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Go: Remixed

reviewed by Andree Farias
Sounds like … the newsboys's Go album remixed to sound like a combination of Moby, Chemical Brothers, Beck, and Paul Oakenfold.At a glance … it's mostly a fans-only treat, though remix aficionados might also find something to savor here.Track Listing Wherever We Go
Go
Something Beautiful
Your Love Is Better Than Life
City to City
The Mission
Secret Kingdom
I Am Free
In Wonder
Let It All Come Out
Gonna Be Alright

Of all the bands in Christian music, few lend themselves better to the art of the remix than newsboys. Given their history with electronica and other synthesized sounds, that comes as no surprise. Some trace the group's techno-pop beginnings to 1992's Not Ashamed, whose title track became a dance-pop smash across Christian radio in the early '90s.

Their first remix album, 2002's Newsboys Remixed, was an all-out celebration of the band's love of all things digital, as well as a pretty good reinterpretation of some of the group's latter-day hits. This brings us to Go: Remixed, an ancillary release that repurposes the bulk of last fall's Go album for something that, for the most part, does a fairly good job of distancing itself from the original.

Unlike the first remix project, the team of remixers this time is smaller—Mute Math producer Tedd T., Superchick's Max Hsu, Lee Bridges and newsboys' own Jeff Frankenstein—giving the disc a tighter, more unified sound. But that doesn't mean the re-tooling is less creative or varied. "Wherever We Go" is given a frenetic, New Wave ambiance, synth guitars and all. The bohemian "Go" and the chaotic "Your Love Is Better than Life" recall Pop-era U2. And the buzzy pads of "Let It All Come Out" could've been lifted from Radiohead's Amnesiac sessions.

These dabblings with electronica are appreciated, but newsboys is at its best when embracing their inner party animals. They do so with "I Am Free" and "The Mission," two average but nonetheless very effective club remixes. None of these compare to the best track in the set, the b-side "City to City," a '70s-flavored funk/R&B cut with more soul and sass than anything in the entire newsboys catalog. It all amounts to an above-average remix excursion, ideal for fanatics of the band and remix enthusiasts alike.

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