Carstairs Considers....: Movie Review: Snapshots - Live and Fan Favorites by Chris Rice

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Movie Review: Snapshots - Live and Fan Favorites by Chris Rice

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: If you don't have Chris' music, you'll love these songs.

Cons: If you already have his stuff, you pretty much have this CD.

The Bottom Line: Second collection

In as many years. Feels like

They're just cashing in

Quality Songs but a Pretty Much Pointless Collection

When Michael W. Smith's music label, Rocketown Records, was still around, they were the master of getting every penny they could from the artists they had under contract, or at least their bigger stars. Take for example, Snapshots: Live & Fan Favorites, a collection of songs by Chris Rice.

Now I'm not against best of projects. In fact, there are some I pull out and listen to quite regularly, even for artists I love. However, this disc was released in February of 2005, less than a year after another collection of Chris Rice's best songs had been released. Furthermore, there was nothing new to me on this disc, although they did include some rarer stuff.

The disc starts out with some lie tracks. In fact, it starts with one of his signature songs, "Deep Enough to Dream." This one is heavier on the keyboard and drums than the guitar based original. It's a different sound, and I can appreciate getting something different. But I prefer the original.

Likewise, the other live tracks are slightly different. "Sometimes Love" has been sped up. "Big Enough" and "Prone to Wander" are more acoustic with just Chris and his guitar. Only "Hallelujahs" sounds like it does on the disc. Meanwhile, the only reason we know these are live is because we hear the crowd cheer between songs, there's no talking or anything like that. In fact, I kind of think that these were all recorded at the same time. These songs all sound good, but they sound close enough to the original that it's hard to call them truly that new.

The live section of the disc closes out with "Cartoons." I think this is the same version they've already released on Short Term Memories just the year before. Now, I can't ignore how fun this song is as Chris imagines what it would be like for famous cartoon characters to praise God. His imitation of the characters is spot on. Boy is this guy talented. However, if I've already got it twice, I don't really need it again.

Now I can see how fans would be interested in the next three songs, although I did already have them. None of them originated on Chris Rice discs, and this is the first time we've got them on one of his CD's. Up first is "Billy Joe McGuffrey." This silly song was part of the Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie soundtrack. It's a song for kids as we follow Billy Joe McGuffrey, a really clumsy kid, and his accidents during each year of school. Yes, all twelve verses are here. Okay, I admit, I find the song fun, and that's all it's supposed to be. At 5 and a quarter minutes long, it's also the longest song here.

Up next is "Calling Out Your Name." Chris covered this Rich Mullins classic on the tribute disc put together after Rich's death. It's a great song that so beautifully describes nature and shows how it praises God. While Rich's version is the best, Chris makes this song his own. And it suits his folksy pop style very well.

The last song in this trio is "Nothin'." This variation on the hymn "Nothing but the Blood" was recorded for another multi artist project, Exodus. It's just Chris, his guitar, and a very little percussion, and Chris sometimes doing duets with himself. I've always liked the song.

The final six songs on this disc are studio tracks from previous discs. What's most interesting about this set is the final two. "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and "Welcome to Our World" are from his two Living Room Session discs. These were just Chris playing the piano, no singing at all. Nothing from either of them had been on his last collection, so I was a little surprised to see them show up here.

Now don't misunderstand me, I do love these songs. Chris' folk/pop music and thoughtful/honest lyrics are a fun combination that still speaks to me even though I have every note memorized. But outside of the middle three songs from multi-artist discs, there's nothing here we don't already have once if not twice on other Chris Rice CD's. Yes, I bought it, but I hadn't pulled it out in years until I sat down to write this review.

The only real reason to get this disc is if you are missing the three songs that weren't originally on Chris Rice discs. Otherwise, you already have what's on Snapshots: Live & Fan Favorites, and it's hard to justify a second collection disc from the same set of projects.

CD Length: 54:22

Tracks:

1. Deep Enough to Dream (Live)

2. Sometimes Love (Live)

3. Big Enough (Live)

4. Hallelujahs (Live)

5. Prone to Wander (Live)

6. Cartoons (Live)

7. Billy Joe McGuffrey

8. Calling Out Your Name

9. Nothin'

10. Questions for Heaven