“My Generation” that calls for something greater than what the world has to offer. | Posted June-12-2007
Two years after the release of Starfield's debut album, brothers Tim and Jon Neufeld return with a collection of songs filled with more raw emotion than most of the year's releases combined. Beauty in the Broken starts incredibly strong with the rising anthem, "My Generation" that calls for something greater than what the world has to offer. That audible ache for honesty and relevance resonates throughout the entire album - all the way to "Shipwreck," where the yearning becomes more intimate in the album's final, whispered line, "Your life in me, changing who I am to who I need to be."
For their sophomore effort, Starfield returned to producer Matt Bronleewe (Michael W. Smith, dcTalk, Plumb) while also enlisting the talents of GMA Award-winning producer Ed Cash (Chris Tomlin, David Crowder Band, Steven Curtis Chapman). The end result is a tightly produced album with lyrics that encourage movement and action from today's believers.
Between the edgier tracks that dominate the record lies gems of quiet worship like "Captivate," "Unashamed" and "Son Of God," featuring a guest vocal by Chris Tomlin. What Starfield accomplishes though is a mixture of emotions, tempos and styles that all encourage personal worship while remaining incredibly captivating and catchy at the same time. Overall, Beauty in the Broken is an album that certainly deserves your attention.
A Perfect Combination Of Worshipful Lyrics and Amazing Orchestration | Posted June-12-2007
New artist Jaime Jamgochain has true testimony of how a relationship with Jesus Christ has transformed her life. Six years ago, while attending Berklee College of Music in the heart of Boston's entertainment and cultural community, a friend introduced her to church and the years that followed saw Jaime leading her entire family to God. "It's been like a revival in our household," Jaime shares.
Throughout the process, Jaime left a path that was leading her to a career in pop music and took an internship at The City Church in Seattle, Washington. But one year turned into seven as she began leading worship for the church youth group, and attendance for the Wednesday night youth events grew from 50 kids up to nearly 1,000. She became involved in outreach and missions programs there, and led worship for conferences every year for thousands of youth.
Perhaps it was providence that placed Jaime in Seattle during those pivotal years. While she honed her skills as a worship leader and saw her family impacted by her faith, the doors also opened for her to find a record label home with Centricity Records, becoming the label's flagship artist. Working closely with longtime industry veteran and Centricity A&R director John Mays (Point of Grace, Nicole Nordeman), Jaime is now launching her national debut with Reason to Live.
The album is the perfect combination of worshipful lyrics that could fit into Sunday morning services and amazing orchestration that can dominate the radio. But make no mistake, this is a worship record through and through, with every song glorifying our creator. Jaime proves herself a worthy songwriter with prose that freshly defines a pure relationship with Christ. On "Hear My Worship," (which my own church has embraced the past couple weeks), Jaime sings "Beyond this bended knee / Beyond the words I speak / Beyond the songs I sing / Hear my worship." It's cut from the same passion that made "Here I Am To Worship" such a huge church anthem a few years back. "Glorious King" does the same with lyrics that say "All the earth stands amazed at Your fame / Every heart born to worship Your name / Angels dance and the ocean will sing / For our glorious King."
There are similar moments throughout the album where you can't help but glimpse the vision of Heaven that Jaime is singing about-and that is what makes this album so great. It's new, powerful and creative worship that transforms your ordinary day into a extraordinary time of reflection of our glorious King.
This Debut Deserves Your Attention | Posted June-10-2007
The barrage of new rock acts hitting stores this year is pretty astonishing. Earlier this year, CCM reported that over 40 new rock acts are coming out by the end of the year. I don't care how much music you listen to, it's going to be a tough job to consume it all. Typically, quantity and quality don't play nice with each other, and what you get is a lot of sub-par releases trying to capture your attention with only a select few hitting the mark. Enter Fighting Instinct, whose debut project not only deserves your attention but crushes all other rock releases in its wake.
The debut release on Gotee Records (who seem to continually be pulling away from their hip-hop roots and embracing more of the rock acts) has the potential to become one of the best surprises of the year with radio friendly hits like "I Found Forever," "Back To You" and the energetic "You Don't Know."
The band, hailing from North Carolina, combines Southern roots and melodic sensibilities with a modern rock edge. Among their influences: classic rockers like Zeppelin and Hendrix, Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd, and modern bands like Soundgarden and Foo Fighters. While their musical influences our founded in the mainstream world, their message contains something more. "[Our music is about] finding our way back to what's gotten us here, and not losing sight of that. That can mean not losing sight of life, music, faith, whatever." They sing about the call "of the great I Am" and crying out for more of God on "My Heart Cries Out."
Guitarist/vocalist TJ. Harris and drummer Dallas Farmer had played together for several years before they met up with bassist Jason Weekly in the Winston-Salem/Greensboro area. The trio (yep, there's only three of them) scored a publishing deal with EMI that lead to cutting some song demos in Memphis with producer Skidd Mills, who's resume includes killer projects for Saliva, Sister Hazel and Skillet. That led to the record deal and six weeks in the studio that resulted in one of the tightest rock releases I'll be listening to for quite awhile.
A Great Listen Again and Again | Posted June-06-2007
Looking for something just a bit out of the ordinary? Maybe something with a beat that grabs you, an unpredictable musical style, and lyrics ranging from humorous to deep and thoughtful? All Star United's debut album may be just the ticket! In 1996, All Star United took the cake with the best album of the year in my opinion. That was 11 years ago. The album is still one of my all time favorites. Their upbeat extremely bubblegum act was an instant success with lyrics that were challenging and goofy all at the same time. Very rarely can you find a Christian album with little flaws, and this album certainly goes into the flawless category. Always fun to listen to, this album is and will always be a classic Christian Rock album. They had 3 No 1 songs, and 2 in the top 5. A great listen again and again.
A Solid Follow Up | Posted June-06-2007
Sometimes you are expecting so much from an album, that the content will never live up to your expectations. So is the case for All Star United's sophomore project. This album sat in my collection for a long time, and going back and listening to it again proves it is a solid release. Like the first breakthrough debut album, this one contains all of the catchy tunes, it gives you the same warm fuzzy feeling inside, and the lyrics make you chuckle at all the right moments. Honesty, satire, emotion and fun go into everyone of these new songs.
Don't Need It | Posted June-06-2007
Right before Essential Records parted ways with their "All Star" band, they released a collection of songs from the group's enormous 2 CD discography and titled it "Smash Hits." Oh yeah, two new songs can be found on this record, but don't get too excited, they are nothing to sing about. I find it hard to come up with any recommendations on spending $15 on a collection that you already have in the first two records. I love All Star United, but a collection after two records?
One Of Their Best | Posted June-04-2007
This album is incredible from every angle. Never before have I found myself simply walking the block in the late night hours totally immersed in music from people that are so obviously connected with the Holy Spirit. From the music, to the vocals, the instrumentation and the lyrics, this album puts a smile on your face and evokes a desire to know God more. It its' purest form, Back Home is a worship album. "You Created" says "You've created nothing / That gives me more pleasure than You," which reminds us that nothing on this world can satisfy us like the love of God. "Walk With Me," (beautifully sung by Danielle Young), says "My cup overflows / You restore my soul" and highlights the promise that God can take our broken lives and make them new again. "The Emptiest Day" says "When you wrap your arms around me / I can walk away or face the emptiest day" retells the truth that with God, anything is possible. None of this is terribly profound, but they are simple reminders that we tend to forget. Sometimes we make God so complicated, we fail to revel in His simplicity. I'm betting that there are more fans of great music who have yet to pick up a Caedmon's Call album, just like myself. To those, I challenge you to pick up Back Home (since fans of Caedmon's will already love this album). I promise you will be encouraged, enlightened and this album will help break any chains that are holding you down.
KevinMcNeese_NRT's Music and Book Reviews 
