DISTINCT BACKGROUNDS YIELD ADDITIONAL DIVERSITY | Posted September-29-2008
More than just an idea, Ordinary Dreamers is a tag that could directly apply to Group 1 Crew members Manwell, Blanca and Pablo. Though the multi-cultural trio already found fame with its self-titled CD from 2007, this batch is designed to elevate the members’ original goals from both a musical, and even more importantly, an intensely personal perspective. In fact, Manwell will be the first to admit his troubled upbringing with the wrong crowd. Blanca isn’t afraid to air her insecurities after trying out for multiple talent competitions (including “American Idol”) and failing. Plus, Pablo’s quick to divulge his roots as a Wal-Mart cashier.
While no one’s knocking working in the retail world, the threesome hopes listeners will be ignited by a desire to reach beyond their wildest ambitions with a superb musical soundtrack to back it up. The melting pot starts simmering with the club throw down “Movin’,” merging into the vibrant acoustic soul of “Our Time& rdquo; and even dipping back to the funk-laced days of disco come “Gimme That Funk.”
As the album progresses, Group 1 Crew continues to fire on all cylinders, with the rap/R&B anchored beats on “Bring the Party to Life” sounding so hot that Kanye West could very well throw a jealousy tantrum. Though a decidedly current collection, the troupe also re-visits the ’70s on the Kool & the Gang-mirrored “Critical Emergency” and the contemporary jazz appeal of “Change.” But no matter the stylistic switch-up, the focus remains shooting for the stars and keeping Christ at the center of all callings, in spite of the negative weight of one’s previous choices or current circumstances. –Andy Argyrakis
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from CCMMagazine.com. Click here to visit CCMMagazine.com today!
INFECTIOUS ROCKERS INCORPORATE EXPERIENCE INTO SOPHOMORE STANDOUT | Posted September-29-2008
Four years ago Jonezetta nearly packed its bags and called it quits. But thanks to the gentle prodding of their manager and fellow rockers As Cities Burn, the spirited ensemble stayed put, spent some time hunkering down and tuning up and eventually earned Tooth & Nail’s largest new artist offer to date. Not bad for a band born out of its high school days in Clinton, Mississippi.
Now, only two years after the release of its full-length dance rock debut, Popularity, Jonezetta mixes it up with Cruel to be Young. Flavorful instrumentation and colorful composites of band, vocals, melody and rhyme make certain Jonezetta’s second go-around is nothing short of stellar.
Originally touted as a Killers and Franz Ferdinand combo, the quintet (keyboardist Tyler Kemp was added last year) has quieted its former flash with a rich indie sound that serves the band added dimension and matures its appeal five to 10 years.
While keeping enough synthesizers to tribute the ’80s and pop/punk subtleties to draw the younger youth, Jonezetta’s lead singer Robert Chisholm cites Isaac Brock’s (Modest Mouse) vocal tendencies. The spunky troupe trades the dance emphasis for subtle pulses along the lines of Death Cab for Cutie. And former Pedro the Lion lead singer David Bazan’s guest vocal is a perfect allusion to the gritty difference between Cruel to be Young and Popularity.
So much of Cruel to be Young sounds so right, and detailing all the highlights would fill a small volume. It’s not surprising Jonezetta is so musically sophisticated, but it’s startling to discover a Christian band that seems to be emerging with its own unique brand of rock. –Andrew Greer
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from CCMMagazine.com. Click here to visit CCMMagazine.com today!
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