Brooke Fraser: Flags (Review)

Brooke Fraser, one of my favorite musicians of ever. This is a woman who gave her life to Christ but is able to captivate the ears of a diverse audience. See that’s the kind of Christian musicians I like… the ones that don’t have to have a red stamp on them (Christian label) yet be able to reach and inspire thousands/millions with their messages from Christ. This is why Paramore will be one of my top bands.

This album Flags is one of Brooke’s best music clusters to date. I mean I love pretty much every song and in fact it is one of the first albums I have heard to date that the titled track is my favorite. (that song brings tears to my eyes each time) THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST!!!! I hope you guys understand just how powerful and real that is. (Matt 20:16)

Being that I am a photographer, there is another thing that makes me respect her that much more. That is the young lady she used to do her photos for this album; Nirrimi Hakanson. That young lady is AMAZING and such an inspiration to photographers, young and old.

If you really like meaningful music with such an incredible voice… you need to get this album… no get all her albums if she is new to you. YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.

Flags

You who mourn will be comforted
You who hunger will hunger no more
All the last shall be first
Of this I am sure

You who weep now will laugh again
All you lonely be lonely no more
Yes, the last will be first
Of this I’m sure

I don’t know why the innocents fall
While the monsters stand
I don’t know why the little ones thirst
But I know the last shall be first
I know the last shall be first
I know the last shall be first

The Afters: Light Up the Sky (Review)

One of my favorite bands out there would have to be The Afters. I love them because they are down to earth with their type of music. I remember hearing the Myspace song years ago and was surprised to find out it was by Christ Followers. I love artist that can create music that is fun and also songs that are about the relationship with Christ; and these guys definitely pull it off.

Well, I finally got their new album “Light Up the Sky”, and I must say this is a beautiful album. It’s a bit more serious than their prior albums which is not a bad thing. We all enjoyed the fun party songs like Myspace Girl in the past but this album will really make you think about the relationship you have with Christ. It really is a personal album and I respect the band for that. This is the type of album a non-believer could listen to and then possible realize Jesus is Lord from the lyrics.

As of right now my favorite song thus far is “Start Over”. I think I’ve kept this song on repeat in my car for the past few days. I went through the entire album and really enjoyed each track I must say. “Start Over” really hit me hard because it’s about starting over, about knowing that in this walk with Christ you have a chance to get it right again. It’s pretty much the most beautiful story in the world.. the story of forgiveness, the story of belief and hope.

I think listeners will be in for a wonderful treat with this album much like the rest of their music. The Afters just know how to do it and they do it right. Praise Jesus!

Song Title	Time	Price
	1. Light Up The Sky	3:38	$0.99
	2. Lift Me Up	3:32	$0.99
	3. Start Over	4:02	$0.99
	4. Runaway	4:48	$0.99
	5. I Am Yours	3:53	$0.99
	6. Life Is Sweeter	3:27	$0.99
	7. Say It Now	4:14	$0.99
	8. We Won’t Give Up	3:07	$0.99
	9. Saving Grace	3:38	$0.99
	10. For The First Time	5:21	$0.99

Provided by Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Light-Up-Sky-Afters/dp/B003Y01JQW/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_1

Shania Twain – Ka-Ching

This is a great song about what I have been talking about with today’s Christian mindset. It’s the same as the worlds. Ms. Twain was on point with this song. Ka-Ching is all we like to hear. I have heard preachers make “jokes” about money like its all we need. I recently saw a friend get mocked by old friends when she told the story about Christians selling what they had to take care of a sister in the body. They laughed at her and told her she needs to leave that fellowship. Now she may be left with the idea that this type of behavior is not godly. Shame Shame Shame.

Enjoy the videos but listen to the words….plz!

I think the Red Version is more interesting because the red seems to be symbolic.

Sanctus Real: Pieces of a Real Heart

So this album came out last month but I had so much new music that I refused to listen to anything else until I went through them all. Finally I got the new Sanctus Real: Pieces of a Real Heart album and let me say…. I AM BLOWN AWAY! I have always been a fan of Sanctus Real’s music and this new album gives me even more of a respect for these guys. They really went out to get the message about the sinful nature of us humans here. What it does is shows us how much we need God and how much he takes control if we allow him to. I love the fact that the first track is about being forgiven; I find that kind of cool that they give a person who may not know Christ a chance to understand how they can be forgiven too. (I’ve noticed a lot of non believers like Christian Rock and maybe they understood that too)

So what I did today was keep this album on replay all while I took a 5 hour walk in NYC’s park. I was walking many times with tears falling down my face because of the songs. The songs really describe how a Christian will cry out for God because the heart is failing them, resulting in them asking God to TAKE OVER ME.

As of right now, my favorite song is ’Til I Got To Know You. First off the vocals are incredible on this track and the track is ridiculous it self. The person in the song is talking about how they tried to do things by themselves at first but ended up realizing Christ is best at controlling the lives of his children. The person speaking emphasize YOU YOU YOU which is a really neat thing to do because it keeps directing the focus on YOU meaning Christ and not the speaker. This is such a great song and guess what, every song so far is great. I like every track and didn’t find myself skipping tracks but listened to it through quite a few times. I repeated a few tracks like this one a bit though.

Let me leave you with some of the words from a really cool track they wrote… it’s almost like I wrote it myself.

Keep My Heart Alive

I’m so tired of politics and all this bad news
I’m so tired of chasing the moment instead of chasing You
I let the World wear me down, I’m desensitized

Jesus keep my heart alive, keep my heart alive
Only You can save me from a world that’s breaking right before my eyes
Keep my heart alive….

Jesus keep my heart alive (Only You can save me),
Keep my heart alive (Only You can save me)
Only You can save me when my world is breaking right before my eyes

Jesus keep my heart alive (Only You can save me),
Keep my heart alive (Only You can save me)
Only You can save me when my hope is fading, and I’m losing the fight

I would encourage everyone to get the deluxe version because it has the extra acoustic versions of the same songs. I love that!

Track list:

	1. Forgiven	3:35	$0.99
	2. These Things Take Time	3:21	$0.99
	3. The Way The World Turns	4:07	$0.99
	4. Lead Me	3:48	$0.99
	5. The Redeemer	3:45	$0.99
	6. Take Over Me	3:05	$0.99
	7. I Want To Get Lost	3:53	$0.99
	8. ‘Til I Got To Know You	3:55	$0.99
	9. Dear Heart	3:02	$0.99
	10. I’ll Show You How To Live	3:19	$0.99
	11. Keep My Heart Alive	3:26	$0.99
	12. Forgiven (Acoustic Version)	3:30	$0.99
	13. These Things Take Time (Acoustic Version)	3:34	$0.99
	14. Lead Me (Acoustic Version)	3:45	$0.99
	15. I Want To Get Lost (Acoustic Version)	4:27	$0.99
	16. ‘Til I Got To Know You (Acoustic Version)	3:40	$0.99

Provided by Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Pieces-Real-Heart-Deluxe/dp/B0038QYZ68

Charmaine: Love Reality

FINALLY is all I can say. I have been waiting for this album to come out for the past 2 years and it is almost out. You may not know who Charmaine is but she is actually a well-known artist in Australia. If you’ve heard Rebecca St. James’s music then you most likely heard Charmaine being that she sang background for her for so long. Well, I have been visiting her MySpace page ever since it was popular (which was a long time ago). I heard some of the most beautiful music I’ve heard but it was only like :30 tracks. It was not enough but I would pay them over and over.

I’ve had the chance to do a listening party for Charmaine’s new album – Love Reality, this album is full of amazing energy and amazing vocals. Some of the tricks she did I had to attempt. This is Christian music … no this is music at it’s finest. It has the slow ballads and then some faster upbeat songs in a perfect mix. The tracks are very different from what we are used to with some experiential instrument sounds that work wonders for each track. There were times when I heard sounds during the songs and thought I had a text message.

Every Track is a delight as of right now the song I kept replaying is Tell Me but as I was listening I was tempted to replay like 6 other songs but I knew I wanted to do this review and would have never gotten through this album. These are the type of songs that you will have to think about while listening too because the words are just that deep. When you listen to the song Not Fair, which can sound like she is complaining about God’s love not being fair but it’s actually the opposite of how God’s love is NOT fair that he can love someone like her when she doesn’t deserve it what so ever. I was like WHOA his love is so not fair.

Enjoy some of the songs at the following sites:

http://www.last.fm/music/Charmaine/Love+Reality

http://www.myspace.com/charmaine

http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/albumdetail.php?album_id=8776

http://www.charmainemusic.com/charmaine/c/index-b

 

Phil Wickham

Phil Wickham; What an amazing artist this man is. His albums have some of the best worship songs I’ve heard. He sounds like Phil Danyew whom I love but the style in music is very different. If you view my Lastfm channel you will see Phil Wickham is at the time at like 400 listens in a week. I am going to share Cielo with you guys which is just beautiful… I can’t even say much more. It will speak for itself. Much much more of Wickham to come on my site in the future.

Terrified

So this is such a beautiful song guys. I love that Kara DioGuardi is such a good writer. Writing for some of the biggest artist out there. People thought she was just a nobody but they were wrong. She gave this song to Katharine McPhee for her latest album which is actually a great album. I think you guys should invest in it, there are no songs that are ungodly and sexual. I’m going to post both Kara and Katherine and you decide which one you like best. I personally like both for different reasons.

Paramore

PARAMOREEEEEEEEEE!!!! The best female rock band at this time. I love every single song they have ever wrote, every track they have ever sang. Their latest album “BRAND NEW EYES” is probably the best yet. What I love about this group is that they are all Christians and their songs are about Christianity even though they aren’t signed to a Christian label. I love that. They said in an article being signed to a Christian label doesn’t make you Christian but it’s about your faith in Christ. I’ve read a lot of comments on YouTube and people get kind of mad when the find out they are Christians. Test it out, comment on one of these videos and see if you wont get a hateful response. The two songs I displayed here you will LOVE. “Brick by Brick” and “Ignorance”.

Tenth Avenue North

This is a fantastic new band. This have a rock thing but they are way more acoustic rock than anything. They really bring in a great worship whiling listening to their music. The song you are about to listen to is called “Love is Here”. God’s love is here people so those who are looking for love all you have to realize is that LOVE IS HERE!!!

Billie Holiday -The Blues Are Brewin’

Well I’m a simi fan of Billie Holiday. I enjoy her earlier works over her later. There is a huge difference in the sound. Sadly because of the substance abuse it really had affect on her talent and for me at least I just can’t get into it. Here is a piece from her earlier works that I enjoy. Her voice is crisp and clear and quite beautiful.

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Relient K

Relient K, MY FAV GROUP. This is the funniest Christian band of all time. I can listen to these guys all day. Get use to them because you will be seeing them a lot on my page. I work with a concert called ROCK THE SOUND in the summers and we had them last year. They were really great making us feel really free and peaceful. I get offensive when I hear someone doesn’t like them that much lol. Like I’m their manager or something. Here is one of my fav songs from them. Lol well just about every song is my fav but here ya go.

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Flyleaf

So we have one of my favorite groups Flyleaf. Who would have thought I would enjoy this type of sound one day. I was suggested to listen to them by my friend Jaleesa a few years ago. I had their music but I never really listened to it. I was a new rocker and it was a bit too heavy for me at the time. 2 years later and I decided to finally give it a chance. This began the start of a beauty relationship because I fell in love with this group. They are just a wonderful dynamic group that really writes songs to change lives. This year alone I have converted a bunch of friends to loving their music. I didn’t think my friend Vanessa would like it but I put it on her mp3 player just to see and I got a call within a week saying, “Omar I don’t know what this is you put on my player but I have never heard anything like this in my life. BUT I LOVE IT!”. I was really shocked but she loves this group now. Look guys if you really want to hear some deep and wonderful music. Get Flyleaf. Its hardcore yes but it’s just that deep. One of the only rock groups that can bring me to tears. Even my brother who is not a Christian stated that Christian Rock like this may be better than regular rock. NARLY! If you are interested in the album you will find the cover art on the right side where it says “ROCKING TO”.

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Addison Road

This band is so narlyyyyyyy!!! This song is called “Always Love” by Addison Road. I got the album not to long ago and I must say I really like these guys. I was expecting a Paramore style because you know; a bunch of guys and one girl just fits that mold. They are not like Paramore, they sound very different and you know what… I respect and like that. The songs are upbeat and you can definitely rock out to this album. Then they have songs that are mellow and beautiful. The song your about to listen to starts out as a really slow song but after a few seconds you’ll be waving your hand. It’s a dope song and I think you will enjoy it.

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So this is one of my favorite songs ever in life. This is one of the most beautiful songs that represents the teachings of Christ. Even more than many Christian and Gospel songs of the genre. I respect Country Music and love it very much. Enjoy!

^{Matt 22 37}Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

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So I have been really into this song. My friend Eric told me and his sister about it because he knows we love to rock out. This right here is so deep. It is a song that is in the words of Satan. Exactly what Satan is saying to us… It’s perfect.