CT's current reviews 10/14

[ajyouthguy]

so, i regularly read Christianity Today's reviews because they are usually pretty fair and informative and honest.  i went over there a minute ago to read this week's reviews and was a little surprised, not because of what the albums are but simply because i've never seen it this way before, to see that this week's reviews were two 2 1/2 stars, two 3 stars, and two 3 1/2 stars.  i think it may be the weakest week i've ever seen on there.  but i don't doubt the validity given what the albums are.  i just found it interesting.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/features/reviews.html

[murlough23]

What, a week without any releases from the CCM market that are actually good? Perish the thought!

NP: "Black Coal", Sanctus Real

[NinjaRob17]

I thought that was most weeks.

[murlough23]

I thought that was most weeks.

Most weeks, CT can dig up something noteworthy that readers like me might otherwise overlook (it might be indie or from a "fringe" label that isn't really in the thick of the CCM biz, or even a mainstream release by a Christian artist). I guess this was just a particularly abysmal week. Given that the increasingly irrelevant WoW series being their flagship review (the label that puts it out has tried and failed to retool the series, and this is their obvious admission of defeat, and the CT review even described it as "the most heavily promoted in Christian music" as opposed to the best or even most popular), it just seems there wasn't much of interest for them to cover in the first place. I think it was all compilations, weak inspo-pop albums, and failed bids at new relevance by old school worship leaders whose songs generally sound more interesting in the hands of other people.

NP: "Legacy", Sanctus Real

[Josh]

By comparison, LAST week they had, like, 4 out of 5 of their reviews with 4.5 star ratings.

[bloop]

By comparison, LAST week they had, like, 4 out of 5 of their reviews with 4.5 star ratings.

Which is fine if they deserved that, but did they?

[murlough23]

By comparison, LAST week they had, like, 4 out of 5 of their reviews with 4.5 star ratings.

Correction two 4.5 star reviews and one 4 star review. The other three were 3 stars or lower. Out of the overly positive reviews, one was a Sandra McCracken album and she's more of a respected indie artist (the Derek Webb connection also helps her cred with thinking CCM critics), so while I've never gotten into her personally and haven't heard the album, it's conceivable that she'd warrant that sort of a rating more than some big-label CCM heavyweights might. Anberlin really wasn't worthy of a 4.5-star review. They weren't worthy of a bad review either, but I'm somewhat taken aback that they actually considered the band's new album to be their best specifically because it was more poppy and accessible. Was this ever a problem for Anberlin? Have they ever not been melodic and catchy? Was there something to not like about their lyrics before that's been improved now? (Then again, I seem to recall CT dogging on the band for being cryptic on Blueprints for the Black Market - but back then the band didn't have a reputation built yet, so they probably didn't feel bad about dissing an obscure band for confusing them.)

The previous week had four 4.5 star reviews and one 4-star, so that's what you might be thinking of. Most of their reviews lately seem to trend toward ratings between 3 and 4 stars, though, so I don't think they're being overly gushy for the most part. This isn't a "Jesus Freak Hideout" or "CMCentral during the Robin Parrish days" sort of situation.

[Josh]

*nods* I must have been thinking of that previous week.

And though this may not mean much, since I'm on CT's payroll, I think they do good work there, all things considered. Yes, I obviously gave disagreements with their perspectives on music in particular and the arts in general, but, as far as CCM-oriented publications go, CT Music is really the best that I know of; Russ and Andree, in particular, are fine writers, and they seem to be pretty fair in their ratings, as evidenced by the wide array of scores we've documented in this thread.

[ajyouthguy]

*nods* I must have been thinking of that previous week.

And though this may not mean much, since I'm on CT's payroll, I think they do good work there, all things considered. Yes, I obviously gave disagreements with their perspectives on music in particular and the arts in general, but, as far as CCM-oriented publications go, CT Music is really the best that I know of; Russ and Andree, in particular, are fine writers, and they seem to be pretty fair in their ratings, as evidenced by the wide array of scores we've documented in this thread.

i agree completely.  they are the only place i read consistently, week to week, and i respect their thoughts on the stuff i'm interested in like few, if any, others.  they are fair, honest, 'real' about the music they review.  my initial post was simply meant to express surprise at how weak of a week it apparently was.  i have been reading that site for a long time, every week, and that was easily the weakest week of 'new' releases i remember.

[murlough23]

Count me in among CT's supporters. I can see occasional weak spots where their writers might be blinded by fanboy-ism, but then, I'm not entirely certain that I'm above this in my own writing. It's also worth noting that since many of us are harder on the most "blatantly Christian" types of songwriting than the audience CT is generally aimed at, it's harder for us to swallow when they give a CCM mainstay 5 stars. I don't take their word as Gospel, but I respect the team of writers they've got working for them, for the most part. The occasional review will make me go  or even  , but they're good at bringing interesting artists to light who I might otherwise never hear of due to the "tip-of-the-iceberg" nature of Christian radio and the way that affects what music most Christian consumers will purchase.

If they had a lower-than-average week for album ratings this week, I think that just helps bolster the argument that they're trying their best to be honest.

NP: "The Grey Man", Copeland