Photo credit: jeaneeem, flickr user

Is Keith Urban a Christian? That seems to be the question burning a hole in readers’ minds. Every other search engine query that brings new visitors to this site is either “keith urban christian” or “Is Keith Urban a Christian?” So for that reason, I have scoured the Internet to try to find the answer. Turns out Urban must choose to keep his religious preferences to himself. The Keith Urban Wikipedia entry makes a reference to Urban’s acknowledgment of prayer for his child: “Earlier this morning Nic gave birth to our beautiful baby girl, Sunday Rose Kidman Urban. We want to thank everybody that has kept us in their thoughts and prayers. We feel very blessed and grateful that we can share this joy with all of you today.” His website bio makes no reference to God, and neither do any of his social networking websites.

Urban does have connections to God musically: One of his number one songs is called “But for the Grace of God,” and discusses prayer and acknowledges that he’d “be lost, but for the grace of God.” The song was cowritten by Urban and was actually his first number one hit. Another song, from 2004’s Be Here and written by Urban, is titled “God’s Been Good to Me.” Urban also covered a song penned by Christian rockers Third Day called “Call My Name,” which was released as an iTunes exclusive with the purchase of Defying Gravity.

Ultimately, it seems that Urban does believe in God, as established by the aforementioned songs- but sometimes songwriters write what they think people want to hear, even if it is not what they personally believe. Which is the case with Urban, I don’t know. Furthermore, I don’t really enjoy celebrity gossip, which this article would fall under, but thought I would address the issue since so many readers are interested.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

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”

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. So the name and the fact that she was born in Italy made James automatically cool right from birth. She graduated from a rural Georgia high school in 2007, and has since signed to Mercury/Def Jam, released music on iTunes and in stores, had a song featured in a movie (the rap-esque “Blue Jeans” in “Confessions of a Shopoholic”), teamed up with Kara DioGuardi to write some songs on her debut album, and toured with the Jonas Brothers.

As for her music, it’s a very, very pop-sounding country, with hints of rap (“Blue Jeans”) thrown in. James has a mostly original sound, at times reminding me of  Deanna Carter and Christina Aguilera in some way or another. The lyrics are those that will probably be popular mostly among girls and young women just as Taylor Swift’s are, only much less innocent- the less innocent/sex appeal factor probably being the only one that might pull in any male fans. The punchline from her debut single, “Wanted,” sounds innocent enough- “I only want to be wanted by you”- but the verses that support the chorus provide more detail that’s better off not to be heard (or at least understood) by the young fans that James surely has. The secondtrack on the self-titled abum, “Bullet,” is about a hard-to-get/explosive girl who’s not to be messed with, which also has a couple innuendos, and prominently features these lines that sum up the boldness she portrays: “Why do you think they call me Jessie James? Sweet as a peach, impossible to tame…” The next song is yet another self-confidence booster titled “I Look So Good (Without You).” The song, one of the hallmarks of the album and written by James, discusses all the positive qualities about her looks and attempts to make an ex who dumped her jealous, while the track “Burning Bridges” speaks to leaving relationships behind without blazing a trail behind you. Another interesting track on the album that was also written by James is “Psycho Girlfriend,” which is lyrically just as the title sounds- a glimpse inside the mind of a jealous girlfriend, written from the secon-person point-of-view. The rest of the album overall is pretty solid, but I only pointed out the standout tracks. So go download the album from Amazon for eight bucks and you should be pleased. In the meantime, time will tell if fans have a positive opinion of James’s overconfident style.

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.

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”

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.

I was not that impressed with their most recent studio album, Go. I just wasn’t. Wherever We Go” was a nice party track, and “Something Beautiful” became one of my favorite songs by the band, but the rest of the album just didn’t do the trick, especially when it had to live up to the high expectations set by their previous pop album, Thrive (there were two worship albums in between, Adoration and Devotion). So to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from In the Hands of God. In fact, though I hesitate to admit it, I wasn’t planning on making the purchase upon its release as I normally would with a band or musician that I’ve been following for so long.

Instead, I listened to the thing on their MySpace.

I bought it after one listen.

In the Hands of God is that good. It only took one shot to bring me from doubt to make the purchase. It’s not nearly as good as Thrive, but most definitely surpassed the expectations set by Go. The album starts out with the track “The Way We Roll.” To me, that title is about as bad as Kelly Clarkson’s “My Life Would Suck Without You,” but the song is very good and quite reminiscent of the best days of the band when they were recording hits like “Reality, “Woohoo,” and others. I suspect that this is a result of the return of the influence of guitarist Jody Davis. The next song, “No Grave,” is also very good and discusses death and how as Christians we will not be held back by it. “This Is Your Life” goes the same direction (lyrically, at least) as the Switchfoot tune of the same title and reminds us that we need to live well and do right because we only get one chance. “Glorious” and “Lead Me to the Cross,” a song written by Hillsong’s Brook Fraser and originally recorded by Hillsong, are both quality worship songs suitable for an upbeat church service. The title track, “In the Hands of God,” is the album’s first single. It’s a good song, but is actually one of the weaker ones on the album compared to the others I’ve mentioned- so if you’ve liked hearing it on the radio, you’ll love the rest of the CD. The last track I’ll make mention of is “My Friend Jesus.” It seems to be the long lost sequel of the band’s smash hit “Breakfast” as far as I’m concerned. Its subject matter is serious but also works in a funny story about the writer being stuck on a phone all night with some corporate customer service line and being forced to listen to Celine Dion while on hold. To summarize the song, we all have to deal with stuff we don’t want to deal with, but if everyone was more like Jesus, it wouldn’t be nearly as hard.

Newsboys, In the Hands of God
Overall Rating: 7/10, “Good”

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

May 19
The Beach Boys, Summer Love Songs
Busta Rhymes, Back on My B.S.
Dane Cook, Isolated Incident
Eminem, Relapse
Eric Clapton, Live from Madison Square Garden
Kenny Chesney, Greatest Hits II
Lenny Kravitz, Let Love Rule (20th Anniversary Edition)
Lionel Richie, Just Go
Mat Kearney, City of Black and White
Method Man, Blackout 2
The Oak Ridge Boys, The Boys Are Back
Ruben Studdard, Love Is
Tori Amos, Abnormally Attracted to Sin
Wilco, A.M. [LP]
Wilco, Being There [LP]

June 2
Dave Matthews Band, Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King
Ryan Star, 11:59

June 9
Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies)
Lil Wayne, Rebirth
Sonic Youth, The Eternal

June 16
Ashley Tisdale, Guilty Pleasure
Incubus, Moments and Melodies

June 30
Rob Thomas, Cradlesong

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).