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| Phew - this is a really good album! Melodic midwestern powerpop with hints of both guys like Don Henley and Marshall Crenshaw. A very nice album and a must if you love melodic modern pop at its best! A given thing! |
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How this album came to existance, from his bio:
“The Change might be the only album truly inspired by a presidential campaign. When Aaron Crider was watching the 2008 presidential race, “Change You Can Believe In” became a favored slogan across the nation. But Crider, a young worship leader had a bigger vision. No one person should we put our faith and trust in. That is just beyond earthly power. And the theme behind The Change was birthed. Do you need help in your personal life, your family, your job, your finances, your health? The only true change we can believe in comes from Christ, and Christ alone. In the last ten years, Aaron and his family have faced incredible hardship. Like many in America, he has faced financial woes and lived without monetary certainty. He has faced losing close family members, as well as three children, including a set of twins to miscarriage and another little boy who died during early labor as well. All of this was after Aaron had followed a calling to step out in faith as a worship leader, in addition to the Lord's promise to give him a son. To create The Change, Crider teamed up with acclaimed songwriter and producer Steve Hindalong. The two quickly connected sharing life stories of hope and hardship, and soon Hindalong’s talent and priorities were inspiring and challenging the young songwriter. “Steve was able to help me dig deeper lyrically,” Crider explains. “He stretched me to not write my First idea, the first cliché. This recording process taught me to grow in ways I never thought, to state ideas that hadn’t been said before instead of finding the easy rhyme scheme. I’m most certainly a better writer after spending weeks in the studio working on this project. “But probably more importantly, Steve was able to show me in his life and personality what true success in music looks like. It has nothing to do with record sales. At the end of the day, what matters is family. Do your kids know that you love them? Does your wife know that she is adored? True success can only come when both questions are answered positively. Steve’s life put these words into action.” The result of this pairing is The Change. A project that is full of questions yet resting in the knowledge that we can be content in not understanding everything that is going on in our world. But one moment in the presence of the King can remind us that that our true hope can only come from Him. When playing and leading worship, Crider’s heart is purely seeking an audience with his Savior while encouraging those who listen interactively to join in with their utmost all in worship and praise. Combine this with a genuine compassion, sharing a message and testimony of what extraordinary things God has done in his life. He has faced the uncertainty of dark valleys and despair, but risen above with new countenance and perspective on God's promises and what worship truly means. He has had his head in his hands and cried out to the Lord with praise in the midst of the bleakest hours of his life. As a result of Aaron's heart and faithfulness, Aaron feels like the Lord has taught him the real meaning of praise and worship. “I realized in that moment that when life is nailing you and you can lift your hands anyways, that is true worship," Aaron stated in a recent interview. Worship is more of a state of heart, state of mind and how we respond to life and what it throws at us. Not our typical picture of singing on Sundays. It goes way beyond that to the core of who we are and what we lift up to the Lord, when all else is crumbling around us. This compassion is evident in his work with Mission of Mercy and Project AK47, helping children in the most volatile of living situations. Crider’s song from The Change titled “One Child Matters” is now the theme song for the non-profit Mission of Mercy, and with them, he will be traveling to the Philippines in July to aid in their projects dealing with human trafficking. Crider is also working closely with Project AK47, an organization that rescues and rehabilitates child soldiers in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Aaron has come a long way. From a 7 year old boy that received a keyboard as a present and learned a few chords for fun, to a man of vision and integrity who embodies God's promises and keeps them in his heart, Aaron brings this message to all who hears his music. His stance is heartfelt and real, "This is what I was made for! I feel called to do this!" He is a father to two beautiful girls and, yes, a one-year-old boy named Samuel. Crider’s life is a testament that The Change you can believe in is simply a relationship with Jesus. And Aaron hopes to spread this news to anyone and everyone he can reach, one song and one person at a time. “
My short opinion:
A good album with piano-based melodic pop/rock songs especially in the style of Mark Schultz and also other worship artists like Matt Redman and Michael W. Smith. The lyrics are honost and based on personal experience and everyday life examples.
Favourite songs “One child matters”, “You reign” and “The change”. |
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| Adam Cohen looks more and more like the biggest hero in the music-biz right now. His band LOW MILLIONS has probably done this year?s best album and the same year he produces a solo-album which is fabulous as well. An album in his native language ? Canadian French, which is a very beautiful ?pop-language? a suites this soft melodic pop real damn fine. And what can I say? The feeling and sound and atmosphere is nothing less that magnificent. Phew. The eleven tracks on the album are all good, and this is a softer experience than with his band. The music is more ?ambient? and atmospheric, which suits him really fine. Third out ?Sinc?rement? is PURE magic and so are ?Happiness? and ?New York C?etait? (which probably will enter the top 3 on the ?best of 2004 song list?) just to mention two other faves on the album. This sound and production is what I would LOVE to hear Marc Jordan doing next time instead of a jazzalbum. Collaboration between these two guys would be a masterpiece. As I said in the beginning of the review, Adam Cohen is the coolest and best guy around the music-biz for the moment. Without any doubt. VERY close to 4.5 stars. |
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AdamCohen'slatest album"Like AMan"came asa real surprise to me.I hadrather expected anewLowMillionsalbumwhen they hadfinished an album and had not heard thathehadbeen working ona solo album.Butdo not complainsince Adamis a clearpersonalfavorite andeven hashis Frenchalbum from 2004in my collection.Two tracksfrom LowMillionsrecord is also includedhere, soguess that we will not seeanyrealreleaseofit in the future.
This album, which was released in 2011 in Europe and Canada,will also have a properreleasein the U.S.on April 3through Decca.And thisvery finealbum hasa great chance tobe hisrealbreakthroughif it’s placedright, andwill have a fairpromotion.
Felt itwas disappointingwhen I firstlistened to itifI'm honest."LikeA Man" is a veryacousticalbumwith a verynakedand natural production.Had expecteda more pop orientated album like LowMillions,so this wasnot what I wanted fromAdamthen.But now, a few monthslater, thefeeling isvery differentand thisis an albumIwill comeback to manytimes in my life.Itis very beautifulin its kind anditis not a singlebadtrack onit actually.Itrequiresa fewlistens, and eventhe mood, but when youfind it, you’re stuck for sure! |
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Florida native Alexx was raised on grunge rock but there ain´t much on her debut from that genre that shines through, instead I hear elements of classic rock and female fronted rock bands like 4 Non Blondes and The Donnas on "Morning pill" - the funky opening track "Give it to me" can be described as a female version of Dan Reed Network.
The garage rocker "Touch my hey" sounds more like something that Sahara Hotnights could´ve recorded while the heavy pumping rocker "Pull it" feels like a sister to En Vogue´s hit "Free your mind", she´s a cool rocker but the production is a bit weak. |
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| Amelia Curran is a singer/songwriter from Halifax, Canada, nominated for several East Coast Music Awards for her previous albums. Amelia debuted in 2000 and in September this year, the 5th album "Hunter Hunter" will be released, she is influenced by Neil Young, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen but I think her songs bring thoughts to Joan Baez and Tanita Tikaram. Her wonderful voice can carry the songs all by itself like the beautiful "Bye bye Montreal" or the mystic "The dozens". Her heartfelt songs feel honest so if you´re into rootsy acoustic folk, this album has it´s given place in your record collection. |
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| Dallas based worship artist Anthony Celia has created a mighty fine album in the same vein as Steven Curtis Chapman and Matt Redman, "As you are" contains 12 well produced and polished contemporary pop/rock songs that should appeal to all fans of christian rock. 2nd track "I adore you" is one of my favorite tracks along with "Our call" where Anthony is singing really good, on the other hand....he is singing very good on the entire album. I think it´s just a matter of time before he gets signed. |
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| Producer/artist Anthony Crawford takes the listener back to feel the winds of the 60´s with his album "Five is red", there are also traces of country and indie rock in these songs. I think he has a thin voice but there are some decent songs that bring thoughts to The Kinks, The Animals and Paul Simon. Anthony is also a member of Sugarcane Jane and he recently produced the Soundtrack to "On the road with a rock star". |
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18 year old Aubrey Collins was only 14 when she released her debut "Back to me" (2002) which was a country based record,this time she?s rocking like the wild Dutch singer Anouk and Kelly Clarkson?s type of modern rock hits performed with the spirit of Nashville.
Aubrey has an impressive line up of musicians around her like John 5 (Loser,Marilyn Manson) who also co-wrote 2 songs "You?re full of it" and "Innocence" on the album,guitar veteran Pat Buchanan and Trey Bruce who produced the album and co-wrote 9 of the album?s 10 tracks with one song "Who let it rain" together with Richard Marx.
Trey has written songs for well known artists like LeAnn Rimes,Trisha Yearwood and the late Chris LeDoux.
Although Aubrey is involved in the songwriting of 5 songs and proves what a good songwriter she is,"Fighting" is written all by herself and it rocks like 1000 penguins running for free fish on the polar beach - it?s her voice that takes this album high on my personal charts of female singers.
God,how I love the last track "Stoned" which is glowing and it?s hard to believe Aubrey started out as a country singer when she rocks the crap out of Ashlee Simpson on this song.
The ballad "Naked" gets stuck in the head like superglue and since she?s so beautiful I get speechless,this one is the perfect knockout song with a video that would make all the guys kill for a copy.
Aubrey,I love you! |
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| Bernie Chiarvalle is a california native now making his home in Nashville since -98. Bernie grew up in Marin County playing in various bands sharing the bill with other Bay area bands like Huey Lewis And The News, Sons Of Champlin and The Tubes. He soon met up with David Pack of Ambrosia and they began writing together which have resulted in good songs like "Sky Is Falling" that you can hear on Ambrosia?s best of album "Anthology". It was David who introduced Bernie to Michael McDonald and Bernie has been a part as a guitarplayer of Michael?s band since 1988, and he have co-written a lot of tunes together with the man with the golden voice. It?s therefor not so hard to understand what kind of music we?re talking about here. But it is actually not a carboncopy of the legendary westcoast guys. Musically the album is more a mixture of the McDonald sound mixed with Elton John?s and Billy Joels typical songwriting and that combination twisted with a singer songwriter touch. It?s a good and solid album without getting exceptional. The production is OK, nothing big to complain about, but I miss some edge to it. The songwriting suffers in the same way. Some songs like "Tell Us What You Want", the pianobased "I?ve Got My Reason" and the Toto-smelling ballad "Lead Us Back To Love" are fine moments and there are a few more tunes on here in the same calibre. All in all an OK album but I think you can expect more from a guy which such a history. There is something missing. |
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Ask any true westcoast collector about their top 10 albums or artists in general, and BILL CHAMPLIN will be on the list. It´s not strange at all. This legendary musician has been hired for sessions as a keyboard player, lead vocalist, background vocalist and arranger, yes even guitar player for decades by top artists and bands all over the world.
So here we are with his first solo album in 13 years. Personally I think it is a true shame we had to wait this long, but on the other hand: better this album than no more releases at all. Following up the great "He started to sing" CD from 1995, this new CD takes Bill to a more straight-down-to-Earth sound and more rootsy production. This may take some time to get used to if you are more of the modern CHICAGO fan, rather than a fan of for example THE SONS OF CHAMPLIN. But you need not worry. As always BILL CHAMPLIN delivers catchy melodies, groove, awesome lead and harmony vocals and - maybe most important of all: real instruments all the way. This really feels genuine, which is something you can´t say about many releases these days. Champlin always manages to catch the listener´s attention with the beat within the songs, or the crisp and always in-pitch voice that has got so many personalities.
OK, a few of the songs need to be mentioned before this review gets too lengthy. "The truth" is in the same style as some of the "He started to sing" tunes, while the title track "No place left to fall" is more CHICAGO than Bill Champlin stylewise. A very good song in soft rock/AOR mode and mid-tempo. It´s easily one of the best songs here. Also check out "Never been afraid" which is a semi-ballad very much in the same style and sound as was found on the "Stone of Sisyphos" album by CHICAGO. There´s not a weak song here, and even the rather acoustic version of "Look away" (originally on the CHICAGO "19" album) is simply awesome. The CD contains 13 songs with all the CHAMPLIN trade marks that you can ask for. As if this wasn´t enough, you also get a DVD included with 70 minutes of talks and music. Talk about a price-worthy product!
Among the musicians on the CD we find Steve Lukather, Billy Ward, George Hawkins Jr, Bruce Gaitsch, Will Champlin and Keith Howland. |
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San Fransisco based guitarist/producer and music veteran Bill Cutler´s solo debut features an impressive line up of guest musicians like: Jerry Garcia - Guitars (Grateful Dead), Jorma Kaukonen - Guitars (Jefferson Airplane), Scotty Quik - Guitars (Sammy Hagar), Michael Falzarano - Guitars (Hot Tuna), Bob Weir - Guitars (Grateful Dead) and Austin deLone - Piano (Elvis Costello).
Writing and recording "Crossing the line" has been a long journey for Bill Cutler where we can find songs like "Starlite Jamboree" which is a tribute to Jerry Garcia who passed away in 1995, Cutler is heavily influenced by artists like Neil Young, The Band and Grateful Dead.
His three-decades-in-the-making solo album features 14 songs where the opening track "Engine 99" is a real nice bluesy rocker where names like Eric Clapton and Jackson Browne comes in mind.
"Sailin man" bring thoughts to The Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh solo work and the title track "Crossing the line" can be described as Santana meeting John Cougar Mellencamp.
The cool "Cry of the city" could´ve been featured on a Chris Rea album and there are elements of country in the roots-rocking "Rockinham Mill".
There are road movies and then there´s road music, "Crossing the line" is such an album made for a long ride in the car.
For fans of : Chris Rea, Jackson Browne, Dire Straits, Eric Clapton |
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Blackwood Creed is the first band of Winger’s Kip Winger and his brother Nat on drums together with Pete Fletcher on guitars. This is a band they started back in the late 70s but broke up in 1980 but reformed in 2007. Now Frontiers Records has released the debut album of Blackwood Creed and this is album filled with 70s classic rock/hardrock and you can already hear a lot of Winger traces here. I’m sure that many Winger fans will jump of joy when they hear this even if this is more 70s classic rock feel over the songs. Kip sings outstanding like he always do. The songs are OK but nothing that makes my music heart in flames but they do it very good and the harmonies are great. Some of the songs has even little traces from Kip´s solo albums. The production sounds tight and powerful. I love the Winger sounding rocker Your Revolution with riffantastic guitars and a powerful chorus. Albatross is a mid-tempo acoustic rocker with a stunning chorus with wonderful harmonies, great song. Another rocker that’s close to the Winger sound is the fantastic Love Inspector with a huge chorus. 2009 has been a creative year for Kip Winger not only has he released a brand new Winger album called Karma and now Blackwood Creek with just couple of weeks in between the releases. So how often do you get 2 album from Kip in the same year? So Merry Christmas to every fan of Kip Winger.
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| Here is an official bootleg with Former Magnum vocalist Catley. Magnum used to be my all time fave band in the mid 80s. Geeh, I collected all kinda stuff with them and they sure have done some classic stuff on record. Well live as well. Bob have a fantastic voice and Magnum was always very tight on stage. Here is his first solo livealbum and its actually a nice piece of plastic. It sounds good and is really wellplayed by the backup band with Vinny Burns among others. He does stuff from his soloalbum and some older Magnum stuff in really nice versions. Check this up if you like me is a big freak of Magnum and Bobs voice. |
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Powerful and mighty,classy and victorious!Bob Catley and
his men rides towards the sunrise with glory from the battles
they?ve won on the horizon from chasing dragons,this
is the time when empires burn and soldiers stood tall in
their pompous castles.
Bob Catley - a knight of the kingdom of madness that has
come to rule the rock of the new world order,a piece of
Magnum?s splendour years such as Magnum II and
Chase the dragon,then the edge of the sword from
Dio?s Holy diver,the colossive army of Black Sabbath?s
Headless cross and to the wizards formula of Rainbow?s
Rising........and there you have it!
The lead vocalist of Magnum with his 4th album called
"When empires burn" is nothing but an adventure in
the harder side of pomp/aor,a show of glitter and gold!
His last and 2nd album "Middle earth" was quite good too
and not to forget Magnum?s latest piece of work "Breath
of life" that had some great moments,but this!!!!!!!HOLY MOSES!
The keyboardplayer Paul Hodson(Ten) has produced
it in a magnificent way with power that I never want to
see Gary Hughes name again on a cover with Catley.
The AOR tracks are really heavy and doesn?t sound
any poporiented at all that Bob could do before,"Gonna
live forever","I?ll be your fool","Every beat of my heart" and
"The meaning of love" are great songs to be remained in our
hearts forever.
The more hard rock/pompous sounding tracks "Children
of the circle","This is the day" and "Someday Utopia"
feels like a fist in your face,ooooooh the magic they deliver.
"My america" ends the album like a majestic horseride
on the highlands,a new anthem for the classic rock era!
But behold,I haven?t mentioned the greatest song on the
Album yet.........it?s called "The prophecy" and is a killer of
a new dimension,Bob Catley up on the throne together
with Brian Mcdonald,totally invincible.
Releasedate:May 26th |
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Did you know that?
The members of “The Strokes” met while working as telemarketers in Brooklyn, New York.
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latest reviews
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