| Tunes You are in: surefish > culture > music reviews Date: 6 August, 2009
George Luke reviews new albums from Matt Redman, Mat Kearman, The Newsboys, Stryper and Third Day Use the links to buy the albums and Christian Aid gets a percentage of the cost - the more you buy, the more Christian Aid receives According to Matt Redman, good worship songs shouldn’t just point your head skywards; they should also provide you with some grounding and encouragement for the here and now. And with that in mind, here’s one of the most topical worship albums out right now: Matt’s new offering, We Will Not Be Shaken. For the first time ever, Matt has recorded an album on which every single track was co-written with someone else. His writing partners have certainly brought out the best in him – not to mention give the album a sound that’s generally more rocky-sounding than Matt usually is. • Order Matt Redman – We Will Not Be Shaken Robert Marvin, the producer of Matt Redman’s album, also produced City of Black & White, the new album by American singer Mat Kearney. Since 2006, Mat has been steadily building a following outside of America’s Christian Music market – one which should grow some more when he supports Keane on their US tour later this year. City of Black & White is Mat’s third album. For the most part it’s a melancholy-sounding affair, with more than a hint of Coldplay in evidence. In one of the most bizarre news stories to come out of America’s CCM scene, the Newsboys recently announced that Michael Tait (formerly of dc Talk) was to replace Peter Furler as the band’s lead singer. If nothing else, that should make In the Hands of God, the Newsboys’ new album, a must-buy for fans of the big bald guy with the Suggs-like dance moves – what with it being his last Newsboys outing and all that... Whether In the Hands of God will produce the sort of hit singles the Newsboys are known for is debateable. But the track ‘My Friend Jesus’ does have one line I wish I’d written: “They say two wrongs don’t make a right/just try listening to Celine Dion all night.” Priceless! It’s hard to believe now, but back in the 80s, one of the most groundbreaking acts in Christian music was a Bible-throwing hair metal band dressed in yellow and black spandex. Well, it’s time to dig out that old 777 T-shirt and wear it with pride once more; after a long silence, Stryper have a new album out. Murder By Pride is their tenth album, released to coincide with a grand tour marking the band’s 25th anniversary. As you would expect, it’s pure air guitar heaven. These days, Stryper’s lead vocalist Michael Sweet also sings and plays guitar in the classic rock band Boston. It becomes kind of hard to tell which is which when Stryper cover the old Boston song "Peace of Mind", and Boston’s guitarist Tom Scholz puts in a guest appearance. For some unexplained reason, watching the DVD half of Third Day’s new offering Live Revelations felt like watching an episode of Heroes. It could have been the alternating between colour and black-and-white as they cut between onstage and offstage footage, or the ‘comic’ font used for the on-screen captions and credits. Or it could just be the feeling that I’d seen and heard it all before… Still, if their brand of Southern rock is your cup of tea (and all the thousands of devoted fans both in and out of the Bible Belt can’t be wrong), you should enjoy this. It seems to have become a habit of theirs to follow each studio album with a live CD/DVD version of it – and they’re pretty much a Christian rock institution now. Other bands should take note. Amazon links • Order Matt Redman – We Will Not Be Shaken • Order Mat Kearney – City of Black & White • Order Newsboys – In the Hands of God • Order Third Day – Live Revelations • Order Stryper – Murder By Pride Use the links to buy the albums and Christian Aid gets a percentage of the cost - the more you buy, the more Christian Aid receives
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Mat Kearney
The Newsboys
Stryper
Third Day
