With the unfortunate death of Whitney Houston, I tuned into the Grammy Awards for the first time in years. I have to admit that I was curious about how they would deal with this tragic event but I was treated to a stellar show for the most part, with highlights that gave me hope about the direction of popular music. Adele was incredible and her six awards for her “21″ album was topped off by a live performance that removed all doubts that she is fully recovered from vocal cord nodules. There was no auto-tune or lip-synching needed here! Jennifer Hudson gave a moving and emotional tribute to Whitney, “I will always love you”. Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney gave first-rate performances to kick off and end the evening, but I was sad at how much the music geniuses that I listened to growing up had aged. This was even further hammered home with poignant performances by the Beach Boys and Glen Campbell. I even enjoyed Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars far more than I had expected. My hope for the music industry was elucidated very clearly by Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters who said “… the human element of making music is what is most important. Singing into a microphone, learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft… it’s not about sounding absolutely correct. It’s not about what goes on in a computer… it’s about what goes on [in your heart] and what goes on in [your head]“. It is sentiments like that which give me hope that pop music will rise out of the quagmire of autotuned pseudo-art that was sadly demonstrated by Nicki Minaj in her blasphemous stab at Catholicism called “The Exorcism of Roman”. Although she is arguably the most talented female rapper at the moment, this sacrilege-disguised-as-art was inexplicably allowed to be shown on television. If this had been an attack on Islam, it would never have been shown, yet it appears that anti-Catholicism is the last form of discrimination that is allowed and even encouraged. In an evening that showcased the best in pop music, Minaj demonstrated lack of respect, lack of taste and an extreme lack of talent.
David Crowder Band releases an epic album! Debuts at no. 2 on Billboard Charts!
With this new online format, I can now write a quick column when something significant happens that simply cannot wait. The David Crowder Band, one of the few worship bands that I have consistently given positive reviews to, because of their non-formulaic way of presenting songs that are directed upwards toward God, has written a Requiem Mass for their last album release, entitled “Give Us Rest or (a requiem mass in c[the happiest of all keys])“. Yes, you heard right! What is even more amazing is that the album debuted at no. 2 on the secular Billboard Charts (right behind Adele’s 21), making this, by far, the highest debut ever by a Christian artist. Aided by Catholic artist, Matt Maher, this is a concept album based around the Catholic Mass which is offered up for the dead, concepts which are distinctly non-Protestant. Contrary to some rumors, David Crowder Band’s last album is not due to its namesake converting to Catholicism, but it is definitely a singularly unique and ecumenical landmark in contemporary Christian music history.
Through over 100 minutes, the band maintains our interest by weaving in and out with diversity; rock, folk, bluegrass, orchestral pieces and even chant are blended together. There are electronic sounds and rhythmic loops blended in to create incredibly complex and wonderful arrangements. Throughout, the glue that holds the project together is the structure of the Requiem Mass. There are even Latin and Greek lyrics thrown in at various spots. One has the Introit, Lux Atream, Kyrie Eleison, Offertory, Sanctus, Great Amen and Agnus Dei as part of the album. There is a Communion song and, true to a funeral liturgy, there is no Gloria or Alleluia. This is so richly imbued with liturgy that most Catholics would benefit some research into the Mass Requiem to get the most out of this album.
It almost seems wrong to pick out songs to highlight in this type of a project as every part is an important part of the whole. However, one could easily pick out songs like “Come Find Me” , “God Have Mercy”, “Let Me Feel You Shine”, “After All (Holy)” and “There is a Sound” that are heads and shoulders over what one normally hears on Christian radio these days. All these are worship songs but draw from the Catholic roots which feed into the lyrics, giving the album extra depth.
Those of you who are worried that this eclectic and wonderful modern masterpiece will end up in a Mass at your local church need not worry. This album does not serve that purpose. At the end of the day, it is a worship album based on and inspired by the Catholic Requiem Mass. As I have mentioned many times over the years, there is much that Catholics can learn from our Protestant brethren regarding the art of music, but Protestants are increasingly reaching into the Catholic church, aided by artists such as John Michael Talbot and Mat Maher, to add richness and depth into a worship genre that is beset by repetitiveness, trite lyrics and simplicity. This double album marks a fitting end to one of the most original Christian bands of the past decade. I strongly recommend that every lover of music, whether Catholic, Protestant or secular, pick up this album as it is one of the best I have heard. This could be the Christian recording of the past decade!
Ahhh… Christmas time is here (Part 2)
Well, as promised, here are some late-arriving Christmas offerings! Enjoy! I want to wish all my readers a wonderful Christmas!
Matthew West- The Heart of Christmas
There is a distinctive sound to many Christmas songs- happy jingle-jangle arrangements that permeate much of the offerings this time of year. Matthew West seems to have hit all these notes in abundance. The songs vary from the Michael Buble-like “Jingle Bells” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” to the country with the beautiful “The Heart of Christmas” to the tearful true-story of “One Last Christmas”. . One could argue that Matthew West doesn’t bring anything new in these songs but just like it is hard to explain why a child loves a well-worn blanket, I find this an incredibly comfortable and satisfying Christmas album.
Sarah Hart- This Winter’s Eve
Sarah has always been one of my favorite Catholic female artists. This very unique Christmas offering is no different. With only one carol, “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen”, such a project is quite risky. Without familiarity, the songs must all be strong enough to captivate and engage the listener. This acoustic album, which features Sarah’s beautiful and delicate voice, has incredibly strong songs. My favorites include the Celtic-flavored “The Light of Christmas Morn”, the Marian “Let it be So”, and a duet with Amy Grant on “What Love Has Done”. All three songs have the potential to be Christmas standards. Highly Recommended!
Kutless- This is Christmas
This is an EP with Kutless’ familiar mid-tempo rock sound. If you like Nickelback and similar bands, but with much cleaner vocals, this may be the album for you. Songs like “O Holy Night” work great in this type of a setting. There is a very odd song choice in “Breath of Heaven”, a song sung from the perpective of Mary and very jarring when sung by a male voice. There is also a bit of sameness that haunts all the arrangements of this album. Although not one of my favorites this year, it is still a reasonably solid offering and deserves a listen.
Ahhh… Christmas time is here (Part 1)
I love Christmas music and I usually start playing it right after Remembrance day! This year has a bumper crop of new releases. So much so that I am going to do the Christmas reviews in two parts. I will do Part 2 later this month and try to catch some late releases as well. First, though, I would like to plug my daughter’s CD, Dreaming of Christmas. It was released late last year but garnered Best Seasonal Album nominations at the Canadian Gospel Music Association Awards this year. These are Christmas favorites in a timeless jazz setting. Check out her music at www.Magsthesinger.com or see her Silent Night video, which shows off her artistic talent as well.
Toby Mac- Christmas in Diverse City
This is a truly diverse collection. Toby Mac has gotten together some of the coolest artists in Christian music to help him on this CD. “Christmas this year” is destined to be a classic with the unmistakable vocals of Leigh Nash. ”First Noel” with Owl City is a great mix of styles. Other notable contributors include Jamie Grace on “Mary’s Boy Child”. “Little Drummer Boy” cashes in on drum-line sensibilities in a highly entertaining fashion. The second half of the album features vocal contributions by his band members and is not as strong. Still, this is likely to be one of the top selling Christina releases this Christmas
Hawk Nelson- Christmas
There is just something about power punk or ska that sounds joyous to me. This EP from the Canadian group, Hawk Nelson, starts out with a raucous “Hark the Herald Angels Sing/O Come all Ye Faithful”. “Up on the Housetop”is the Irish Rovers on way too much caffeine. Hawk Nelson also shows a softer side with a great “The Holly and The Ivy”. It is too bad that this album is so short. This is just too much fun! One of my personal favorites.
David Crowder Band-Oh for Joy
I have always loved David Crowder’s creative and contemporary arrangements overlayed with his distinctive voice. This EP has great versions of “Joy to the World“, “O come, O come Emmanuel” and “Go Tell it on the Mountain”. The second half of the album shifts to live performances with a wonderfully worshipful “O Holy Night”and “Silent Night”. Again, this album is rather short but this is definitely one I will go to when I tire of the same old yuletide fare.
Wow Christmas 2011
Wow is essentially Christian music’s annual greatest hits compilations. This is the first one in many years dedicated to Christmas releases. This double-length compilation contains many of the artists mentioned here and is a great way to sample songs. Some of the other highlights include the Newsboys with “Jingle Bell Rock”, Audrey Assad’s “ Winter Snow”, Third Day’s “Born in Bethlehem”, Tenth Avenue North’s “Deck the Hall”, and Chris Tomlin’s “Emmanuel”. There is not a weak song among the group. Definitely a worthy addition to the Wow family of compilation CDs.
Some CDs from the CCM world to check out
There have been some high profile recent releases from the world of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM for my new online readers). If you are considering getting some music as presents for Christmas, here are some interesting choices to help spread the cheer long after the holidays are over.
Switchfoot- Vice Verses
This is the seventh release for one of Christian music’s biggest groups and it is another winner! Much of this album deals lyrically with the internal yearnings and the battles that rage on within each one of us. In other words, these are intelligent lyrics from a Christian rather than overtly Christian lyrics. “The Original”, “Dark Horses” and “The War Inside” are some of the best rock tunes of the year. One of my favorites is “Selling the News” which is a great indictment of current popular media . Switchfoot is one of those rare bands that seems to come up with releases that resonate immediately with my kids. By far, this is one of the best albums of 2011.
Family Force 5- III
When Family Force 5 released their great debut “Business in the front/Party in the Back,” it was a fresh sound that rocked the CCM world. This was derailed by a disastrous sophomore effort but this third album is a solid return for the band. The album is characterized by fun songs like “Can you feel it” and “Wobble”. “Paycheck” will resonate lyrically with many who are struggling during these hard economics times and the band even throws in a Bruno Mars-like song entitled “Mamacita”. Although there is nothing overtly spiritual in any of the lyrics, it is a fun positive choice for young listeners.
Mandisa- What if We Were Real
Mandisa is the Season 5 American Idol finalist who has made a career for herself in CCM. The message of this, her third album, is best expressed by the title cut “What if We Were Real”. The album starts of with R&B “Stronger”, which is a continuation of the styles of her previous albums, but when the title cut kicks in, the listener is caught by surprise as this is a Mandisa we didn’t expect. This is an edgier rock sound that is continued in the song “Temporary Fills”. The remainder of the album is pleasant pop which we would normally expect from Mandisa. Overall, this is a very solid album.
Francesca Battistelli- Hundred More Years
Francesca Battistelli has been busy since her debut album, getting married and having a baby. This hasn’t slowed her down, though, as this is a great sophomore album. “This is the stuff” is a sweet acoustic number that starts the album and is followed with the upbeat and super catchy “Constant”. There is quite a mix of styles and messages, ranging from country-tinged pop to the social justice mantra of “Motion of Mercy” to the rock feel of “Good to Know“. Francesca Battistelli is definitely an artist on the rise. This is a recording that should please a broad audience.
Peter Furler- On Fire
The former frontman of the Newsboys has released his debut album and it is very catchy. This is great driving pop but is slightly lightweight compared to the Newsboys. The highlights on this album are the ones that capture the worshipful lyrics and incredible hooks of his former band. Songs like “I’m Alive”, “Reach” and “Glory to the King” are all in this vein. This a very promising start to a solo career.
Matt Redman- 10000 Reasons
Matt Redman has penned some of the most famous praise songs ever, such as “Blessed be your name”. For this reason, his releases are all met with anticipation. This album is recorded live with an audience of worship leaders at a recent conference. The album starts strong with ”We are the Free” and “Holy” is a song that could become a standard in churches around the world. My favorite is “Endless Hallelujah” with its haunting melody. Highly recommended for lovers of worship music.
Catholic Artists making impact in Canada!
At this year’s Canadian Gospel Music Association Covenant Awards, Canadian Catholic artists are making quite a splash. Matt Maher has nominations for Praise and Worship Song of the Year, Artist of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year and Song of the Year for the song, “Christ is Risen”. Chris Bray is making a splash with nominations for Inspirational Song of the Year, Modern Worship Album of the Year and Modern Worship Song of the Year for “Hope Arise”. New artist (and my daughter), Mags, is up for Seasonal Album of the Year for her “Dreaming of Christmas” debut album. This month’s review has albums from Maher, Bray as well as a dynamite new contribution from Audrey Assad!
Matt Maher The Love in Between
Matt Maher is arguably the most successful Catholic artist currently in Christian music. This album will be another great addition to Maher’s discography. The song, “Rise Up,” is an anthemic call to all Christians and is a great way to start off the album. Throughout the album, Maher gives the listener a different lyrical feel from most other offerings in the Christian market, by alternating between pure worship songs and songs that are just about Christians trying to live out their lives the best way they can. Musically, the album delivers a gritty classic rock sound. On a few songs, like “Every Little Prison”, it sounds like Maher is trying a bit too hard but this is more than offset by gems like “Write your love on my heart” and “Heaven and earth“. The song “On my way” is a highlight stylistically for me. It is a great tune and a bit autobiographical… Matt Maher is truly on his way!
Chris Bray Let Hope Arise
Chris Bray, like Maher, is a Canadian Catholic artist who was 2009′s Covenant Award Winner for Best New Artist. He is also one of the hardest working artists in Canada. This is now paying off in spades, with recognition again this year at the Covenant Awards. Chris Bray continues to impress on this album with his smooth vocals and great new songs like “Salvation Belongs to our God” and “Hope Arise”. The latter track is incredibly catchy and is easily the highlight of the album. “Pursue Me” is a beautiful ballad with Marie Miller and Bray also delivers a great version of “Here I am Lord.” The song “We Receive” is a glorious Communion hymn that would sound great in Catholic churches everywhere. Chris Bray is one of the top Catholic artists and deserves a wider listening audience!
Audrey Assad The House You’re building
Every once in a while, I drop the ball and a great Catholic artist escapes my attention. This album, released in 2010, is an incredible debut album from a recent Catholic convert who spent time on the road with Matt Maher.ﾠﾠThis is simply one of the best debut albums I have heard. Featuring beautiful singing, intelligent insightful lyrics and incredible melodies, Assad is an artist that you all need to check out! “For Love of You” and the title cut are both hauntingly sung and is a tonic for the banal auto-tuned songs that are so prevalent on secular radio. This is a great example of what Christian music needs to do in order to stop simply following secular trends but to break new ground. This is an album that simply gets better with each listen. Highly, highly recommended… and my apologies for taking so long to draw this album to your attention.
News flash. Marc Martel from Downhere has gone viral!
In a recent column, I reviewed Downhere’s album, Ending is Beginning, where I stated that “Lead vocalist Marc Martel is simply one of the finest in rock music today. The smoothness and range of his voice, coupled with lush harmonies, invoke memories of Queen.” Now, a video, done as part of a Queen contest, has gone viral! Click on the link to check it it out. Downhere is one of Christian music’s fairly unknown treasures and one of the best Canadian Christian rock bands out there!
It’s good to be back
It has been 6 months since my last article appeared in the Catholic Register. Over the next few months, I am going to try to get all my articles online in an achive format. Next month, I will start with a huge backlog of music reviews. I am very excited to be back in an online format as I can do cool things such as include links to music and videos (try it below)! Please visit this site often or subscribe to this site to be alerted whenever a new column appears. I want this to be the website that people go to for their information about Christian music with a Catholic perspective. I thought it would be appropriate this month to start out with a “state of the union” address to restart things off.
Secular music is, in my opinion, in a sad state. Listen to any Top 40 station and you will hear an Autotuned wonderland. In fact, it is not even necessary to attempt to sing. Witness this video where a news broadcast is autotuned to become a “hit” song. When even a Rebecca Black can become a star on a song that is acknowledged to be horrible, is it any wonder that so many youth are going back to the classic rock songs of our youth. It is also not surprising that so many songs sample or borrow riffs from music from the past. Artists like Drake have convinced me that the failure of our educational system is finally manifested in the inability to write any coherent intelligent lyrics.
Is there hope? Absolutely. The huge success of “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele is finally signalling a return to music with soul and with substance. Adele’s album “21″ is going to be this year’s top album and indicates to me that the public is finally sick and tired of articifical and highly processed artists that are being shoved down their throats. The success of Adele is going to start a cycle of new aspiring artists who will turn back to the art of singing and songwriting.
In Christian music, there is a very disturbing trend. With the downturn of the music industry in general, there are very new aspiring artists who are able to get exposure. What is resulting is that, when I look at the new release announcements that are sent my way, probably half are reissues of previous CDs. Christian bookstores are closing in large numbers and Christian radio has, in the words of my children, the same sound in every song. It seems as if there is now a viscous cycle where Christian radio wants to keep going with what it feels is successful (the same sound, the same few artists etc) resulting in fewer younger listeners which results in radio working even harder to “stay the same”.
Ironically, Catholic artists do have an opportunity now to make a difference. Due to a lack of funds, these starving artists have never been able to afford the secularized and highly over-produced sound of contemporary recordings, and so many are still true musicians. These artists still need to work with good producers in order to replicate the success of an Adele, as the big weakness is still a lack of professionalism in the song-writing and song arrangement. However, recent Catholic artists such as Canadians Matt Maher and Chris Bray are making waves in the Christian music industry.
Thus ends my state of the union address. I hope you will keep coming back. Next column, I will start to clean up the backlog of recordings that have come my way over the summer!
Welcome to Catholicrock.org!
This is David Wang from the band Critical Mass, a successful indie Canadian Christian rock band from Canada (two time winners of the Best Rock Album honours from the Canadian Gospel Music Association). We performed for a million youth at WYD2002 in Toronto. Our website is at www.CatholicRock.com and is closely associated with this blog. I was also the music columnist for the Catholic Register for over 15 years, covering and interviewing some of the biggest names in Christian music. I have a special emphasis on Catholic artists.
This column will continue the vision of the Catholic Register column. This is an incredible exciting change in that, by taking the column online, I can enhance the content without the restrictions of print media . I will provide links to websites and videos so that you can truly experience the best in Christian music.
I am also a university professor, a father of 9 and an avid soccer player & coach. I have been an entrepreneur and love to chat about virtually any topic.
Welcome to my blog I hope you will return regularly and check this out!
