Listening to Charlie Hall has always seemed to me a little bit like eating pufferfish at a Japanese restaurant - an acquired taste that may or may not go well with everyone who tries it (although I haven't yet heard of anyone poisoned to death from listening to Charlie Hall).
His lyrics and melodies have always tended towards obscurity (seriously, who sings songs about being found between Porch and Altar?), and his very unique (being politically correct here) voice and singing style have left quite a lot of listeners (myself included) out in the cold.
So it was with great trepidation that I opened my copy of The Rising and popped it in my CD player.
And I found, to my surprise, that it was a lot more listenable than I thought it would be.
There are still lyrics that made me do a double-take (We are rising / In Your rising - from the title track Rising; and Come illuminate the face that brings the healing / Comd illuminate the truth that brings the freeing - from Breathe), and some melodies and arrangements still need some getting used to, but the album as a whole has a pleasant electro-pop-rock feel that doesn't grate on the ears.
I do think that some of the songs could sound better if arranged differently, and I'm still making myself get used to Hall's voice.
But for a start, at least I'm not averse to re-listening to the album for my full review.
For a change, I'm going to leave this open-ended until I've given the album a couple more listens. Who knows? Perhaps I'll turn into a die-hard Charlie Hall fan by the end of the week.
I can't say the same for pufferfish though.
Here're two tracks from the album for your kind perusal please - the title track Rising (A Song of Ascent) and the slightly-maudlin Deeper In Love:
Let us know what you think! Charlie fans - no hate mail please, I have a fragile heart.
This is the second year that VFC's youth ministry (TheEDGE) is organizing the international youth conference - last year's conference saw over 400 young people registered as delegates and close to 800 youths attending the night rallies every night!
We're SUPER excited this year because my personal hero (well, one of them at least) Pastor Jude Fouquier (Facebook | Twitter) will be preaching, together with the very gifted Henry Seeley (Facebook | Twitter) of Planetshakers fame! Of course, the youth pastor of VFC, Pastor Jeremy Seaward (Facebook | Twitter) will be there too to lay down the Word!
We'll be giving up-to-date coverage of what's going on at the conference via Facebook and Twitter, so make sure you're following us! We'll also do our best to bring you exclusive interviews with the three key speakers! So keep coming back during the conference for updates!
My initial impressions for Chris Tomlin's And If Our God Is For Us... can be summarized as such:
And If Our God Is For Us... > Hello Love
but
And If Our God Is For Us... < See The Morning < Arriving
That's not to say that AIOGIFU (sorry, album title too long) isn't a great album. It is. But at first listen, it doesn't quite reach the heights that Tomlin's earlier albums attained (less Hello Love, which I really had zero emotional attachment to).
AI (sorry, acronym too long) is a hodgepodge of downright brilliant songs like the opening track Our God (the title of the album is the first line of the bridge) - which was also performed on the 'live' Passion album Awakening - and pleasant but somewhat ho-hum tunes like Lovely.
If you liked Our God on the Passion album you'll love it here. Tomlin has given it the full choir + strings treatment, and it comes off sounding way grander than I could ever have imagined.
There's a superb duet with Christy Nockels - Faithful - and a song that smells like an instant classic to me - All To Us (it might just be the next How Great Is Our God, a song that's sung to death because it's so widely loved. Kinda like getting smothered to death by a hug.)
However, the one song that I couldn't get out of my head for days after I heard the album was the very pop-rock I Will Follow, replete with drum loops and falsetto vocal riffs (think One Republic).
The album closer is Awakening, which was the title track of the Passion album. I was mildly disappointed here because this song had such excellent potential to be the hugest, baddest, meanest final track on the album had it been given the Our God treatment. Sadly, no soaring strings = no super last song. It's still nice, but I kinda think the Passion version sounds nicer because it had 30,000 people singing along.
As is requisite for any Chris Tomlin album, there are a handful of upbeat numbers on AI. Same thing, I don't think they're bad, in fact they're pretty good, but just not great. No Chains On Me is a declaration of freedom, but it doesn't quite compare to insta-classics like Your Grace Is Enough (on Arriving) or the awesome Let God Arise (on See The Morning).
I shall be critical for now and give A (too lazy to type 2 letters!):
Stay tuned for my final review! In the meantime, here's the super super super super super version of Our God:
Here at illuminated, we get really excited when we get fan mail! Actually, we get really excited when we get any type of mail. Because it gets reaaaaaaally quiet out here.
So we're pleased to reproduce in full, this fan mail/album review hybrid for Audrey Assad's The House You're Building from Ian Wu! (NB: All views expressed are Ian's, as are all typos and grammar errors. But we love Ian anyway! LOL!)
Having a male artist dominated playlist on my ipod, it was with a little apprehension that i decided to get this debut! Oh boy what a good choice i made!
The thing that struck me about this album was that it was essentially very very, simple. No flashy guitar solos, flowery synth effects (not that i have anything against those), but instead assad's voice was the star. It's a kind of album that you'll listen to on a rainy day, or well maybe just late at night with some warm lights and a cup of coffee.
So, I choose to believe, as i carry this cross, You'll carry me. Simple truths melodically spun into lyrics, what could be better? If i had to liken Audrey to any other artiste, he would be Jimmy Needham. Not so much for her musicality, but for her straight up, simple yet powerful lyrics, just like Jimmy's.
Folks this album is a must get! Kudos to elvin here for providing us all with a point of reference before purchasing any album, and of course theGLOW where i get all my albums from!
In His Love,
Ian
Keep the mail coming people! You can email us at illuminated.ee@gmail.com or just leave a comment after every post (look for a link that usually says 0 Comments - sad face).
We're working on getting illuminated onto Twitter so you guys can get updates even more regularly! PLUS we'll have a Twitter bar on the site so you can air your thoughts and discuss reviews with other fans at the same time! How cool is that!
And it could very well be their hardest rockin' album to date.
Driving guitars, infectious drum beats, and the hypnotic Southern twang that is Mac Powell come together in a powerful package that's sure to get you out of your chair and onto your feet (or at the very least, you'll be tapping your feet or bobbing your head in time).
Third Day has a knack for pairing the simplest, most straightforward lyrics with insanely catchy melodies that are easy to enjoy and sing along to.
Here's my hypothesis as to why Third Day songs are so easily recognizable and singable: Third Day song titles appear at least twice in the chorus of the named song.
I shall now attempt to prove my hypothesis, by copying out the chorus of the tracks in the album, followed by the name of the song.
#1: Lift up your face Lift up your face
Salvation is coming
Salvation is coming
(Lift Up Your Face)
#2:
Well, you've got love and I've got time
Won't you make a move before I change my mind
And I want to believe it's true
I'm listening close
Won't you make your move now
(Make Your Move)
#3: Children of God, sing your song and rejoice
For the love that He has given us all Children of God, by the blood of His Son
We have been redeemed and we can be called Children of God, Children of God
(Children of God)
#4:
You better give up, gotta stop running
It's the end of line, it's time to surrender
Hands up, turn it around
Fall to the ground, are you gonna surrender
(Surrender)
#5: Trust in Jesus
My great deliverer, my strong defender, the Son of God
I trust in Jesus
Blessed Redeemer, My Lord forever, the holy One
(Trust in Jesus)
#6:
Where love like a river flows
Peace like you've never known
And joy never ending lives
A place where faith can find
Hope that will never die Follow me there
Come on follow me there
(Follow Me There)
#7:
Well I'm gone
It was nice to meet you
But I'm gone
Sure gonna miss you
But I gotta keep moving on
Can't stay in one place too long
Say a prayer for me I'm gone
(Gone)
#8: What have you got to lose What have you got to lose
And tell me why you're so afraid What have you got to lose What have you got to lose
Think of all you have to gain
(What Have You Got To Lose)
#9:
When you're down and you're falling fast
And you feel like your hope won't last
You know that I'll be your miracle
When you find that your faith is gone
You're not sure if you can carry on
You know that I'll be your miracle
(I'll Be Your Miracle)
#10: Everywhere You go I wanna go
Will You take me with You
Everywhere You lead I wanna be by Your side
Everyone You love I wanna love
Just like You love me Everywhere You go I wanna go there with You
(Everywhere You Go)
#11:
Sing Your song to me
Oh there's no greater thing
Than to listen to the sound of Your voice
When I hear Your song
I wanna sing along
And listen to the sound of Your voice
The sound of Your voice
(Sound of Your Voice)
#12:
Don't give up faith Don't give up hope
There's always something better
Waiting around the corner
Don't give up now
Please don't let go
What can feel like the ending
Could just be the beginning Don't give up hope
(Don't Give Up Hope)
Gentle readers, hypothesis is 100% proven.
And here's the thing, I decided to do this experiment on a whim, so I didn't cheat and read through all the lyrics before typing them all out!
Therein lies the mass appeal of Third Day - simple lyrics that speak straight to the heart, catchy melodies that stay in your head long after you've turned off your iPod or CD player, and the awesomeness of Mac Powell's pipes all add up to create a sound that is distinctly them.
And this album is Third Day at their very best.
Their brand of Southern rock may not appeal to everyone, but I'm going to hazard a guess that listening to this album will make you change your mind.
And for once, a Christian music video that doesn't make me cringe! Check out the official video for the opening number, Lift Up Your Face. It might take you a while to get the meaning behind the story (I had to watch it twice before I did), but once you do, it's beautiful.
And here's another of my favourite tracks from the album, the amazing Children of God:
What do you think? Is this Third Day's strongest album to date? Is the 'two titles in the chorus' a Third Day phenomenon or does it apply across all artists? Let us know what you think! Leave a comment!
Can you believe it? It's been 15 years since Flood and Liquid (some of you weren't even born yet) revolutionized the Christian Rock genre and proved to the world that you didn't have to sell out to attain mainstream success (although the guys did draw their fair share of controversy in the early years amongst conservative circles).
With The Shelter, Jars of Clay delivers an album that is every bit as revolutionary as the original Jars of Clay was 15 years ago, whilst staying true to their acoustic-rock roots.
There are collaboration albums, and then there are collaboration albums. The Shelter sits firmly in the latter category. There are plenty of albums and songs out there that feature artists writing and performing together, but most of those never progress beyond being artistic collaborations.
On the other hand, Dan Haseltine's idea of getting other artists to buy-in to the concept of 'Shelter' and then perform on Jars-written tracks (instead of contributing to the creative process) is just sheer genius - creating an album that just oozes the very essence of community and mutual support.
The concept is nothing less than abstract but somehow, Jars of Clay and their guest artists manage to turn the abstract into something tangible, something that we are all familiar with and can relate to.
Perhaps the best way to understand what I'm trying to say here (words are failing me miserably right now) is to sample some of the tracks from the album.
We Will Follow - featuring Gungor:
The title track Shelter - featuring Brandon Heath, Audrey Assad and TobyMac:
Lay It Down - featuring David Crowder and Dawn Michele:
So here's my final verdict:
Here's the 'downside': if you're not a Jars of Clay fan, it might take some listening to get used to this album.
But once you do, it's likely that the songs and their message will stay with you for quite a while.
How many of you out there are old enough to remember such Jars of Clay classics as Flood, Liquid, Love Song for a Saviour and Needful Hands? Leave a comment and tell me so I feel better knowing that I'm not the only oldie out here!
