Presents The Christmas Classics EP
by
House Of Heroes In lieu of last year's turning point for the band, House of Heroes has been doing their darnedest to make sure you remember them, all through a series of three 3-song EPs. First it was acoustic, then it...
Family Force 5's Christmas Pageant
by
FF5 (formerly Family Force 5) It seems that every year I hear yet another person expressing their hate for Christmas music. After all, it's the same classics spelled the same different ways, by the same voices. For these people, there's...
Hello Hurricane
by
Switchfoot I'll admit it. After such a long drought of a solid album (their whole career), and the recent draught of even a decent album (Since 'Beautiful Letdown'), I kind of gave up on Switchfoot. Add to that the...
A Worse Newsboys Album | Posted September-03-2007
Why not follow a bad effort with a worse one? Why not abandon all early fans? Why not make an album that's just made for the pathetic radio crowd? That's what they did. "Presence" is just as bad as "Amazing Love" and song like "Blessed Be Your Name" are downright pathetic covers, and some of the worst in the industry.
Overall, boycott this sad effort from the Newsboys. It's a truly bad album with no substance.
A Bad Newsboys Album | Posted September-03-2007
Don't know why, but the Newsboys decided to jump on the worship music bandwagon. After all, everyone else is doing it. The result? One of the, if not the worst result since their first two album. "He Reigns" is a good worship song, but extremely overplayed on radio. The rest? Bad. "Amazing Love" is even more overplayed, and is the most overrated song of the decade. I don't know why they recycled "It Is You", oh wait, it's live, my bad.
Overall, a sad overrated effort from a group that made such great music. The key word there is "made". The Newsboys through out everything good from the previous album, and abandoned their roots. Sorry Newsboys, you made a mistake.
Searching For The New Newsboys | Posted September-03-2007
For reasons I don't understand, the Newsboys decided to change it up a little bit. The result is what they wanted, changed, but very mixed. Songs like "Live In Stereo", and "Rescue" are trying to be like the classics, but they can't seem to get off the ground. I think they were trying a little bit too hard with this album. "It Is You" is a good example of this. The song has a promising opening, but it falls apart when the chorus is reached.
"Million Pieces" is a good song, and is the highlight of the album, but still not totally classic. The album is also short, which is strange since they had a few years to work on it. So if you're searching for the Newsboys of the 90's, this isn't it. But this is still their last album which had any real redeeming qualities. Apparently, this album didn't work, because they threw it all out with the next couple of albums.
Way Too Inspirational | Posted August-30-2007
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with inspirational songs, it's just that it can be overdone to the point where you're like, I'm not inspired. Eventually if you do it too much, you've lost your purpose. That's what happened here. If "Cry Out To Jesus" was the only inspirational song on here, there wouldn't be a problem. But instead, those type of song had to be the theme of the album, which isn't bad, it just couldve been done better. "Tunnel" and "Mountain of God" regardless of lyrics, are very poorly executed songs, and quickly shoot themselves near the top of the list for worst radio singles of the year.
These songs, and songs like them sink the album to one of the worst of 2006. Sorry Third Day, your last album was a whole lot better. Better luck next time. Inspirational is good, but very boring if overdone.
The Face Of Love Album Can't Fight The Tide | Posted August-28-2007
I was a huge fan of Sanctus Real's sophomore CD. It was the first CD I actually bought, and until I got into Relient K, it was the pride of my CD collection. Imagine how hyped I was when this CD came out. Imagine my hopes when JFH gave it a stunning review. I bought the CD, and liked maybe 3 songs, all of which were in the first 4 songs.
"I'm Not Alright is a great rock song, and it's lyrics have a great meaning. "Eloquent" does very well in it's weaving of wordplay, something Relient K has mastered. "The Face Of Love" is a my favorite song because it's a great worship song, and every word is deep in meaning.
Other than that, the CD is only good, but not great. Compared to "Fight The Tide", this album just can't match up. The great riffs and lyrics that made the tide such a great album have been replaced by stuff that's more "mature." A case in point: "Benjamin." This was supposed to be a great emotional song to end the record; it's not. I don't feel any emotion listening to it, and all I hear is a poorly executed song. The same could be said for other songs on the album.
Overall, if you've never heard Sanctus Real, I would suggest getting this album first, then "Fight The Tide", that way your expectations aren't so high when listening to the album. A fan's dissapointment. This album has pretty much lost me with the band, and my former love for them is all but a memory. Hopefully the next album will be better, but it will be hard to win this fan back.
Kutless Is Lively Live | Posted August-25-2007
I can't resist a live CD/DVD combo from a band I like. So far, I've been happy, and this is no exception. Kutless does a great live show, great interaction with the fans, great stage presence and performance. However, their play-list isn't that great. Kutless has only done a few albums, and not many of those were great songs, so they're not going to have that many great songs to play live. This is most evident in the second half of the album, where the song quality really suffers, as these were from their early album, or some of the bad songs off thier new ones.
That said, the first half is great. And the DVD only adds immensely to the experience. The filming is done very well and creatively. The few bonus features are also welcome.
Overall, I would say you'd have to be a Kutless fan to like this enough to buy it. For the rest of you, you probably just might want to skip this.
Audio A Goes Out With A Bang! | Posted August-25-2007
Now, we didn't know it when it came out, but this would be the last Audio A CD of totally new material. And did they go out in style, as the first track quickly shows. "Clap Your Hands" is one of my favorite Audio A songs, a great rocking song that's just plain party fun. It's impossible not to either play air guitar, or dance. If you don't, you don't know how to have fun, because this song it cranked to 11 fun. And while not as good as "Clap Your Hands", the title song is a great rock song.
"King" is a great Audio A original worship song. Audio A never did a cover to do a great worship song, they created them, and this song is one of their best worship/praise songs. "Undefeated" comes with a little of Deja Vu, as it sounds a lot like the title song.
"Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher" is the best cover ever done of that song. Mark Stuart shines for good reason on this song, and blows the original out of the water.
Overall, Audio A didn't go out doing bad albums, they went out with some of the best work of their career. This is a great band, and they'll be sorely missed by all CCM fans. Let it be said Audio A went out undefeated and in a blaze of glory.
Say Your Prayers, These Guys Are Great | Posted August-25-2007
Note: I've only heard "Say Your Prayers." That being said, it's a great song. This song easily has the most relevant lyrics of the year. Every verse, every part of the song is a lyrical journey about the trials of getting married, from a spiritual prospective. The song also rocks out like nothing else. This is a great rock song, and it really puts these guys on the map, especially since I've never heard of them before.
A Hard Rock Masterpiece | Posted August-25-2007
First off, I personally hate every song except "Already Over", mainly because I hate almost all hard rock, expecailly really hard rock, which is what this is. That said, this is good hard rock for people who like it. It's not just screaming, but they're screaming a message. And believe me, it can get very screamy, "Break Me Down" is about as hard as they come. So if you like this type of music, go ahead, it's one of the best in the genre, but for me though, I'll skip this one.
Question: Is that Sanctus Real's Matt Hammit making a brief guest appearance during "Already Over?" It's during the part where they slow down the chorus. It's been bugging me, and nobody seems to have the answers. It could be the lead singer's normal voice, but he sounds a lot like Hammit then.
My Thoughts On Paramore | Posted August-22-2007
First off, I'm personally dissapointed with every person that posted a favorable reveiew of this album. Kudos to "justinisthecrazy", she actually gave the band a bad review, and asked the same quesion I did, is this band Christian? I recently posted a blog on the band, but for those of you who won't go to my page to read it, here it is.
I have XM Satellite Radio, and they have a channel called "20 On 20" that plays the top 20 hits voted on by you on the channel's website, they usually have artists like "Lifehouse", "Mat Kearney" among others on the top lists. Now I'm not against Christian artists going mainstream, in fact I encourage it, I want to see Relient K on Jay Leno. So while I was listening to the countdown (Lifehouse came in 5th) I stumbled onto "Misery Business" by Paramore. I listened, hoping for a good rock song to knock off "Sean Kingsdon." What did I hear? Another song yelling I hate you, just like Kelly "Never Again" Clarkson and Alanis "You Otta Know" Morrisot. The song was pretty hateful to say the least. In fact, let me post the main parts.
WARNING! You might find this offensive!
I'm in the business of misery
Let's take it from the top
She's got a body like an hourglass
That's tickin' like a clock
It's a matter of time before we all run out...
When I thought he was mine
She caught him by the mouth
I waited eight long months
She finally set him free
I told him I can't lie
He was the only one for me
Two weeks and we had caught on fire
She's got it out for me
But I wear the biggest smile
Whoa...I never meant to brag
But I got him where I want him now
Whoa...it was never my intention to brag
To steal it all away from you now
But, God, does it feel so good
Cause I got him where I want him right now
And if you could then you know you would
Cause, God, it just feels so
It just feels so good
Second chances, they don't ever matter
People never change
Once a whore, you're nothing more
I'm sorry, that'll never change
And about forgiveness
We're both supposed to have exchanged
I'm sorry, honey, but I passed that up
Now look this way
I watched his wildest dreams come true
And not one of them involving you
Just watch my wildest dreams come true
Not one of them involving...
Whoa...I never meant to brag
But I got him where I want him now
Whoa...it was never my intention to brag
To steal it all away from you now
But, God, does it feel so good
Cause I got him where I want him right now
And if you could then you know you would
Cause, God, it just feels so
It just feels so good
WHOA! That's pretty bad for secular radio, I think Mr. Timberlake would be hard pressed to be that hateful. Wait, you have to hear the actual song to get the real feel of it, I get the feeling that the singer wants the other girl dead. Wait, that's not the end of it, you haven't heard about the music video. Here's Wikipedia's summery of the video.
WARNING! Some might find the following offensive!
The music video starts out with the band playing the song with an assortment of "RIOT!"s in the background. It switches from the band playing to a high school, where a girl in a blue dress and heavy makeup walks in. The girl pushes the school cheerleaders aside her as she walks into the hallway. She cuts off a girl's braid with scissors, grinning at the girl while showing it to her. Later, as she is walking down the hall, a boy comes out of the Nurse's Station with his arm in a sling. She proceeds to push him into the wall, further injuring him. The band plays more, and the girl walks up on a girl and a boy together, obviously in love. She pushes the girl's face out of the way, and goes into a passionate kiss with the boy, then leaves, smiling. The boy's girlfriend starts crying, thinking he was in on it. It switches again to the band playing, then the band comes out of a classroom together. Hayley (Williams) and the girl confront each other in the hall. Hayley reaches into the girl's bra and pulls out pads, then uses a towel and wipes the girls makeup off, exposing her for what she is. The video ends as the band finishes the song.
DOUBLE WHOA!!! That's just downright mean! And I think that might be putting it lightly. Now, imagine my shock when I found out that these people were Christians. Yes, that's right, they're even listed on this site. Shocking? Well, she did regret writing it. Yeah... She says she wrote it as a cleansing, yeah... As soon as she wrote the song she should have got down on the floor and asked for forgiveness, then burned the song. But what does she do? Records it, puts it on CD, releases it as a single, plays it everytime they do a show, promotes the song, and films a disgraceful music video for it. And they're CHRISTIANS!?!
I now have serious doubts. To compromise their faith that much! It's not even a compromise, it's a direct throwaway! Like I said, I have no problem with Christian bands on mainstream radio, but this is a direct shunning of God, and the complete abandoning of their faith. I'm sorry if Paramore had a spiritual first album, if they did, there's no trace of it left. I don't care if every other song is a worship song, this is the one that they're known for, they recorded it, they threw God out of the picture, end of story.
art10's Music and Book Reviews 
