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NAVIGATION
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Here at Friday Night Frenzy, we wanted to offer our views on some of the latest album releases so that you could kind of get a good idea of what was worth checking out and what wasn’t. We will really focus on reviewing Christian rock bands that we play on the show, however, we know that most people do not just stick to Christian music and it is important to know what mainstream albums to stay away from. All of the Christian bands that we play on the show will be underlined, and the secular bands will be marked in italics. We will steal our reviewing system straight out of the pages of RELEVANT MAGAZINE where they critique albums based on three separate categories: Lyrics (are they clean or not), Music (does it sound good or not), and Spiritual Content ( is it focused on God or not). We will grade these things on a scale of 1 to 5. Here’s how will break it down.
LYRICS
5- Nothing Offensive
4- Very Little Offensive Material
3- Mildly Offensive
2- Very Offensive
1- Out of Control, Cover Your Ears
MUSIC
5- Great Album
4- Good Stuff
3- Worth Checking Out
2- Nothing Special
1- Really Bad
SPIRITUAL CONTENT
5- Fully Focused on God
4- Good For the Soul
3- Some Spiritual Content
2- Very Little Spiritual Content
1- No Spiritual Content
-1 negative towards Christianity in some way
I hope you enjoy these reviews and that they are helpful for you, we have a limited amount of space on this space and can only fit 6 reviews on this page, so the reviews will probably only stay on a very limited time, so keep checking frequently.
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The Wedding-self titled debut
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The Wedding- The Wedding
Lyrics: 5 Music: 3 Spiritual Content:3
This debut album from the newest artist from Rambler Records offers some strong tracks, but overall presents a mediocre and predicatable album. Standout tracks include "Wake the Regiment" which blends their style of punk emo and screamo better than most of the other songs on the record, and the later track "Water Under the Bridge" shines in this area too. "One Eye Open" hits hard lyrically with an intense heartbreaking story about losing someone while lagging musically. Their first single off the album "Move This City" is a catchy encouraging tune, but again doesn't offer too much in the originality department, which tends to be the problem with most of this CD. Break up tune "Morning Air" and piano-laced track about enojoying life "But a Breath" are enjoyable, but nothing we haven't heard before. The inspirational ballad "Price For Love" tries to paint a picture of Christ's sacrifice drags musically and the lyrics are recycled from a million other songs rather than fresh, passionate lyrics that will really grip you. Some decent punk is offered in the final song, "Song for the Broken" one of the better songs on the album, both lyrically and musically. While they do try their best to blend different styles of music, The Wedding fails to find a sound that is their own. Almost every song sounds like a song you've already heard before. It's all good fun and all and a good listen, but just not quite the debut I was expecting. |
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Mae-The Everglow
Lyrics: 5 Music: 5 Spiritual Content:3
Mae's debut album, Destination: Beautiful, released in 2003, was understandably embraced by the over 70,000 emo fans that purchased that album. But, although I enjoyed that album, I can still look at it critically and see that some of the songs were formulaic and some of the lyrics were a little too surfacy. However, The Everglow, shows Mae maturing in every way possible. From begininning to finish, this record is a collection of nothing but excellent songs. Their lyrics plunge into new depths, beautifully portraying their innermost feelings about spritual matters and human relationships. The music is amazing. Each song is like its own person. They don't run together, they don't sound alike, each sound is definitevely Mae, but also definitively different. The piano ballad "We're so Far Away" is the perfect opener for this great album, while the desperate pleas throughout "Someone Else's Arms" help make it one of the most heartfelt and well done tracks on the album. "The Ocean" is a slower reflective song, while "Cover Me" is a funkier different sound for Mae which adds a nice surprise to album. The encouraging lyrics and catchy chorus of "Anything" will make it a fan favorite while "The Sun and the Moon" shines as one of the most heartwrenching tracks on the album. Critically looking at the album, I must say, there's just nothing wrong with it. Song after song is done so amazingly and they really switch things up, not keeping the same pace and making sure none of the songs seem repeatitive. This amount of growth Mae shows on the album is incredible. Their lyrics are relevant and thought-provoking, incorporating the feelings of everyday with lyrics that admit this trust in the one true hope. |
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Superchic[k]-Beauty From Pain
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Superchic[k]- Beauty from Pain
Lyrics: 5 Music: 4 Spiritual Content: 4
There is very little wrong with this album so I'll just get my few complaints out of the way right now. First off, Superchick hasn't released a CD with original material since October 2002, and so I think only 9 original tracks plus a song they did with TobyMac for his latest album falls a little short of our expectations. Why did it take so long to record only 10 songs? Secondly, "Stories" they song they recorded with TobyMac, feels a lot more out of place on this album than it did on his. It's a really good song and runs smoothly on his record, but it just seems kind of awkward placed in here. And lastly, their first single from this album, "Pure", has good intentions and is kind of a fun song in a way, but they really are trying to hard to do something different here and it just turns out to be one of the weakest songs on the album. A bold and noble attempt, though. Now to the good stuff. Superchick remains one of the most encouraging and relevant bands in Christian music whose brand of pop/rock balanced with their thoughtful, encouraging lyrics helps bring some really great songs to life. The opener "Anthem" is a pumped up energy driven anthem for girls, reminiscent of their hit "One Girl Revolution" and "Bowling Ball" is a catchy lyrics whose lyrics adress boyfriends who don't appreciate their girlfriends. Standout track "Wishes" relives the pain of a breakup, but shows the lessons you learn through the experience. The title track slows things down with a piano driven ballad and beautiful lyrics about hope despite grim circumstances. "It's On" picks up the pace with a peppy song of encouragement that this band is known for, and is followed by "Suddenly", a song about finding yourself. Melissa Brock's vocals and amazing lyrics shine in "Courage" where she confronts her struggle with an eating disorder in a raw and appropiate manner. This is a bold song with such honest lyrics and offers hope to many who may be struggling with that disorder. The disc concludes with "We Live" offering a hopeful look inspite of tragedy. They play around a little musically in this last song, and it turns out much better than their experimentation with "Pure." Needless to say, this album is great and I'm really enjoying it. Tricia and Melissa Brock's vocals shine throughout the entire album and the songs remain consistently encouraging and entertaing. Superchick's bold approach to tough issues continues to be their strong point on this latest effort.
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Jars of Clay-Redemption Songs
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Jars of Clay-Redemption Songs
Lyrics: 5 Music: 3.5 Spiritual Content:5
After 10 years in the Christian music industry, Jars of Clay releases a collection of modernized hymns and continue to transform their sound as they have been for the past decade. This album will probably win the Grammy for Best Rock Gospel Album next year and also take home a few Dove Awards based on the sole fact that they are Jars of Clay. In reality, Jars of Clay had the potential to do a lot more with this project and I don't really think they should recieve all that. However, Jars really do shine at some moments in this album. Standout track "Let us Love and Sing and Wonder" sang beautifully with Martin Smith of Delirious is an amazing praise song delivered perfectly. Their first single "God Will Lift Up Your Head" is actually their musical interpretation of a text from the early 1900's. Jars of Clay reveal their signature sound here with an exceptionally catchy chorus. Other exceptional tracks include "God be Merciful to Me" "Hiding Place" and "O Come Mourn with Me a while". Sarah Kelly's beautiful vocals help turn the otherwise predictable "I'll Fly Away" into a worthwhile track. And lastly, "They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love" ends the album with a challenging message painted on top of a haunting piano melody, delivers a thought-provoking closer with perfection. Weak points of the album include their bold, but failed, rendition of "It Is Well With My Soul" making the mournful hymn sound more like a Beatles song or something. Also the overpowering vocals of the Blind Boys of Alabama and the heavy dose of bluegrass makes "Nothing But the Blood" feel out of place on this record. A few other tracks just seem to be throw together without much of Jars of Clay's personality poured into them. A worthwhile album, but it could have been a little better. But there's enough really good stuff here that makes this album worth picking up. |
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Lifehouse-Lifehouse
Lyrics: 5 Music: 3.5 Spiritual Content:2
In 2000, Lifehouse debuted with a brilliant poetic album entitled No Name Face. Their hit single "Hanging By a Moment" became the most played song of 2001, beautiful songs like "Breathing" and "Everything" helped stabalize their trademark sound that made so many fall in love with them. In 2002, they returned with their follow-up Stanley Climbfall which was a less personal and blander look into the band. I felt like it ran dry and was lacking the passion that was so prominent on their first album. When I heard they releasing their self titled album this month, I was hesistant to become too hopeful. Fortunately, though not a perfect record, Lifehouse has become more personal yet again and created a really great album that has a lot of strong qualities. Some of the songs do run together and lack a sense of life, but Lifehouse has always had a slower sound that is really enjoyable and I think works well again on this album, although it does have its less than perfect moments. Lyrically, Lifehouse takes a different direction with much of this album. The low points include songs like "All in All" and "Days Go By" that are bland "everything's gonna be ok" songs with little orginality to be found. The touching love song "You and Me" and the heartfelt "Undone" show a side of Lifehouse we're use to seeing, but done differently this time. Four emotionally-charged songs on this album deal with lead singer,Jason Wade's father walking out on him and his mom when he was 12 years old. It spans a whole list of emotions from sad ("Blind" "Walking Away"), mad ("Better Luck Next Time") and hopeful ("Into the Sun"). Each of these songs are done extremely well and I really enjoyed hearing Wade sharing his emotions during this experienced that isn't really confronted on his other records. In fact, "Blind" may be one of the best songs Lifehouse has ever done. This album does have its strong and weak points, but it is mostly a solid release. |
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Copeland- In Motion
Lyrics: 5 Music: 3 Spiritual Content: 2.5
The debut Copeland album, Beneath Medicine Tree, was released three days shy of exactly two years ago. It was recieved with critical praise and helped earn them a large amount of dedicated fans. Their much anticipated follow-up might not be as easily accepted, but it's a fair effort, nonetheless. The piano-driven ballad "Sleep" stands out as well as the fast-paced "Love is a Fast Song". The opener "No one Really Wins" also gets your spirits up and sets a fast pace for the album. The first single "Pin Your Wings" kind of lulls along and doesn't seem to get a grip on things. That is the most common problem for several of the songs on this album. Stuck somewhere between fast and slow and while they try some brave new things, sometimes they stray too far from the standard Copeland sound that we all enjoy. However, it is still found throughout this album which includes many noble efforts and a lot of strong points. Lyrically, it falters some, with some fluffy cheery lyrics that don't usually reach the depth of the last album. Keeping it positive is great, but the thoughful lyrics of "Take Care" are not found on here. Nothing on this album matches the poignant closer, "When Finally Set Free" from their previous album, however "You Have My Attention" comes close. Copeland is capable of more and this isn't the perfect sophomore album that you would like to see, but they were courageous enough to play around with their music some and not stick with the same formula, and that doesn't always work. But this is still an enjoyable album and I expect only good things from this great band in the future. |
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