Great Album of Praise to God! | Posted August-14-2008
This is a must-have album for any fan of Keane, U2, The Fray and Snow Patrol on the mainstream side (all favorites of mine) or Telecast, Starfield and Leeland (also favorites). Phil Wickham is one of the best new solo artists I've heard in the last few years and writes and sings songs with an amazing passion and with unashamed praise and gratitude to our Savior!
My favorite songs on Cannons are the incredible title song which is a great anthem of praise to our God. Also, the tender and reflective The Light Will Come, the catchy and upbeat After Your Heart, and hymn-like and prayerful You're Beautiful. My favorite song is the extremely powerful True Love which builds to the exclamation "Jesus is Alive!"
Solid Worship Album | Posted August-07-2008
I have had the privilege to meet and worship with Canada's Tim Milner and he truly has a passion for praising our God. Kiss The Son is Tim's 2nd album and a great follow-up to Form And Essence. Right from the opening song O Worship The King, a hymn re-write with a new chorus similar to Chris Tomlin's version from Passion's Hymns album, Tim brings uplifting reverence and joy of worship to our King. The title song brings scripture to life and is based on Psalm 2: "Kiss The Son, lest He be angry" and Revelation 19:11-16.
The other highlights for me are Extol, Greater Grace-the first single released in Canada, For Such A Time and Follow, a great rocking song of praise to our God. The album ends like it starts, with a nice hymn re-write of This Is My Father's World with Tim's wife Dorilee singing lead. I really enjoy the vibe of this album and the melodies and lyrics are all solid and biblical. Fans of Lincoln Brewster or Chris Tomlin should enjoy this solid worship album.
Another good Passion collection | Posted August-05-2008
I've been a big fan of the Passion conference collections for the past 10 years, especially the last few which have included the newest live versions of future hits by Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Matt Redman and Charlie Hall.
Passion: God of This City is another good Passion collection. God of This City by Chris Tomlin is one of the highlights and I love the addition of Fee and We Shine to the conference. My other favorites are Hosanna sung by Christy Nockels, The Glory Of It All by David Crowder and my favorite song is Shine by Matt Redman based on Philippians 2:14-16, which seems to be the theme of this album.
Great personal album by Derek Webb | Posted August-05-2008 I See Things Upside Down is a great personal 2nd solo album by Derek Webb. His first album She Must And Shall Go Free was about the church and is one of my all-time favorite albums and this album (ISTUD) is really about Derek's personal walk with Christ.
I Want A Broken Heart starts it off and is basically a thesis statement for the album. I find the themes can best be experienced by listening to the album in order. My other favorites are Better Than Wine, Medication, I Repent, T-Shirts (What We Should Be Known For) and Lover Part 2, kind of a sequel to my all-time favorite song by Derek, Lover. If you like The Beatles, Bob Dylan or Jack Johnson you'll love Derek Webb.
Excellent Relationship Album | Posted August-05-2008
I am very privileged to get to meet Derek Webb when he visits my church later this month for an interview with me and my pastor during our church service and then a concert afterwards. In listening to Derek's entire catalog of songs I listened to Derek's newest EP called Ampersand, which he co-wrote and recorded with his wife Sandra McCracken.
The best way to describe this EP is that it is an excellent relationship album. My first date with my now wife was 20 years ago and this year is our 14th wedding anniversary. The songs on this album really reflect the beauty of the husband & wife marriage relationship and celebrating God's blessings. Derek sings lead on Valentine, a beautiful love song, and also Watch Your Mouth and My Finest Misfortune.
Sandra sings lead on the awesome cover of the Bob Dylan song If Not For You, and When The Summer's Gone and When The Lights Go Out, which are both wonderful love songs with tender vocals that remind me of Liz Phair or Leigh Nash. Sandra harmonizes with Derek on all of the songs. Watch Your Mouth stands out to me as my favorite song on this excellent EP.
Great Worship Album | Posted July-29-2008
This is the follow-up to the highly successful and excellent live worship album by Third Day, Offerings, which featured Your Love Oh Lord, My Hope Is You and King of Glory and is one of my favorite worship albums.
Offerings II - All I Have To Give is a great worship album and features two of my favorite Third Day songs of all-time Offering and Nothing Compares, which is based on Philippians 3:7-11. This song sums up my greatest desire as a follower of Jesus. This album also includes a great live cover of Creed by Rich Mullins and my other favorites are You Are So Good To Me and Show Me Your Glory.
Excellent Album, Best by Third Day! | Posted July-29-2008
This is the album that hooked me on Third Day. I loved the self-titled debut, especially Love Song and Thief, but Time is my all-time favorite album by Third Day and is on my list of top 10 best Christian albums ever. Third Day pioneered the Christian Southern Rock genre and influenced DecembeRadio, Big Daddy Weave and NEEDTOBREATHE, all favorites of mine.
The opening track I've Always Loved You is a fantastic song about God's Love, and gets the album rolling along with Believe and my other favorites are the rocking Sky Falls Down and Don't Say Goodbye, both written by guitarist Mark Lee, who won a Dove Award for song of the year with Sky Falls Down. My favorite song ever by Third Day is Your Love Oh Lord based on Psalm 36 and just enhances this excellent album.
Classic Worship Album! | Posted July-14-2008
I've loved Third Day ever since their self-titled debut album over 10 years ago. Love Song, Forever, Thief and Consuming Fire are all completely biblical, catchy and Third Day pioneered a new sound in Christian music, Southern Christian Rock. You can hear their influence in Big Daddy Weave, NEEDTOBREATHE, Jackson Waters and DecembeRadio, all favorite bands of mine.
Offerings was part of the big worship music wave of the early 2000's and one of the best in my opinion. Third Day originals like Your Love Oh Lord, based on Psalm 36 and one of my favorite songs of all-time, along with King of Glory and My Hope Is You make this album a 'can't miss' and one of the classic worship albums ever. To quote Mac Powell from the album: "When you came here tonight to see a Third Day show, and we all gather here tonight in the name of Jesus, we're going to have a church service tonight".
Catchy 'message' songs | Posted June-30-2008
Derek Webb is one of my favorite Christian singers and I have loved his work since early Caedmon's Call. Mockingbird is Derek's 3rd solo album and is arguably his strongest 'message' album with standout songs A New Law, A King And A Kingdom and my favorite song is Rich Young Ruler, which is based on Luke 18:18-24. What an amazing reminder of our calling as Christians to give up our earthly desires and follow only Jesus.
This album was available free for a limited time during Derek's unique promotion, freederekwebb.com, and I'm so glad many people have gotten the chance to be blessed by Derek's music. If you like folk acoustic rock like John Lennon, Toad the Wet Sprocket and Jack Johnson or Shaun Groves, Todd Agnew and Caedmon's Call, you'll love Derek Webb.
Downhere is Unbelievable, top 10 of decade! | Posted July-14-2008
WOW!! Wide-Eyed and Mystified, the 3rd studio album by Canada's Downhere (my favorite band) and 1st with Centricity Records is literally Unbelievable in its greatness. Jars of Clay got me into Christian music and is still the standard for me, however I first saw Downhere in 2001 and I was blown away. Larger Than Life, Great Are You and Protest To Praise from the debut album made Downhere my favorite band, slightly ahead of Jars of Clay. Great for fans of Sanctus Real and Leeland as well.
This album starts rocking with The More, based on 2 Peter 1:5-8 and is an amazing reminder of how to grow in our walk with Jesus. Surrender keeps the Marc Martel/Jason Germain co-lead vocals and amazing harmonizing going. Then, my all-time favorite Downhere song A Better Way brings me to tears as I praise Jesus for His sacrifice. The album continues to amaze with Little Is Much,Stir and The Real Jesus-a stirring depiction of cultural references, which are all among the best songs by this underrated band. You can't go wrong with Downhere.
KevinDavis_NRT's Music and Book Reviews 
