5 comments about Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration.

1. Quincy Jones already rocks my world. I have nothing but respect for him and the level of musical excellence that has always surrounded anything he put his considerable mind and talent to. But this re-imagining of Handel's Messiah from an African-American perspective is exceptional, extraordinary, unabated joy--especially in "And He Shall Purify" and "Hallelujah!" I am a middle-aged white musician/pianist/voice teacher in New York City. I got my Master's at Indiana University in voice. I was raised a Southern-Baptist even! I only offer up this information to suggest what an unlikely candidate I might be to enjoy this CD. I can't stop smiling and moving with these extraordinary performances when I put this CD on. God bless Michael O. Jackson for these vocal arrangements. I bow to the unsurpassed musical expertise, as well as the heart and soul demonstrated throughout the recording. And the mixing is something else--out of this world, truly!
   This is one amazingly-inspired recording. Do yourself a huge favor and buy it for yourself and everyone you know. And get ready to rock out.



2. I don't listen to all the tracks on this recording, but I've all but worn out 8, 12 and the final track, the Halleluia Chorus. Stevie with Take 6 is masterful, as well as Al Jarreau on the all-star big band session. The one disapointment that kept me from giving it 5 stars was the recording quality. I wanted to use Why Do the Nations... with Jarreau to audition a pair of high-end stereo speakers in the store, and the band sounded like they were recorded in a shoe-box. Unfortunate for such great musicianship and arranging.



3. I heard this CD at a friend's house once, years ago, and spent five years searching for it since. It showed up in Amazon this year, and I now, finally!, own it for myself.
   
   I LOVE this CD! It pays homage to the original, but brings a lively, joyful, unique sound to the musical ideas Handel started with. It modernizes it without degrading it in any way. I still love the original (Tafelmusik's is my favourite rendition, as true to the original ideas as possible), but I love this adaptation equally as much. Some top-name musicians perform here, too, and I love hearing them add their creative ideas to this project.
   
   5 stars, for sure!



4. I had heard the Hallelujah Chorus before (it was played in my spinning class at Christmas time) so I knew how great a song it is. I was hoping that the rest of the album was close to that level of inspiration and excitement - but I was disappointed. I liked the first cut (a short history of Black music in America) and a couple other cuts, but the Hallelujah Chorus is definitely the best. Most of the others are just so - so, in my opinion. Still the album is worth getting, just for the Hallelujah Chorus!



5. I have always loved the dance rhythms, especially in the Overature. It is a really wonderful collage of all the kinds of African American music through history. I do recommend this product for a different feel of Handel's Messiah.

No comments about A New Hallelujah.

5 comments about The Invitation.

1. A very good CD. I bought it for my daughter and she loves it !



2. I found this album online after hearing a YouTube video of Meredith singing "You're Not Alone"...
   
   I found out whatever information on her I could and finally decided to buy it. I am pleased with the whole album and am impressed with the words and the music to the songs.



3. I first heard Meredith Andrews live at a concert she was performing with Aaron Shust and Brandon Heath. As amazing as they were, I felt she really was unbelievable. I had never heard of her, but her music, voice, and heart for God was so evident.
   
   I purchased this CD and could not believe how many great songs are on here. My favorites are You're Not Alone, The River, and You Invite Me In, although they all are very good. She wrote or co-wrote every one of them.
   
   My local station is not playing her music yet, so at a live broadcast I gave them my copy to listen to, then ordered another for me. I've never been so impressed with a new artist as this one. I can't wait for her next CD.



4. Meredith Andrews' inaugural CD "The Invitation" is characterized by a fresh-sounding yet modern vocal performance and meaningful lyrics. Andrews has a beautiful, melodic range, but she doesn't feel the need to show it off at unnecessary moments. Listening to this CD, you get the feeling that she is more interested in delivering a meaningful message about the healing power of God's embrace than in showing off her incredible voice.
   
   There are several songs you can't afford to miss. "You're Not Alone" and "You Invite Me In" are bound to get most of the attention. Both songs feel like a mix between Natalie Grant, Jaci Velasquez and Bethany Dillon. But the standout song is "The River," which weaves in a pop-style worship tone with substantive lyrics. This CD won't leave you disappointed.



5. This cd is amazing. I bought a cd of hers at Easter service last year (she is a member of the worship team at my church) and I loved that as well. I was so excited to see that she had another cd out. I love her voice and was not let down by this cd. I recommend this cd to anyone!

4 comments about Great God Who Saves.

1. LOVE THIS CD!!! (Can you tell?) This is a meditation without being all "quiet" music. Her words are profoundly true and vunerable. Her style is simple without being redundant. My favorite CD of the year --
   last year's fav was Bebo Norman's latest one (sorry very bad with names, but it has "I Will Lift Up My Eyes" on it).
   I graduated from a music school so I am quite critical....this one's a keeper!



2. Laura's music is totally worshipping God. It is real lyrics born out of real circumstances that God has taken her to and through. Many Christians recognize and sing "Indescribable" but it is worth listening to all Laura's songs to catch a glimpse of the great God that Laura worships and serves!



3. I thoroughly enjoy and feel uplifted in my spirit any time I play this CD. Good job, Laura and God bless your music ministry.



4. I bought the CD because Laura will be in concert in my area soon. I like to know an artist's songs before I go to a concert. I knew that Laura was known for her songwriting abilities. The CD has a good sound to it but it differs from the style of music I normally listen to. I cut my Christian Rock teeth on artists like Petra and Larry Norman. Then I moved on to Audio Adrenaline and now DecembeRadio is my favorite group. I say all that to say I will probably not listen to Laura's CD unless I am in a mellow reflective mood. But when I am in one of those moods, I'm sure the CD will fit the bill just fine.

2 comments about Voices: Ultimate Gospel Collection.

1. i thought it was a great album, i like the majority of the songs which makes it worthwile



2. The CD is an excellent mix of very popular and inspirational Gospel songs. There are genres of traditional style, contemporary, and praise and worship. Congrats to those who decieded on the content and selections.

5 comments about Wow #1s: 31 of the Greatest Christian Music Hits Ever.

1. Best ever??!! BEST EVER?!!! I CANT'T BELIEVE THIS! IF THESE SONGS ARE THE GREATEST CHRISTIAN SONGS EVER WHERE IS PETRA??? TELL ME WHERE IS THE GREATEST CHRISTIAN BAND?????!!! THIS IS MADNESS. AND ON TOP OF THAT: PLACE IN THIS WORLD???? MICHAEL W. SMITH HAS BETTER SONGS THAN THAT CHEESY BALLAD. THIS ALBUM IS LUDICROUS... WELL, AT LEAST IT HAS THE GREATEST SONG OF AMY GRANT: LEAD ME ON.
   BUT WHERE IS PETRA? WHERE IS PETRA???!!! WHERE IS THE GREATEST CHRISTIAN BAND?????!!!!!!



2. Nobody likes everything. I really loved the "blue disc" but didn't like the "gray disc" much. Someone did a really great job of categorizing and seperating the music by style. I like the "blue disc" an awful lot. It is well worth what I paid for it. The service was quick and trouble free. Overall I'm very satisfied.



3. This is a really great Christian CD. I recommend it for anyone who loves contemporary Christian music!



4. Not only is the quality great, but it's something you want to listen to over and over again!



5. This was the first CD I purchased from this series. The music is definitely uplifting. There is a wide variety of artists on this CD to suit anybody's taste. I do my work listening to the music and it is great for a stress buster.
   I especially like 'Stomp' by Kirk Franklin. This is a combination of a large black choir with an excellent sense of rhythm conducted by Kirk who also sings. The instrumentation behind the music is very rhythmic and great. I usually like other styles of music, but this particular piece is great! It's great to take along in the car if you want to listen to something that is a stress buster and also a prevention of boredom.

5 comments about In Christ Alone.

1. Always looking for good, Christ-centered music, and this was just what I was looking for. Had recently read the verse about worshipping in the Spirit and was trying to understand it. When I read the review in Amazon that mentioned this exact thing, it was amazing. Knew I had to get it, and I have not been disappointed. Not like modern christian music, which is a plus.



2. ALL songs are great, with powerful meaning. "In Christ Along" deserves true 5 stars rating.



3. Since becoming a Christian, I've grown to dislike about 99% of music, and about 99.8% of Christian music. Someone recommended the Getty's to me and I looked them up on YouTube and fell instantly in love with their music.
   
   Their songs are so biblically based it is incredible; they understand that God's love and his justice meet at the cross, and that he's not an amatory God.
   
   This music is God-glorifying and saint-edifying. It is highly recommended.



4. I love these thoughtful hymns for, unlike many modern hymns that use repetitive mantras, the lyrics are designed to have depth.
   
   I particularly like "Beneath the Cross of Jesus" in the traditional version is followed by "I fain would take my stand". In the version on this CD it is followed, with the more confident, with "I find a place to stand".
   
   I also purchased the music book that goes with this CD. I like the Celtic style of the songs and Kristyn sings with contemplative freshness. This CD has some of the most popular of the Getty's songs.



5. I purchased this CD about two weeks before Easter, and it immediately went into high rotation in my player. The songs are wonderfully rich in their encapsulation of Christian theology (reformed) and their presentation of Christ's accomplishment on the Cross.
   The music is more melodic than many CCM artists, and much less pop-oriented. Many of the songs would be wonderful for group worship, which seems to be their purpose.
   This will stay with me a long time, in a good way.

5 comments about Addison Road.

1. I've seen Addison Road at PlanetWisdom (a youth conference). They are an amazing worship band. It is incredible to worship with them live. They gave the youth leaders demo CD's and as soon as I started listening to the demo C at home I knew I needed the buy their CD. I just love the music and love to support this band.



2. This is an excellent album with identifiable lyrics for today's youth. I shared "All that Matters" with my youth group and they loved it and the lyrics touched them. This was a great buy!



3. Great music!! If you like Christian rock bands like MercyMe or Casting Crowns, then you'll like Addison Road.



4. I received my audio cd on time and in great shape. I love the music of Addison Road. Thanks!



5. I first heard of this band when they were the new featured artist of the week on iTunes. The free single that was offered had me hooked and I've been greatly anticipating their full release ever since. I was delighted to see Amazon MP3 offering the new album so I, of course, bought it here. An excellent album from an excellent up-and-coming band.

5 comments about Songs Kids Love to Sing: Sunday School Songs.

1. My son loves when we listen to this CD in the car. I has all the same songs I grew up singing in church.



2. My kids have been introduced to many of these songs at their daycare. I remembered some of them vaguely from my own childhood, but it's been so long, I wasn't able to help them carry the tune. It's fun to have this music at home for our family, and it puts a smile on my 2 and 4 year olds' faces.



3. My son and I have really enjoyed the songs on the CD... We just finished a kids version of the bible and the songs have been fun to listen to and remember the story from the bible :)



4. We love this music at our house. I plan on using it in my 3 year olds class that I teach at pre school. It is a lot of fun and the kids sing along.



5. We've been letting my [...]listen to mostly Sesame Street music. Compared to Sesame Street music, this CD was rather boring. All the tunes sounded similar after awhile since the children's voices kept the same range through the CD. It's not that bad but I'd give the other CDs in this collection a miss.

5 comments about Tell Me What You Know.

1. Sara Groves knows how to get to the heart of where we are at. Her words are inspirational and remind us that we all struggle in every aspect of our daily lives. She gives me hope!



2. I KNOW your music is fantastic. YOur voice and lyrics are honest and to the heart of us whom struggle with troubles everyday. Keep it up!!!



3. I'll tell you what I know. Being a fan of Sara Groves and her Christian music is maddening. She has written some of the best, catchiest Christian hit songs of this decade, and a couple of all-time Contemporary Christian Classic Hits (in my opinion), yet she seems intent on trying to be overtly secular and non-religious in most of her songs.
   
   TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW has one (deserves to be) MEGA-HIT of a song, "When the Saints," which has catchy, melodic song hooks, a contemporary sound, and lyrics overflowing with Christian references. The rest of the album does not measure up and is nowhere near as good or as intensely Christian in lyrical content. Most of the Christian references appear in the CD booklet and liner notes, if they appear at all. In essence, buying this CD was worth it, but ONLY because of the single song "When the Saints."
   
   Anymore, Sara spends more time singing about her family, friends, and acquaintances, than about God and Bible references. It is almost like she is a Christian who thinks putting out secular music is a Christian act merely because the artist is a Christian in real life, it just doesn't show up in the songs so much. So what?
   
   Sara first got famous with her incredible tune, "The Word," from her CONVERSATIONS album. That album also had many other tunes about the Christian life, and many, many Bible references in the other songs, as well. Sadly, that was her peak, as far as the Christian aspect goes. She has spent the rest of her career, so far, seemingly trying to be successful with less and less Christian lyrical content in her songs. Conversations
   
   Her next album, ALL RIGHT HERE, also had a big Christian radio hit, "First Song that I Sing," about waking up and praising God, first thing every morning, and it also had a few other good, solid Christian tunes, but the ratio of Christian:Secular lyrical content was more secular than on CONVERSATIONS. All Right Here
   
   The rest of her albums, so far, are lucky to have even a single, good, solid Christian hit song. A couple don't even have a hit song, and most of the lyrical content is vague about Christian lyrical content, and heavy on vagueness, altogether. This song could be about God, or whatever you want it to be about, etc.
   
   On her album THE OTHER SIDE OF SOMETHING, she has a song titled "Esther," but it is not about the Bible's book of Esther, it is about someone she knows personally named Esther. Pretty clever? No. Pretty aggravating! The Other Side of Something
   
   It is as if she really wants to crossover into secular music, and, like many a secular artist, is content to thank God in the liner notes, while offering nothing offensive to the sensibilities of non-believers who need to be tricked into listening to a Christian "hit" song. I can only imagine.
   
   I think it was the comedian Janeane Garofalo who had an old joke about Amy Grant, an established Christian singer who had a 1990's secular hit, "Baby, Baby," and was criticized by Christian listeners for ditching her Christian past for secular success. When she crossed over, she forgot to bring the cross over.
   
   Sara needs to put the Christian aspect back into the lyrics, not just the liner notes, forget about being able to not offend non-believers with overtly Christian lyrics, and do what she does best and what made her famous, writing big, beautiful Christian songs. Fill up the entire album with them. Stop being discreet about Christianity. One great Christian song among an album full of secular tunes does not make a good Christian album. Don't be ashamed of the Gospel.
   
   Anymore, I just buy the latest Sara Groves album IF there is a Christian hit song, then I add it to my own compilation CD of her collected other, decent, spectacular Christian tunes and hits, while shelving the retail, mostly secular sounding CD. She's good for a compilation of great songs culled from many different albums, but she could be SO much better, so much more in the Christian music world.
   
   Many of her song lyrics speak of a crisis of faith, I think she is forgetting her first love while she could be writing better Christian lyrics and hits than nearly anybody else out there, these days.
   
   The more worldly Sara Groves' lyrics become, the less interesting they are for Christian music listeners. She has a great gift for Christian lyrics and songs, but she rarely uses it, anymore.



4. Sara Groves has a beautiful voice! And the lyrics are quite amazing! She has a good message - and it is: GOD! This is one of my favorite Christian albums. It's not the best album of all time - but it still much better than "Add to the Beauty". At first I didn't like it so much - only the songs "Love Is Still a Worthy Cause" and "In the Girl There's a Room" seemed to be great. Then, after listening to it 10 times I found almost every song. This is beautiful but quite peaceful music. There's some rock influences - and also country and folk but still, I would say this is a pop album. Sara's voice is brilliant - and the songs like "Honesty" and "It Might Be Hope" are one of the reasons why to keep this album in your collection. She has a sensitive voice.
   Stars: Love Is Still a Worthy Cause, In the Girl There's a Room, It Might Be Hope



5. This is a life changing c.d. by Sara Groves. Sara goes into uncharted territory, with her lyrics about injustice, pain, strength and conviction. This c.d. is a wake up call to evangelical Christians to truly love as Jesus did---to act on behalf of the helpless and those without a voice. It was a wake up call for me. I have given this c.d. to several friends who have been deeply moved by it.