SGTC: Mach II, Round 8

[murlough23]

Back to our next "normal" round. Everyone has until midnight on Sunday, December 4 to get in their guesses.

bdg: Delirious?, The Mission Bell (Clips)
bloop: Blue Merle, Burning in the Sun (Clips)
Brenden: Lifehouse, Lifehouse (Clips)
Danny: The Cars, Candy-O (Clips)
Josh: Derek Webb, Mockingbird (Clips)
murlough: Jaci Velasquez, Beauty Has Grace (Clips)
NinjaRob: Starflyer 59, Gold (Deluxe Edition) (Clips)
plvarona: Salvador, Con Poder (Clips)
Wildcat: Yellowjackets, Peace Round (Clips)
worldofcm: Delirious?, The Mission Bell (Clips)

[danny316]

My first pick didn't have clips online, sorry about that. I'll go with Candy-O by The Cars instead.

[Josh]

Thought I'd signed up already... my bad. Put me down for Derek Webb-- Mockingbird.

[murlough23]

Thought I'd signed up already... my bad. Put me down for Derek Webb-- Mockingbird.

You did; I just missed it when I was going back through the thread to get everyone's picks. Sorry.

NP: "Our God Reigns", Delirious?

[murlough23]

bdg: 4 stars
bloop: 3 stars
Brenden: 3 stars
Danny: 4 stars
Josh: 4 stars
NinjaRob: 3 stars
plvarona: 4 stars
Wildcat: 4 stars
worldofcm: 4 stars

[Josh]

bdg: 4
bloop: 3
Brenden: 3
Danny: 3
murlough: 3
NinjaRob: 4
plvarona: 4
Wildcat: 3
worldofcm: 4

[danny316]

bdg: Delirious?, The Mission Bell: 3
bloop: Blue Merle, Burning in the Sun: 4
Brenden: Lifehouse, Lifehouse: 3
Josh: Derek Webb, Mockingbird: 3
murlough: Jaci Velasquez, Beauty Has Grace: 3
NinjaRob: Starflyer 59, Gold (Deluxe Edition): 5
plvarona: Salvador, Con Poder: 4
Wildcat: Yellowjackets, Peace Round: 3
worldofcm: Delirious?, The Mission Bell: 4

[eatahouse]

bdg: 4
bloop: 3
Brenden: 3
Danny: 4
Josh: 4
murlough: 2
NinjaRob: 5
plvarona: 3
Wildcat: 3
worldofcm: 4
 

[bdg13disciple]

bloop: Blue Merle, Burning in the Sun (3)
Brenden: Lifehouse, Lifehouse (3)
Danny: The Cars, Candy-O (3)
Josh: Derek Webb, Mockingbird (4)
murlough: Jaci Velasquez, Beauty Has Grace (4)
NinjaRob: Starflyer 59, Gold (Deluxe Edition) (4)
plvarona: Salvador, Con Poder (3)
Wildcat: Yellowjackets, Peace Round (3)
worldofcm: Delirious?, The Mission Bell (4)

peace... love... bdg...

[Brenden]

bloop: 3
BDG: 4
Danny: 3
Josh: 3
murlough: 3
NinjaRob: 5
plvarona: 3
Wildcat: 3
worldofcm: 4  

[Wildcatblue7]

bdg: 4
bloop: 4
Brenden: 3
Danny: 3
Josh: 3
murlough: 3
NinjaRob: 4
plvarona: 3
worldofcm: 3
 

[worldofcm]

bdg:  Delirious?, The Mission Bell - 4 stars
bloop: Blue Merle, Burning in the Sun - 3 stars
Brenden: Lifehouse, Lifehouse - 3 stars
Danny: The Cars, Candy-O - 3 stars
Josh: Derek Webb, Mockingbird - 4 stars
murlough: Jaci Velasquez, Beauty Has Grace - 4 stars
NinjaRob: Starflyer 59, Gold (Deluxe Edition) - 4 stars
plvarona: Salvador, Con Poder - 3 stars
Wildcat: Yellowjackets, Peace Round - 3 stars

Next round - Selah, Greatest Hymns

[plvarona]

bdg: 4 stars
bloop: 3 stars
Brenden: 3 stars
Danny: 3 stars
Josh: 4 stars
murlough: 3 stars
NinjaRob: 4 stars
Wildcat: 3 stars
worldofcm: 4 stars

[NinjaRob17]

bdg: Delirious?, The Mission Bell - 4 Stars
bloop: Blue Merle, Burning in the Sun - 3 Stars
Brenden: Lifehouse, Lifehouse - 2 Stars
Danny: The Cars, Candy-O - 3 Stars
Josh: Derek Webb, Mockingbird - 3 Stars
murlough: Jaci Velasquez, Beauty Has Grace - 3 Stars
plvarona: Salvador, Con Poder - 4 Stars
Wildcat: Yellowjackets, Peace Round - 3 Stars
worldofcm: Delirious?, The Mission Bell - 4 Stars

[murlough23]

Am I crazy, or did all of the sound clips just vanish from Amazon's website?  :angry:

Guess I'll be using CDUniverse from now on.

[bloop]

bdg: 4
Brenden: 2
Danny: 4
Josh: 4
murlough: 3
NinjaRob: 5
plvarona: 3
Wildcat: 4
worldofcm: 4

[murlough23]

Well, the deadline has come and gone, so time for my rating.

I'm going to have to give Jaci 2 stars. I was really excited to see how her organic pop makeover would work out, just because I'm convinced that big voices don't always need to be matched up with glossy, bombastic CCM production. Unfortunately, there's more to getting yourself a little artistic cred than just grabbing your favorite lo-fi producer, hitting a lot of imperfect notes, and purposefully dulling the instrumentation behind your music. The lyrics and general attitude have to change as well, and for the most part, they haven't. So she's got cliche CCM songs, not as bad as some of the awful stuff that appeared on Unspoken, but still not all that insightful, matched up with really odd production, limp drums, weird blupring synths here and there, and a general sense of misguidedness. Some of Jaci's classic material from her early albums is great for what it is, but I've come to accept that Jaci Velasquez and artistic credibility just weren't meant to be heard in the same sentence.

I'm still undecided on an album for the "Greatest Hits" round. I'm thinking either Sixpence or Matt Redman.

[Josh]

Derek Webb's new album is one of the most frustrating that I've heard in a good while.

The thing I've always loved most about DW is his fearless, often brutal dedication to telling the truth-- about his own heart, about the condition of the church, and about theology in general. And that's all in tact here... only, he doesn't quite tell the truth sometimes. His newfound love for social justice is admirable, but at times he drifts too close to American Social Justice Gospel and 19th Century German Liberalism. Along the way, he makes some rather unfair generalizations-- The West= bad, poor people= good--  and tries to tell us we need to be doing things that the Bible never actually commands us to do. Oh, and he hijacks the story of the rich young ruler and uses it for his own reasons-- which are noble, but not really what Jesus was intending.

As for the music... uh... well, some songs are really beautiful. The spare, guitar-and-piano pop sound really works on about half the album. The rest of the songs, though, have a tendency to feel either unfinished or deliberately arty-- which is annoying. And with the exception of... well, pretty much one song... there's almost nothing in the way of energy or passion here. At times, Derek sounds downright bored by his own songs. He's not the only one.

Having said all that, though, there really are some great songs here-- "A New Law," "King and a Kingdom," "Zeroes and Ones," "Love is Not Against the Law."

So... 3 stars.

Next round: Merle Haggard-- Lonesome Fugitive (Anthology)

[plvarona]

It looks like people were split on what I'd think of Salvador's first Spanish language album.  I'm guessing a lot of you didn't know coming in that I actually like Latin pop.  So read on to see if I thought Salvador did a worthwhile enough job with it or not.

Album Reviewed: Con Poder - Salvador

Pros: For the most part, it is fun to listen to this album.   The instrumentation provides a festive atmosphere for the album, and works pretty well with the Spanish lyrics.  Additionally, the Spanish helps to mask what has been my biggest criticism of Salvador in the past, namely their cliched lyrics.  Note that while I know enough Spanish to get the gist of what is being said, I'm not as picky on lyrics when they're in a foreign language.  I mostly ask that they not sound awkward, and for the most part they don't.  "Corazon de Oro" is a great song in any language, with the title track and "La Palabra" also standing out.

Cons: I was a bit annoyed by the lack of original material on this album.  Three songs are from their self-titled English language debut, including one song that was entirely in Spanish on the original recording anyway ("Montana.")  While I don't neccessarily have an objection to including these songs, I would have liked to have seen more original material included along with them.  Also, some of the translations of these songs led to some rather awkward rhyming schemes, most notably on "Ante Tu Presencia" ("Lord I Come Before You.")  Musical execution wasn't bad, but could have been better.

The Bottom Line: While I would not consider this album among the elite in the Latin genre, I think it's just good enough.  There's plenty of energy throughout the CD, and it has become a favorite of mine for long car trips.  There's still a lot of room for improvement, though, and it would have helped if there was more original material.

Rating: Este CD recibe un nota de "B-", o cuatro estrellas.  (That's 4 stars for those of you who do not know Spanish.)

On Deck For Next Week: Chronicles - Caedmon's Call

[Brenden]

You all knew I threw you an easy one to make up for the last round.

I like Lifehouse, and I really wanted to like this album. Most of these songs I can enjoy if I don't think about them too much (with the exception of the immensly boring Into The Sun and The End Has Only Begun), but ultimately the lyrics to most of these songs bore me, and leave me with nothing afterwards. Songs like Blind, Walking Away, and Chapter One are bright spots on the album. I can also get into Come Back Down, Better Luck Next Time, We'll Never Know, Days Go By and All in All on a musical level, but again, only if I don't think too much about them, then I start to get frustrated. Also, a minor side note, I wish that one of the more interesting b-sides were included on the album instead of a slower version of Days Go By. The slightly more uptempo mix of the song was better.

So, I'd give this album two and a half, rounded up to 3 stars

Next round I'll do Deeper: The Definitive Worship Experience by Delirious (assuming that album counts)

[bdg13disciple]

i'm going with a 3... sorry i have no time for an explanation


greatest hits... how about the Eminem one that just came out?

peace... love... bdg...

[murlough23]

I like Lifehouse, and I really wanted to like this album. Most of these songs I can enjoy if I don't think about them too much (with the exception of the immensly boring Into The Sun and The End Has Only Begun), but ultimately the lyrics to most of these songs bore me, and leave me with nothing afterwards. Songs like Blind, Walking Away, and Chapter One are bright spots on the album. I can also get into Come Back Down, Better Luck Next Time, We'll Never Know, Days Go By and All in All on a musical level, but again, only if I don't think too much about them, then I start to get frustrated. Also, a minor side note, I wish that one of the more interesting b-sides were included on the album instead of a slower version of Days Go By. The slightly more uptempo mix of the song was better.

So, I'd give this album two and a half, rounded up to 3 stars

Exactly how I felt about that album, except that for my rating, I rounded down.

Next round I'll do Deeper: The Definitive Worship Experience by Delirious (assuming that album counts)

I think it counts.

[Brenden]

I like Lifehouse, and I really wanted to like this album. Most of these songs I can enjoy if I don't think about them too much (with the exception of the immensly boring Into The Sun and The End Has Only Begun), but ultimately the lyrics to most of these songs bore me, and leave me with nothing afterwards. Songs like Blind, Walking Away, and Chapter One are bright spots on the album. I can also get into Come Back Down, Better Luck Next Time, We'll Never Know, Days Go By and All in All on a musical level, but again, only if I don't think too much about them, then I start to get frustrated. Also, a minor side note, I wish that one of the more interesting b-sides were included on the album instead of a slower version of Days Go By. The slightly more uptempo mix of the song was better.

So, I'd give this album two and a half, rounded up to 3 stars

Exactly how I felt about that album, except that for my rating, I rounded down.



I think it counts.

Ok then.

[murlough23]

greatest hits... how about the Eminem one that just came out?

Great... now I have to listen to the clips.    

[NinjaRob17]

I love Starflyer 59, I really do. I mean, Old has to be one of my favorite albums. Gold, however, bored me. I mean, it's not boring in the fact that it's unoriginal or anything - far from it. It's just so lethargic throughout the entire album. I tried listening to it in the car and I almost fell asleep.

I'm not saying slow songs in general are boring, but when you have an album where over half of the songs are around 5-6 minutes long and they sound like they're designed to put you to sleep, it's tiresome - literally. Mostly it's the barely-awake vocals that are the problem. I know the sleepy vocals are what set this band apart from other rock bands, but Jason overdo's them on this album.

On the other hand, there are some songs that break from this mold and make this album listenable. "A Housewife Love Song" is a promising start to the album, being the driving rock anthem it is. Even though "Goodbyes Are Sad" is one of the slowest songs on the album, it somehow sets itself apart from the rest of the sleepers. "Le Vainqueur" ends the album much like it started, with a driving rock anthem.

Overall, it's an original, albeit boring, album. 3 Stars.

Greatest hits albums, huh? I'll do "Now the Truth Can Be Told" by Steve Taylor.

[worldofcm]

Man, I'm sucking this round up bad.

I really like what I'm hearing on The Mission Bell.  There are some really strong songs on the disc - especially with the inclusion of some choir backgrounds (I know they've done this before - but they're much more pronounced here).  "Fire Burns" is an exceptional song on the disc.

Although I like it - there's just really not that much different than what we've already come to expect from the group.  Same lyrical topics, similar melodies, etc.  I give it a 3 1/2, but I don't like it enough to round up to 4.

My rating:  3 stars

[Wildcatblue7]

I could swear I already posted my rating.  Weird.

Anyway, four stars for the Yellowjackets.  Some excellent jazz renditions of song of classic Christmas tunes, including an awesome version of "In a Silent Night" arranged by Joe Zawinul.  "Peace Round" is a neat addition, as well.

Next week: Down in Birdland, the Manhattan Transfer Anthology.

[bloop]

4 stars.  I, too, have no time to explain at the moment.

Next round:  The Smashing Pumpkins Greatest Hits (with Judas O).  It's what I have on hand to do.

[danny316]

I'm giving the Cars 4 stars. The album's short and a few of the songs start to sound the same. There are also some decent songs ("Let's Go" is a favorite), and some nice electronic experimentation - well, for when the album came out anyway. I kind of like quirck-pop, but ultimately, this just isn't strong enough to warrant 4 stars. It's practically the definition of a 3 and a half star album - I like it, and think it's a fairly strong recording, but it's not that far above average.

So just to spite the largest amount of people (all the guesses were fairly accurate, but I want to win!), I'm rounding up to 4 stars. Cruel, but I don't think that strategy's actually against the rules.

I have a Beethoven best-of in mind for next week, specifically, this one (clips here): http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...ssical&n=507846

Before anyone decides to do something silly, I'd like to point out that I DO like classical music, and that it was once all I listened to. Some of Beethoven's songs are classics. Don't post any ratings that'd be insulting, please.

[bdg13disciple]

Great... now I have to listen to the clips.  

yeah... well, since you haven't posted next round yet...

can i switch it to The Best of U2: 1990-2000?


i don't really feel like shelling out for the Eminem album actually.  I thought it would be streaming on mp3.com...

peace... love... bdg...

[murlough23]

yeah... well, since you haven't posted next round yet...

can i switch it to The Best of U2: 1990-2000?

Ha ha. Sure.

I haven't posted the next round yet because my pick depends on what I can download. But I might start it later today any way and just list myself as TBD for a day or two, if that's OK with folks.

[murlough23]

Round 9 has finally begun.