Solid debut for singer-songwriter | Posted October-22-2008 Francesca Battistelli had aspirations of being a Broadway singer and has parents in the music business. That music background and aspiration is apparent in this solid debut for singer-songwriter Francesca Battistelli. The debut single I'm Letting Go is so catchy you can't help but sing along and admire the great melody and music. The best comparison I can think of is Love Song by pop singer Sara Bareilles and her musical and singing style also reminds me of Natasha Bedingfield and Leona Lewis.
My Paper Heart is more than just the great song I'm Letting Go. In particular I really enjoy the opening track Free To Be Me a nice upbeat anthem that girls can relate to and find motivating. Another anthem is the Revolve Tour song It's Your Life which is another highlight. For me the two songs that really demonstrate Francesca's potential and great singing voice are My Paper Heart which has such a great transparency and maturity for such a young singer and my favorite overall song is Beautiful, Beautiful which really sounds like a Broadway show-stopper with these great lyrics: "Now there’s a joy inside I can’t contain, But even perfect days can end in rain, And though it’s pouring down, I see You through the clouds, Shining on my face". I'm really impressed by this solid debut and look forward to more by Francesca Battistelli.
Best Album by Stellar Kart | Posted October-20-2008 Stellar Kart is an interesting Rock-Punk band. The mid 2000's has seen fellow rockers Hawk Nelson, Eleventyseven and The Rocket Summer emerge in an attempt to appeal to the wide success of influencer Relient K. Clearly Stellar Kart and Hawk Nelson are still striving to improve and although the songs are ear candy, they don't really challenge you like their great influencer. However, if you liked Relient K's first three albums before their breakout success MmHmm, then you should enjoy Expect The Impossible.
Innocent, The Right One and I Give Up are prime examples of nice melodic songs with not too much substance. Dove Award Winning Producer Ian Eskelin has produced an accessible album and his influence appears more on a couple of the stand-out songs Pray and Sunshine, both uplifting tracks sounding somewhat like early All Star United, which is promising. The first single Jesus Loves You is in essence another re-write of the big hit Me and Jesus. The song I keep coming back to is Shine Like The Stars based on Philippians 2:14-16. The song actually starts and ends with a 1980's style synthesizer intro like Van Halen along with the next song Eyes. A bit more substance than the first two albums and the best overall album by Stellar Kart in my opinion.
Solid Rock Worship Album | Posted October-20-2008 Building 429 hit the scene big with their debut single Glory Defined and their solid debut album The Space In Between Us. Their style had a bit of grunge mixed with solid worship lyrics, fitting since the band name is based on Ephesians 4:29, which is a great life verse. After much acclaim and a Dove Award for Best New Artist 2005, Building 429 came back with a somewhat more rocking Rise, with the hit song Fearless.
Iris To Iris is the third and final Building 429 album on Word Records and is actually my favorite overall. The band certainly toned down and the grunge influence seems gone. This album is easily the most worship focused as evidenced by the stand-out songs Power Of Your Name, Majesty, You Carried Me and a great re-write of Grace That Is Greater. My favorite overall song is Singing Over Me, based on Zephaniah 3:17. This is a solid rock worship album and if you like Jeremy Camp, Casting Crowns or MercyMe, you should enjoy Building 429.
Solid introspective debut | Posted October-17-2008 Joy Whitlock the newest artist with Ardent Records, home of Skillet and Todd Agnew, has a great story to tell. Joy is a folk-style singer-songwriter similar to KT Tunstall, Kendall Payne and Jennifer Knapp. If every flock needed a black sheep, Joy readily filled that role maybe too eagerly seeking to numb a pain that could only be healed by the One who created her. “I tried to fill the emptiness I felt with anything that numbed or felt like love – drugs… promiscuity… the usual stuff.” She looks back with regret now at the pain she caused her mother and father as well as the embarrassment she subjected them to with her actions, a theme she touches on in the standout track Faith Don’t Fail based on Luke 22:31-32. The scene Joy so vividly recounts is from Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”. It’s not exactly a movie you look forward to seeing. But I went and accepted Jesus that night.”
God And A Girl is a great title for this solid introspective debut album. Joy really invites you into her life and expresses her struggles in a bare honesty that is refreshing. Some great examples are the opening track Cost Of Being Free, Don't Look Down-which to me resembles the great alternative rock singer Aimee Mann, the first single Holding Onto Me, Behind The Scenes and another standout track is the rocker Not Through With You, which to me resembled a rock track like Bring Me To Life by Evanescence. If you like introspective songs and alternative rock singer-songwriters Plumb, Alanis Morissette, KT Tunstall and if you are looking for CCM's next Jennifer Knapp, look no further than Joy Whitlock.
Solid debut album for great singer-songwriter | Posted October-16-2008 Meredith Andrews is a great new singer-songwriter to hit the CCM scene. In the piano-based style of Vicky Beeching, Bethany Dillon, Ginny Owens and Nichole Nordeman, Meredith really impressed me with her first single You're Not Alone and I've been enjoying that stand-out song for months. It is a great song of comfort with this beautiful chorus: "You're not alone, For I am here, let me wipe away your every fear, My love I've never left your side, I have seen you through the darkest night, And I'm the one that who's loved you all your life, All of your life".
The Invitation is much more than just the outstanding You're Not Alone, and the acoustic version of the song is a great bonus track and really shows off Meredith's amazing vocals. You Invite Me In really sparks this solid debut album with a nice melody and sets the tone for this worship-filled album, produced by Jason Ingram. There are no filler songs and my other favorites are The River, which should also be a hit CCM radio single, and Draw Me Nearer. If you are looking for the next Ginny Owens, Dove Award Winning Best New Artist 2000, look no further than Meredith Andrews, a deserving "Billboard Face to Watch in 2008".
Solid Power Pop Album | Posted October-13-2008 Brooke Barrettsmith is another alum of the hit show American Idol, Season 5 and her debut album draws comparisons to fellow alums Kelly Clarkson, Carly Smithson and established CCM veteran and multiple female vocalist of the year Natalie Grant, in that her style can best be described as power pop similar to 1980's pop icons Heart and Pat Benatar. Those are fair comparisons as you listen to the solid vocals and guitar riffs. In essence, this album is the Christian counterpart to 2007's My December by Kelly Clarkson.
Brooke Barrettsmith kicks it off with Right Now, a power pop song similar to Never Again by Kelly Clarkson. Other stand-out songs are More Real, the first single Farewell and Father. The album has a nice feel to it and is accessible, but possibly a bit too manufactured sounding and not quite raw enough. The second half of the album winds down and closes nicely with Paper Tigers a nice ballad with the encouraging lyrics "Look around, don't you fear, Paper tigers are your enemy, I know they seem real, Stretch out your hands and feel, The wind against your fingertips, And know that help is here, Right here". Solid debut by Brooke Barrettsmith and I'm looking forward to more.
Nice Debut Album for Female Duo Cadia | Posted October-13-2008 Cadia is a derivative of the ancient Greek word Arcadia meaning 'a place of peace.' Friends Tori and Courtney have very nice vocals and the great first single Trust In Me Now got my attention earlier this year and is one of the best songs on this nice debut album. One can't help but compare Cadia to fellow female vocalists BarlowGirl and even Britt Nicole and Jessie Daniels and those are certainly fair comparisons.
As a debut album, there are no big surprises on Cadia and if you like teenage female Christian pop artists, you'll like this album. For me, the highlights are Inside Out, the theme song of the Revolve Tour, an upbeat anthem with nice lyrics "Time to bring it to the light, Everything we try to hide, Are you with me, are you ready to shine, From the inside out, Who cares what it looks like, Oh yeah, take your heart for a joy ride." As a father of 3 daughters, I like songs with this kind of positive message for girls. The other highlights for me are the great cover of the excellent Brooke Fraser song Shadowfeet and the Ian Eskelin (All Star United)-penned Jesus. Cadia is certainly a worthwhile choice for fans of this style of album.
Nice Major Label Debut | Posted October-13-2008 Addison Road first got my attention with the excellent first single All That Matters and for several months, that was the only song I heard by this former indie band from Texas, led by lead singer Jenny Simmons. If you like Superchick, Fireflight, or Cadia, you should enjoy this album.
Addison Road, the nice major label debut on INO Records, is more than just the great first single All That Matters, but not what I expected. Overall, it's a more mellow album with some nice messages including Hope Now, Start Over Again, Run and my other favorite stand-out song What Do I Know Of Holy. It is one of the most personal songs on the album with the challenging lyrics: "What do I know of Holy? What do I know of wounds that will heal my shame? And a God who gave life its name?"
Jenny Simmons has a nice voice and this is a promising debut album. I look forward to hearing more by Addison Road.
Brilliant Album, Top 10 of 2008! | Posted October-10-2008
I've been a huge fan of Bebo Norman for the past decade as he has consistently released songs that have touched me such as The Hammer Holds, Tip Of My Heart, Nothing Without You and I Will Lift My Eyes. He is a truth telling folk music style singer-songwriter like Rich Mullins, Derek Webb and Todd Agnew, all favorites of mine. Having recently changed labels to BEC Records, this is his first recording as a new father of his 1 year old son Smith and and it has quickly become my favorite album by Bebo Norman and it is one of my top albums of 2008!
Bebo Norman is richly loaded with personal themes of coming out of depression, prayerful reflection and hope-filled expressions of joy in Christ. This album stands out like Deep Enough To Dream by Chris Rice in that you can't help but root for this album and artist because you can immediately identify with the personal nature of the songs. The first track is a great example. Pull Me Out is a song about Bebo's battle with depression and calling out for God's grace. Hear It From Me is another standout song in that we can all relate to Bebo's prayer. Every song is truly brilliant and personal and the song I can't stop listening to is the first single Britney, written as an apology to Britney Spears for how our culture tells lies about what's beautiful and what will give life. Bebo says: "it is also an invitation to the truth about a God who is bigger than the pain this world leaves us in." It is one of the most amazing songs I've ever heard and as a father of 3 daughters, it wrecks me everytime.
Pick up Bebo Norman and you won't regret it. For me this is a 5 star album.
Great Album, Top 10 of 2008! | Posted October-09-2008 Matthew West hit the Christian music scene in a big way back in 2003 with Happy and the hit single More being the most played song of 2004. His 2005 follow-up album History was even more impressive with several hit songs including History, Only Grace, and the cross-over hit The Day Before You, also recorded by country artist Rascal Flatts. A true singer-songwriter in Christian music, Matthew also wrote Only The World, the hit song recorded by Mandisa. So, when Matthew had vocal cord problems and lost his voice and needed surgery, he had to truly rely on God's grace and thankfully recovered to release his third and best album in my opinion.
Something To Say is easily the best-named album of the year considering Matthew's situation and the title song has a great autobiographical style with a strong calling to us as Christians as in the bridge: "Listen up, I got a question here, Would anybody miss you if you disappeared? Well your life is the song that you sing, And the whole wide world is listening". The first single You Are Everything is such a hope-filled anthem of truth and is my favorite song on this great album. The Motions and A Friend In The World are both great upbeat songs similar to Matthew's hit song Next Thing You Know. This album has that perfect balance of upbeat and reflective songs and Save A Place For Me, Life Inside You and Safe And Sound are excellent songs of comfort. The album closes with the stand-out song Stop The World which is a great reminder of something we all need sometimes. Thank you Matthew for opening your heart to us and I really like what you have to say.
KevinDavis_NRT's Music and Book Reviews 
