Tuesday, May 13, 2008

New Christian Music

In the past couple of weeks, we picked up 2 new CDs: Shawn McDonald's "Roots" and United's "I Heart Revolution". We were pretty excited about both of them because we are big fans of both groups.

Unfortunately, Shawn McDonald's CD has disappointed a bit. His best CDs have definitely been his live ones (Live in Seattle was amazing and Scattered Pieces was also great), but even his studio CDs have some great songs. What normally shines about his music are his great voice and his honest lyrics but neither seemed to be particularly on display in the CD. The one exception is the first track Clarity, which I really like, even though it is a bit too Easy Listening at times for me. Clips of some of the tracks are over at Shawn McDonald's website, www.shawnmcdonaldmusic.com.

What is truly a treat is the new United CD. Their last CD, All of the Above was different from all of their other CDs in that it was their first studio CD. It had some awesome songs, but it had way less energy to it than their previous live ones. Well, this disc has brought the energy back big time and is great to listen to. It is a double CD with 30 songs performed live from their last tour. The tracks are mostly old with a few new ones, but none of the new tracks particularly stand one; the highlights are all old tracks performed live once again. The fast songs (One Way, All Day, and My Future Decided, among a few others) all have an energy that just gets you pumped for Jesus! I would highly encourage you to check this CD out. I picked it up for $14 as an online music download at amazon.com (here's a link).

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