All The Way Up

“The Night Before Christmas” is a beautiful song that leaves us wishing for a Brandon Heath Christmas album- perhaps maybe next year. I absolutely love original Christmas songs. “Silent Night,” “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” “Jingle Bell Rock,” etc. are all great and wonderful, but tend to get old. That’s why I like original songs like Third Day’s “Christmas Like a Child,” or Alan Jackson’s “Let it Be Christmas.” Brandon Heath’s addition to this category of Christmas songs absolutely makes an impact. “The Night Before Christmas” is not really about Jesus being born in a manger, or coming home and being with family, or sleighs and jingle bells, but something far more profound. Its title brings back memories of the childhood story of “all through the house, not a creature was stirring; not even a mouse,” so upon hearing the song for the first time, many listeners will be surprised at the nature of the song. As Heath says himself, it captures “the tension of that holy night,” and what the world was like before it had no savior. The lyrics “We were so lost on earth/No peace, no worth/No way to escape/In fear, no faith/No hope, no grace , and no light/But that was the night before Christmas” from the first verse capture the essence of the song beautifully. Credit for writing the song goes to Regie Hamm, who has written for many popular acts including Lonestar, David Cook (2008’s chart-topper, “The Time of My Life”), Clay Crosse (remember him? from the 90s?), Bob Carlisle, and Clay Aiken. You can download it for a limited time for free at Amazon MP3.

Right now, country music newcomer David Nail is riding on the success of his breakthrough single, “Red Light,”  which is one of the most-played songs on radio right now. The song is #54 on Billboard’s Hot 100 (which includes all genres), and according to the magazine, is one of this week’s songs to gain the most overall plays and sales. The song is already up to #7 on the country charts, just behind songs by hitmakers Lady Antebellum, Reba McEntire, Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, and others. The song is obviously a hit, but how will the rest of the album fare with country music fans?

The first song people might remember Nail for is the title track, “I’m About to Come Alive.” A cover of a track originally recorded by pop band Train, the song was Nail’s first single under the MCA Nashville label, and peaked  at #47 on the country charts in 2007. The album of the same name was originally set to be released in August 2008, but was pushed back to August 18 of this year. The album boasts the work of heavy hitters Miranda Lambert, Kenny Chesney, and Rascal Flatts’ Gary LeVox- Lambert performs a duet with Nail in the song “Strangers on a Train,” and LeVox and Chensey each cowrote a track on the CD. But, as we all know, big names and one hit don’t guarantee success. That success will be proven or disproved with time- and Nail seems to be on the fast track to more hits.

The first song on the album, “Mississippi,” starts with a few seconds of upbeat piano, reminiscent of old Western bars- but the piano quickly slows and makes way for Nail’s slow, sad lyrics about longing for Mississippi after finding out he’s not who he thought he was.

The first single, “Red Light,” is a breakup song that depicts a typical one that takes place in “the middle of the night” while it’s “raining outside,” and then goes on to say that neither of these were the case in his situation when it happened to him and that he didn’t see it coming. Several Internet critics have stated that they “don’t believe” Nail in this song because he isn’t emotional in it, but he does a good job in my opinion.

In the duet with Lambert, “Strangers on a Train,” the two discuss what it’s like to meet someone that might be the perfect fit, but it’s too late because you’ve already got someone. The song has a very laid-back yet somewhat sad feel, opened by a harmonica, and is highlighted by the chorus:

“As these little brick houses are flying by /’Neath the flickering of the railcar lights /I let myself get lost in your eyes a while /Not another passenger in here can see /How in my mind you’re holdin’ me /While outside the cold makes snow out of the rain /But in here, we’re just strangers on a train”

Other standouts on the album include “Again,” which reminisces the strong feelings of a past relationship, and “Looking for a Good Time,” which is a deep song about “casual,” meaningless relationships with guys that will say anything to get what they want.

Several of the songs on I’m About to Come Alive have the potential for radio success, but even if they don’t, it’s been in my car stereo since I bought it two weeks ago. David Nail may not find sustained success with the album, as some of the songs tend to run together, but he’s likely to pack some punches with his next one.

Overall Rating:
7/10, “Good”

Since this is a Christian-based blog, I’d like to caution you by letting you know that the article’s subject, singer Jessie James, does not produce Christian music and therefore some of her songs contain some suggestive content and that this article discusses James’s career and her music from a professional critical standpoint, not a Christian one.

Jessie James has all the elements that it takes to be to this decade what Daisy Duke was to the 80’s: The looks, the name, the attitude- and she knows it. In fact, she’s really pretty up-front in letting us know about it in the lyrics to her songs, which range in style from pop to country to rap. The 21-year-old James, who burst onto the music scene in a big way recently, is signed to the Island/Def Jam label, and has all the traits (both looks and personality-wise) that, once fame arrives, will have guys wanting her and girls wishing they could be her. James exudes confidence and oozes sex appeal (in fact, Maxim has already caught onto this, already having featured her). She’s not even one of those singers that has a cool name only to find out they were born something different- her parents indeed gave her the name Jessica James when she was born in 1988. Read the rest… »

There’s plenty of good music headed our way soon- hit up your local music store in the coming weeks for plenty of goodies, especially if you’re a fan of Christian music. Here’s our list of important releases through September:

Just released
Brad Paisley, American Saturday Night
Darryl Worley, Sounds Like Life
Mark Wills, 2nd Time Around
Rob Thomas, Cradlesong

July 14
Daughtry, Leave This Town

July 21
Jordin Sparks, Battlefield
Our Lady Peace, Burn Burn

August 4
Aaron Shust, Take Over
Collective Soul (title TBD)
Gloriana, Gloriana
Hillsongs, Faith+Hope+Love
Modest Mouse, No One’s First and You’re Next
Phillips, Craig, & Dean, Fearless
Tantric, Mind Control

August 11
Jessie James (self-titled)
Justin Moore (self-titled)

August 18
Mutemath, Armistice
Reba McEntire, Keep On Lovin’ You
Sean Paul, Imperial Blaze
Third Eye Blind, Ursa Major

August 25
Abandon, Searchlights
Colbie Calliat, Breakthrough
Imogen Heap, Ellipse
Leeland, Love Is on the Move
Mariah Carey, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel
Mark Schultz, Come Alive
Matisyahu, Light
Needtobreathe, The Outsiders
Skillet, Awake

September 8
Howie Day, Sound the Alarm
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson, Break Up

September 9 (Wednesday)
The Beatles: The entire collection remastered

September 11 (Friday)
Jay-Z, The Blueprint 3 [LP]

September 15
Ryan Star, 11:59 (postponed from earlier release date)

September 22
Diddy, Last Train to Paris

Stay tuned for updates.

After various updates and pushings back of release dates, Decyfer Down’s sophomore album, Crash, is finally here- and so is the review. The album was released on May 5, but I’m just now getting the chance to review it. I’ve actually only had the album for about a week because I’m pretty limited on music retailers that are anywhere near, but I have it now and have listened to it several times. My conclusion is that DD fans will definitely miss Caleb Oliver’s vocals, but the album is still very good. It would be a completely different story if DD was a very, very well-established band and had a massive amount of fans that have been on board for ten years, but this only DD’s second album- so if there’s a time to replace lead vocals, it’s now. The fact that it was produced by Paul Ebersold (Third Day, 3 Doors Down, Skillet, Sister Hazel, Revelation Theory) also helps.

T.J. Harris does a good enough job, but for those of us who purchased the original version of the Crash EP know that Oliver’s vocals on the title track are far better. The original EP also included “Best I Can” and “Now I’m Alive.” When Harris replaced Oliver, the EP was re-released, but “Now I’m Alive” was eliminated- in fact, it’s not even on the final version of Crash but is available as a bonus song on iTunes. Harris did a decent job on the vocals of “Crash” and “Best I Can,” but who knows what Oliver’s vocals might have sounded like on some of the other songs on the album that we didn’t get to hear on the EP. Oliver still contributed to the album in a major way, as he co-wrote most of its songs.

One positive to the addition of Harris is that he brought with him the song “Desperate,” which was written by Harris and Oran Thorton. The song is a cover of the original by Fighting Instinct, Harris’s old band. Another song from the album, “Moving On,” is also originally by Fighting Instinct.

The second single from the album, “Fading,” which ended up replacing “Now I’m Alive” on the EP, is also good, and another signature DD rock song, as is “Crash”. “Ride With Me” and “Wasting Away” are also both quick-paced rock anthems, and “Ride With Me” definitely has the potential to become a hit on rock radio. In contrast, “Forever With You,” the final track on the album, is an easy, slow ballad that’s semi-uncharacteristic of the band, but yet still seems to fit onto the CD.

In summary, I share the same stance that most other reviewers of the album do- it’s a good album, but T.J. Harris’s vocals sound all too similar to those of other rock acts, whereas Oliver brought DD the sound that made them stand apart from other rock bands. But it’s still definitely worthy of picking up, especially if you’re new to Decyfer Down and don’t have the concept of what they should sound like in your head.

Decyfer Down, Crash
Overall Rating: 7/10, “Good”

The Newsboys as we know them have gone through several big changes in recent years personnelwise- the departure of Jody Davis in 2003 and Phil Joel in 2006; the short-lived addition of Paul Colman in 2006 (Colman left early this year); the return of Davis to replace Colman. However, the band’s newest record, In the Hands of God, marks the biggest change since the mid 90’s when the band transitioned from early members such as George Perdikis, Sean Taylor, and the late Kevin Mills to the group of guys Newsboys is today such as Davis and lead singer Peter Furler. Almost simultaneously with the release of the album came the news that Furler had decided to leave the band on its road shows. Former dc Talk member Michael Tait was tabbed as the man to replace Furler on tour, obviously creating a huge difference from the sound that fans have come to know and love. The question in many people’s minds is that while there’s no doubt that Tait is a phenomenal vocalist, will his style be able to fill the void left by the completely different vocal mannerisms of Furler? The YouTube clips I’ve seen didn’t sound bad at all, but they were different from those of us who are used to hearing that trademark voice of Furler. More often than not, a well-established band who tries to replace its lead singer usually does not survive (for example, the country band Lonestar). However, since the plan as of now is for Furler to remain as a part-time member who will lend his voice in the studio, album sales should not be affected much by the change.

Speaking of album sales, let’s get down to the music that’s on In the Hands of God. The album debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Christian charts, and at #28 on the Billboard 200 – higher than any of their other albums. More than likely this is due to the fact that a band that’s been around as long as the ‘Boys have generally have a quite extensive army of fans that will buy anything associated with them; but it’s also a great accomplishment because the band has released many albums, so for this one to debut higher than all of them says something.

Read the rest… »

Music lovers, prepare yourselves- in the coming months a numerous amount of artists including Bob Dylan, Ben Folds, Linkin Park, Dave Matthews Band, Incubus, and others will be dropping new albums- particularly on May 19. Check out our complete list:

April 28
Ben Folds, Ben Folds Presents: University a Cappella!
Bob Dylan, Together Through Life
Collin Raye, Never Going Back
Jason Michael Carroll, Growing Up Is Getting Old
Melody Gardot, My One and Only Thrill
NOFX, Coaster

May 5
Decyfer Down, Crash
Elliott Yamin, Fight for Love
Newsboys, In the Hands of God
Jewel, Jewel Lullaby

May 12
Better Than Ezra, Paper Empire
The Crystal Method, Divided by Night
Green Day, 21st Century Breakdown
Linkin Park, Songs from the Underground EP

Read the rest… »

Since the standard for describing the styles and vocals of new artists seems to be comparing them with an established one, I’ll give it a try. Think David Cook or Daughtry meets U2, with maybe a little Matchbox Twenty thrown in. In songs like “Last Train Home,” former Stage frontman Ryan Star’s sound has David Cook written all over it, whereas the new solo artist has a U2-esque style in the songs “Right Now” and “Brand New Day.” The comparisons to David Cook make sense, since they’ve been touring together- but the similarities make one wonder whether the pair’s touring together is a good idea or a bad one.

While many people may have not heard his name, Star is familiar with the necessary steps to be successful. Star and his band, Stage, which he started at just fourteen years of age, tasted success while still in high school. The band played venues such as the Mercury Lounge and even released a few EPs before going their separate ways.

Star’s voice is familiar to many that may not realize it- his current single, “Last Train Home,” was featured in the 2007 film “P.S. I Love You,” and “Brand New Day” is the theme to Fox’s television series “Lie to Me.” Star also performed at a Barack Obama support rally in New York during the President’s campaign for election in October, where he preformed “Right Now” along with “Somebody’s Son” and “Back of Your Car.”

Star will release his second solo album, 11:59, on June 2, and will include some of the songs mentioned, such as “Last Train Home,” the song in the aresenal of every male artist that promises faithfulness, direction, security, etc. “Brand New Day” and “Right Now” are both motivating and feel-good songs, but are still distinct from each other. Although 11:59 is Star’s second solo album, it is his first on a major label (Atlantic).

Keith Urban is doing something that as far as I know has never been done on iTunes. His new album, Defying Gravity, releases on March 31, and Urban is releasing one new song from the CD each week until the release of the album-which you can pre-order on iTunes- and so that you’re not paying for the same songs more than once, if you go ahead and buy the songs, you get a 99 cent credit for each one when you go to buy the whole album on or after its release date. It’s called “Complete My Album,” and started with the release of “Sweet Thing” and followed with the release of “Kiss a Girl” (not at all like “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry, just a sidenote) last Tuesday, and “I’m In” this coming Tuesday (St. Patrick’s Day!), and “Only You Can Love Me This Way” the following and final week before the release of the album. Furthermore, if you “complete the album” by April 14, you get a free bonus download of “Call My Name”- a song originally by the Christian rockers Third Day. Urban does a wonderful job covering the song (at least from what I can tell from the preview on his MySpace, which is where I initially learned of this iTunes deal). Never have I wished I had iTunes more than I do right now, because I can’t wait to get my hands on the Third Day cover, which hopefully will pop up elsewhere in the near future (to the displeasure, I’m sure, of the iTunes customers who thought they were getting a special deal), and I also really like what I’ve heard of “Kiss a Girl.”

Captivating. That’s the first word I came up with when trying to think of something that could describe the beauty of Francesca Battistelli’s voice. When I first heard her major label debut, My Paper Heart (Word Entertainment/Curb Records/Warner Brothers, 2008), I honestly didn’t pay much attention. But then one day, I saw the song “Beautiful, Beautiful” on a friend’s MySpace playlist. I thought, “that name sounds familiar,” and gave it a listen. The song’s title couldn’t be a more accurate description of the song itself, which is still my favorite by the 22-year-old Broadway-style play actress-turned-musician. In the song, which I find to be her best piece vocally on the album, the vocals and lyrics (co-written by Battistelli) are just that- beautiful. The song paints a picture of the beauty of a life changed by God’s grace, best illustrating it with the line “like sunlight burning at midnight.”

Since she was young, Battistelli had her heart set on being an actress on Broadway. Having with both parents involved in musical productions, it was really a no-brainer- until the Lord introduced her to the guitar at a youth ministry after a short stint with a pop group at only age fifteen. Read the rest… »