Brandon Heath- What If We

Whenever I am preparing to go on a long drive, I always want to take a certain type of music with me. When I’m driving, I mostly like to listen to music that is deep, introspective, and meaningful. That’s why when I go on a trip, I make sure to take plenty of Johnny Cash, some Switchfoot, some MuteMath, and NeedToBreate...and from now on, I take this album: Brandon Heath’s “What If We”.

This album is perfect to listen to all the way through, because it is so stylistically consistent from track to track. You get the sense that Brandon Heath and his buddies sitting around in his living room, jamming. Nothing too crazy, just heartfelt expression in the form of 11 audio tracks. Brandon Health just nails what it means to be a great singer/songwriter on this album.

You know the monster hit “Give Me your Eyes”, but the album goes on, and Brandon gets very personal in some of the tracks. “London” is a song about him being far away from someone he loves, and as he is describing being in London (which, by all accounts, is one of the coolest places in the world), all he can think about is being with this person. In another song, called “When I’m Alone”, Brandon sings about how fragile he really is, and how he only has peace because of God. On the tracks “Sunrise”, and “Fight Another Day”, he explores the inevitable moments where despair seems to creep into our lives.

This is a great album, with very well written songs that are meaningful and easy to listen to. This month (February), 88.3 WAFJ is actually giving it away as our CD of the Month. You can sign up to win it by click on the link at WAFJ.com. Also, on March 14th, you will get a chance to see Brandon Heath perform these songs live, along with Toby Mac. That info is on the WAFJ.com homepage as well.

Fee- Hope Rising

If you have ever seen Fee in a live concert, you already know how special they are. There aren’t many groups who do it quite like Fee. Their ability to engage and interact with the crowd is greater than any other band I have seen.

Groups who are so excellent at connecting with a live audience have a challenge when they set out to create an album in a studio. There are no crowds, no cheering, and no people to interact with, or respond to. (Radio folks are familiar with this situation).

On their latest release, “Hope Rising”, Fee has done an excellent job capturing the energy of their live performances. Part of it has to do with lead singer Steve Fee, who is gifted at connecting with his audience (even when they aren’t there). You can hear the passion, and the energy in his voice on every song. The album is also not over-produced with too many studio effects that make it sound more like it happened in a box than on a stage. In some cases, Steve is even joined by a crowd singing in unison with him…much like you would hear if you were attending a Fee concert.

The band’s four members pour it all out on every song, and you get the sense while listening that they are exhausted after each track. Each and every cut has something unique, and you can tell they all got very special attention to make them just right.

Some of my favorite songs include “Rise and Sing”, a blood pumping rock song where Fee proclaims that “Our God is risen and reigning!!!” “God is Alive” which speaks boldly about the enemies of Christ being broken underneath his feet, and “Everything Falls” where we hear the line that the album was named for “Hope is rising with the Sun”, as Fee sings about the comfort in Jesus we have when (not if) everything falls apart.

The rest of the album is full of wonderful songs that find a way to say to God what we all feel when we worship him. This is an excellent project from Fee, and if you love to rock, and worship, you have to hear this album.

Big Daddy Weave- Christ Is Come

This kinda feels like opening presents on Christmas Eve, which is totally out of line with the natural order of things, but I’m gonna cut to the chase and say up front that I love this band, and I love this album.

Big Daddy Weave, named for brothers Mike and Jay Weaver, combine Mike’s soulful vocals, and Jay’s funky bass lines, with drums, guitar, and saxophone to create a sound very unique in Christian music. I’ve always thought that they sound like a mix between The Dave Matthews Band and Blues Traveler, and that they are underrated and underappreciated.

This year, Big Daddy Weave has released a Christmas album titled “Christ is Come”. The band mixes in warm, earthy sounding versions of six classic Christmas songs with 4 poignant and worshipful original Christmas tunes.

The track “Joy to the World” features a very cool banjo accompaniment, and the band’s take of “Go, Tell It on a Mountain” turns the song into an anthem, making it irresistible to head bobbing and singing along. Versions of “O Come, All Ye Faithful”, “Silent Night”, “Angels We Have Heard On High” and “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” round out the selection of classic Christmas songs that have a perfect balance between sounding new and different, and staying true to the traditional sounds of Christmas.

The original Christmas songs writing for this album are fantastic as well. The title track “Christ Is Come” is a song of celebration about the arrival of the Baby, The King, Our Hope, Our Salvation! “Peace on Earth” is a happy jam that rejoices in the reconciliation between God and Man. “Glory” (my personal favorite) is an amazing worship song that tells the story of Christ’s birth, erupting in a refrain of “Glory to God in the Highest!!” And finally, the song “I’ll be Brave This Christmas” is a tear jerker, telling the story of a child whose father is fighting a war during Christmastime. The boy prays for his father’s safety, and thanks his dad for making it possible for little boys like him to grow up safe and free.

This Christmas album has all my favorite elements. It combines the old and the new, and it has a sound that can either be enjoyed in the background while opening presents or enjoying a family gathering, or cranked up and sung along to during your Christmas celebration!

NeedToBreathe- The Outsiders

88.3 WAFJ listeners who have only heard the single “Lay ‘Em Down”…..you don’t even know.

Something is different about this album. After listening to it over and over, thoroughly enjoying every minute, and being glued to each track like a suspense novel, I realized what makes The Outsiders so unique. These 14 tracks come across more like stories than songs, and the gang vocals and catchy, anthem melodies give the same impression an intense Broadway musical might.

Ok, so if you’re like me, and your first thought when someone says “musical” is “The King and I”; forget that. The Outsiders is simply brimming with creativity and soul, in a way that makes it seem like there is so much more going on under the music.

Lead singer Bear Rinehart leaves it all on the table with his strong, soulful voice, and the band provides simple and provocative instrumentation.

Driving southern rock songs like “Prisoner” and “Girl Named Tennessee” strike a nice balance with soulful anthems like “Through Smoke”, “These Hard Times” and “Lay ‘Em Down”, to create a very “southy” sound. (is “southy” a word? It is now.) NEEDTOBREATHE even presents a couple of love songs with “What you’ve done to me” and the both musically and lyrically gorgeous “Stones Under Rushing Water”, which includes vocals from Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek.

The gang vocals (which means a group of people singing in unison) used on many of the tracks almost demands that you sing along, and really creates the atmosphere of a live performance, drawing you in and making you feel like a part of the music.

The Outsiders is different in that it is not simply a collection of songs thrown together, but a collection of stories that can really pull you in. This album is very well done, and extremely fun to listen to.

Third Day- Revelation

Revelation is the latest album from what many would consider to be the hardest working band in Christian music. Since their debut early in 1997, Third Day has produced 14 albums, including 2 Live albums, 2 Greatest hits albums, and a Christmas album. They have also put out 3 EPs, and 5 Music DVDs, all this in a span of less than 13 years. That’s a lot of stuff.

So, with so much work out there from this band, you might be thinking, ok Third Day, we get the idea. You’re a southern band with a husky-voiced lead singer who inspires us, and gives us a chance to rock out a little bit.

As the cheesy infomercials would say: But wait! There’s more!

It’s not like Revelation doesn’t have all those things. Tracks like Otherside and This Is Who I Am have the aggressive Southern Rock style many of us enjoy from the band, and when listening to them, you can almost visualize Mac and the guys performing live, just above a crowd bouncing and dancing with the rhythm.

The album also includes personal transparency, acknowledging the struggles we all face, with songs like Slow Down, Take It All, and the title track Revelation. Its songs like these that make Third Day so easy to love, and so easy to relate to.

The band also expands its music style beyond the norm just a bit, with songs like Caught Up In Yourself, Run to You, and Born Again. The latter two include vocals from Flyleaf lead singer Lacey Mosley.

So what makes this Third Day album different, and worth paying attention to more than their seemingly monthly new release? Revelation will remind you of the first time you got a chance to hear Third Day. The exciting guitar riffs, the powerful voice, the catchy melodies, and inspiring lyrics all come together perfectly to make the best Third Day Album in years.

It’s not as if Third Day has completely reinvented themselves. But, they have certainly reinforced why we all loved them to begin with. Revelation has everything a Third Day fan could ever want.