Reviewed by Simon Eden
In 2006 everything changed for New Zealand s Parachute band. Although the Parachute Festival goes from strength to strength, the line up of the festival house band totally changed and the musical direction moved from the soul-tinged pop of old to full-on guitar-driven rock. This album is now the second release from the new line up, Omega Levine (vocals), Sam de Jong (drums), Alister Wood (keys), Rhys Machell (bass), and Simon Moore (guitars). With a sound that fills a stadium, each track comes powering out even in the softer phrases. In Liberty (Hallelujah) is as gentle as a lullaby sung over thousands of God s children, whilst Shout It Out kicks off with a screaming, piercing guitar solo and leads into the obvious raucous chorus. Everlasting was recorded with an African choir in Tanzania, which breaks out from the New Zealand style into a melting pot of cultures that are Technicolor . The great thing is that this worship band aren t trying to be a Kiwi
Reviewed by Tony Cummings
A two CD compilation offering 30 Christmas songs and carols from the crème-de-la-crème of America s CCM talents. Some of the tracks (like Newsong s The Christmas Shoes , Amy Grant s A Christmas To Remember , Point Of Grace s Jingle Bell Rock and Relient K s Deck The Halls ) come from best selling Christmas offerings of yesteryear. But other tracks here (TobyMac s O Come All Ye Faithful , Chris Tomlin s Angels We Have Heard On High , Kutless It Came Upon A Midnight Clear ) are new to this reviewer. If you want good singers doing Christmas songs with the minimum of cheesy arrangements, there are bound to be tracks here you ll enjoy.
Reviewed by Stella Redburn
It s hard to make a Christmas album that makes much impact but the best selling singer/songwriter from Nashville has succeeded with this one. Of the 12 tracks Matthew has written seven himself and they are all strong, catchy songs which balance perfectly the five remaining tracks which are classic Christmas repertoire. Matthew says, I wanted it to be a fun record, and it certainly is! Right from the opening notes of the opening number Come On, Christmas we are swept along with the good-time feel. Matthew has learnt his lessons well from decades of popular music and this song contains all the ingredients of a regular Christmas pop anthem. The third track is the title track and is, in fact, the heart of the album: a beautiful new carol with relevant words and a decent tune. I liked the sentiment of Give This Christmas Away , which he did with Amy Grant for last year s Christmas VeggieTales release. Leaving Heaven is a more serious number in which he d