Stars: 3 out of 5Pros: A few enjoyable tracks
Cons: Overall, not the same passion as their first worship release
The Bottom Line:
It feels half hearted
Missing passion, joy of first
Similar styles
When Two is Too Much
I freely admit I am not the biggest Newsboys fan. Not quite sure why, but outside their big hits, they've never fully appealed to me. It's one reason why I was so surprised at how much I loved their first worship CD. So when they followed it with Devotion, another worship CD, I rushed out to get it. Unfortunately, it lands squarely in the middle of the road department.
For this disc, the Newsboys wrote most of their own
material. Seven of the ten tracks are
originals. So you'd expect that to make
the disc stronger. In my mind, it means
they have no one to blame but themselves for the problems with it.
Let's start off with the biggest issue - style. The Newsboys have always been a rock
band. Yes, sometimes they were softer
rock than others. But if you bought a
Newsboys CD, you knew what you were getting.
Here, they seem to have forgotten that.
There are a couple of truly good rock moments, but for the most part,
this disc is nothing but mid tempo that sounds the same song after song. There are some okay lyrics in the mix, but I
get lost trying to separate these songs from one another.
Their first worship CD also had several outstanding songs
that grab me and make me want to sing along at the top of my lungs. Here, the lyrics are just standard worship
stuff. They are fine, but there's
nothing that excites me. We've heard
these sentiments time and time again.
As an example of what went wrong here, let's look at the
only song I've heard done elsewhere, "Blessed Be Your Name." Now let's be honest, I love the song. It's a cover of a Matt Redman classic. I've actually bought CD's looking for a good
version of this song. But the song is
supposed to be upbeat the whole way through, not just on the chorus. Here, it's slow, and that takes all the life
out of it. And there just doesn't seem
to be any passion behind it, either.
Rebecca St. James duets with lead singer Peter Furler, and that's about
the only interesting thing here.
The disc starts with "Devotion." The title track is more upbeat than most of
the disc and sounds like classic Newsboys, heavy on the guitar with Peter's
distinctive vocals. The idea of
surrendering to God because of what He's done for us has been done before, but
it's very adequately done here as well.
My favorite track, however, is "I Love Your
Ways." The hardest rocker on the
disc (and it's a stretch to call it a true rocker), piano and guitar battle for
dominance in the background as we are reminded all about what God has done for
us.
But then the sameness hits.
"Presence (My Heart's Desire)," "Strong Tower
Listening to a couple songs, I must admit I wonder what they
are doing on a worship CD. It's almost
like the Newsboys weren't quite as excited about doing a second worship CD as
they thought, but they'd signed the contract.
That "The Orphan," which combines images of Moses being hidden
as a baby with struggles in our daily lives.
It's got an interesting melody and is keyboard driven, so it does stand
out musically as well. I like the
song. I'm just trying to determine what
it is doing here.
The same can be said of "Landslide of Love." Acoustic guitar comes out here as the band
sings about the pain and misery that comes from living for self. Even though we're still mid tempo, the change
in style is enough to make it stand out from what has come before. Again, great song I love, classic Newsboys,
but what is it doing here?
The final two tracks are covers of Tim Hughes songs. Since I don't follow the modern worship
releases that closely, this is still the only reason I am familiar with the
songs. "Name Above All Names"
is actually upbeat. The lyrics are
standard worship fair, however. More
interesting is the closer, "When the Tears Fall." It's a slow, keyboard heavy track that
promises praise even in the midst of trials.
Honestly, it's one of the most powerful songs on the disc.
There are several songs that I enjoy, but there are just as
many songs that feel phoned in. The
result is a lack of devotion on my part to Devotion.
CD Length: 42:08
Tracks:
1. Devotion
2. I Love Your Ways
3. Presence (My Heart's Desire)
4. Strong
Tower
5. God of Nations
6. Blessed be Your Name
7. The Orphan
8. Landslide of Love
9. Name Above All Names
10. When the Tears Fall
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for stopping by. In order to combat spam, I moderate most comments. I'll get to your comment as soon as I can.