AUGUST 2012 NEW RELEASES--ALBUM REVIEWS
Chris August--The Upside of Down
GRADE: A-
DESCRIPTION:
When listening to this CD--I think you will definitely notice a shift from his debut album. I think "The Upside of Down" wrestles with a lot more serious issues than his first release which was more lighthearted (except for 7x70).
The CD opens with the radio single "Center of It" and the title track "Upside of Down"...both of these songs deal with recognizing God's role in the midst of our struggles and pain. No matter what, God is in the center of our problems and drawing closer to Him is the upside to our down times!
The CD then moves into dealing with some of the issues in our society and church...songs like "Restore" deal with the problem of divorce and God's desire to bring healing to broken homes. These songs build up to the moving ballad, "I Believe" which is a strong testament to our faith over signs and wonders...with words like "I don't need a rainbow to know who made the rain, don't need the waters parted to know who made the way, and I don't need a healing to know who is the cure"
The album then picks up again with the fun song "1989" which is about seeing Jesus the way a child does and trusting Him without question. "Unashamed of You" is another fun song which encourages us all to stand up for Jesus regardless of what others think.
The CD slows down again for the song "A Little More Jesus" which deals with our human inconsistencies and how we need more of him and less of us. "Let the Music Play" is the last major upbeat song on the album and pushes for us to keep on trying in the midst of our failures. The last three songs are ballads reinforcing our faith in Christ.
Chris also experiments with a couple different styles on this Cd which make it an enjoyable album. Some of the songs maintain his more contemporary sound like "Center of It" and "Unashamed of You"....however, in the amazing song, "Amen" he drifts over into some gospel complete with a choir behind him toward the end of the song. Finally, there is some funky almost Toby-Mac like style going on in the song "Let the Music Play"
Overall, this album is a superb musical journey of faith and what it really means to trust Jesus completely.
The only "downside" to this album is that I feel like the last three songs are good but a bit overkill....unfortunately because they are three slow songs the end of the CD does seem to drag on a bit...but not enough to ruin the greatness of the CD itself.
Tenth Avenue North--The Struggle
GRADE: C
DESCRIPTION:
I thought Tenth Avenue's first album was good...but nothing special...I felt like they kicked it up a notch in The Light Meets the Dark...and I was so excited for this new album, but was disappointed once I got it and actually listened to it. The band is trying to cover musical territory that to me they are just not suited for. I don't think any of the new songs will be major radio hits like some of their other songs.
The lyrical content is strong. TAN is a great lyricist and has some powerful words on this project. However, musically they experimented way too much and the result is an album in complete disarray. The CD feels unfinished and unbalanced. A couple of the songs like "Losing" have these awkward shifts in style and rhythm (which I usually enjoy) but on this album the shifts seem random and unpolished.
However, there are a few decent songs on the project: "worn", "Stranger's Here", and "Grace"
In the end, this cd is not Tenth Avenue's best work....but hopefully they will reach their full potential on their next release.
