Christian Music - Reviews, News, Interviews

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August Featured Reviews

  • Updated Feb 01, 2002
August Featured Reviews
If you're a fan of Christian music like I am, you love hearing about all the cool new releases. We are wanting to do our best here at the Music Channel to provide you with reviews that are filled with information, not just a bunch of attitude. And for many of the titles reviewed we've got sound clips so you can even listen to the project! Talk about service! We've also got a way for you to add your own review to your favorite projects - which is helpful to find out what the fans think about a certain artist's CD.

We've even got a new CD REVIEW newsletter that we'd love to have you sign up for. This bimonthly newsletter features 1-2 full text reviews, plus links to more reviews of the latest new and classic Christian music from many genres. Perfect for people who want to know more about high profile or independent artists and their latest CDs. Sign up now! cdmusicreviews@crosswalk.com

Here are a few of the CDs that we've been spending a lot of time listening to around the Music Channel offices. Click on the names or album covers to get more info on the artists! Coming Soon! Reviews of: Bob Carlisle, City On A Hill, Stacie Orrico, Sammy Ward and more!

All reviews by Mike & Paula Parker for the Music Channel at crosswalk.com


click on title or album cover to see review:

1NC
[One Nation Crew]

Third Day
Offerings

Watermark
All Things New

Wayne Watson
Wayne Watson

4HIM
Hymns: A Place Of Worship

Rachael Lampa
Live For You

Jake
Jake

ZOEgirl
ZOEgirl



1NC - [One Nation Crew]

{{Kirk Franklin}} continues to force the evolution of Gospel music - crossing genres, shattering barriers of age and race, and effectively impacting both Christian and mainstream audiences. Franklin's latest project, Kirk Franklin presents One Nation Crew, manages the formidable task of sliding into a familiar groove while at times pushing beyond the limits of convention straight into uncharted territory. The album kick-starts with a jumbled cacophony of post-modern dilemmas before eventually resolves into the hip-hop anthem "Movin' On." Borrowing heavily from Will Smith's "Miami," Franklin asks and answers the musical question, "Where you at, now?"

for entire review, sound clips & to add your own review - click here!

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Third Day - Offerings

Fans of Atlanta-based rockers Third Day have three new reasons to rejoice. Their favorite band has just released a new album. They have also received a much-clamored for "live" album. And in keeping with the times they have also released a Praise & Worship album. No, they didn't saturate the market with three new albums. Their new release, Offerings, is a live worship album - and it's a beaut! You've heard Third Day's rendition of the Michael W. Smith classic, "Agnus Dei." You've heard their signature prayer-song, "My Hope Is In You." You may have even heard their concert favorite, "These Thousand Hills." But you ain't heard nothing yet.

for entire review, sound clips & to add your own review - click here!

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Watermark - All Things New

The husband and wife team of Nathan and Christy Nockels, known collectively as Watermark, continues to produce some of the most beautiful contemporary worship music on the market today. Their latest offering, All Things New picks up naturally from where their debut, self-titled project left off. Praise and worship couched in contemporary phraseology and set to gentle pop treatments are the order of the day. But All Things New also manages to tap into something deeper, something older, somethingintangible. Witness the ancient language of "Incorruptible." "I am not redeemed by corruptible things/ Not by silver, not by gold/ And not by aimless tradition/ But by the blood of God's sacred Son Jesus."

for entire review, sound clips & to add your own review - click here!

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Wayne Watson - Wayne Watson

Wayne Watson has never shied away from emotional issues. During his phenomenal fifteen album run he has tackled such universal, yet intensely personal issues as marriage, childrearing, and death; sin and holiness; salvation and suffering. "Touch of the Master's Hand", "Home Free", and "Watercolor Ponies" have rightly been termed classics of contemporary Christian music. Watson's sixteenth effort is no exception. Wayne Watson may be his most poignant, self-revelatory album to date, but nothing this passionate comes without cost. It is obvious that Watson fought hard for this one.

for entire review, sound clips & to add your own review - click here!

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4HIM - Hymns: A Place Of Worship

While Praise & Worship may be the new buzzwords in the contemporary Christian music industry (you can't swing a dead cat in a Christian bookstore without hitting a new P&W album), there is something refreshing about a project that celebrates the old hymns. 4HIM - Hymns: A Place of Worship is one such project. "Be Thou My Vision," "It Is Well," "Fairest Lord Jesus," and "There Is A Fountain" are old friends learned almost by osmosis while sitting on (or lying between) the hard, oak pews of the little Baptist church I grew up in. For this project 4HIM enlisted the formidable talents of producer/arranger Michael Omartian to create a project that pays tribute to the original vision of the hymn's writers, while injecting a generous dose of 4HIM's signature harmonies.

for entire review, sound clips & to add your own review - click here!

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Rachael Lampa - Live For You

Live For You is a good album. A very good album. Given the star power behind it, it is hard to imagine it being otherwise. Stellar tag-team production from Brent Bourgeois and Brown Bannister; orchestration provided by the London Sessions Orchestra; background vocals by the likes of Nicol Smith, Darwin Hobbs, Cindy Morgan, and Chris Rodriguez; not to mention recording at facilities like the famed Sound Kitchen in Franklin, TN and the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London. And the songs? Written by the industries top luminaries: Chris Rodriguez, Chris Eaton, Brent Bourgeois, Cindy Morgan, Jill Phillips, Ginny Owens, David Mullen, and Anointed's Da'dra Crawford-Greathouse.

for entire review, sound clips & to add your own review - click here!

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Jake - Jake

Listening to the self-titled debut album from Canadian import, Jake, it is hard to not make immediate comparisons to Jars of Clay. The opening licks from "You Can Be The One" borrows liberally from "Liquid," while the acoustic guitar strumming on "Waiting" recalls "Love Song For A Savior." But subsequent listens reveal layers that make Jake a distinct, and unique band on the Christian music horizon. The band, composed of flesh-n-blood brothers Toby, Joshua, and Marty Penner, sport tight, seamless harmonies; bright, upbeat melodies with lyrics to match; and timeless pop sensibilities.

for entire review, sound clips & to add your own review - click here!

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ZOEgirl - ZOEgirl

Boy bands are all the rage, what with 98 Degrees, Backstreet Boys, and now Plus One tearing up the charts. So why not a 'girl band'? Why not, indeed! Welcome ZOEgirl, an ultra-hip trio that combines the heartfelt, spiritually-grounded lyrics of Point of Grace with the blood-pulsing dance rhythms of *NSYNC. Think a younger, hipper, Christian version of Wilson Phillips. Like Avalon and Plus One, ZOEgirl is a manufactured band. The band may have been constructed by the marketing genius of Sparrow's Peter York and manager Norman Miller, but the young women who comprise ZOEgirl are not wide-eyed novices.

for entire review, sound clips & to add your own review - click here!

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OTHER RECENT REVIEWS:
Mary Mary
Salvador
Crystal Lewis
Michael English
Phil Joel
Tammy Trent

For more reviews - search by artist or album title at the top of this - and every page!