Music Review #2 - Tobymac: Alive and Transported (CD/DVD)

Artist: tobyMac
Album: Alive and Transported (CD/DVD)
Label: Forefront Records
Release Date: May 27, 2008

Rating: 10/10

So I borrowed this CD/DVD from my youth pastor, and at the time I hadn't listened to tobyMac since the last time I saw him in concert during the Winterjam Tour two years ago. I was a huge fan of him during my middle school and freshman year of high school. I've kinda gotten away from the rap/hip-hop scene in the past year, so much as to say I don't sit down and enjoy listening to rap/hip-hop 'cause it's not music to me. I say all of this because I thoroughly enjoyed Alive and Transported.

To all of you who have never seen tobyMac live: do it. Regardless of whether you enjoy his music or not (I don't, thats why I wrote that whole first paragraph) you will enjoy this, if not the CD then definitely the DVD.

The CD portion is good, its the audio from the whole show (same show as DVD), it's not like some artists that mix and match tracks (*cough* underoath *cough) or leave out tracks on the DVD (*cough* hillsong united *cough*). The live audio is very clean, you can hear the audience in between songs, even though the volume is the crowd is turned completely off during the song except for parts with audience participation. It even leaves in Toby's message and sharing the gospel. I personally love hearing when artists share their faith on stage, but some people don't so this is tacked on to the end of tracks so you can skip to the next song.

But the jewel of the package is the DVD, complete with the entire concert and an almost hour long documentary introducing Toby and his complete band and how they met Toby. The concert is pure brilliance, mainly because the choreography is incredible. All of the vocals are mixed well, my only beef is that the bass isn't quite as audible and that does take away from part of the experience of "feeling" the music, but I don't think it's enough to count against it. Some of the moves on stage are just reall cool to see, including one Sean Locke doing a backflip off of one of the amp cabniets and Toby jumping off a trampoline into the crowd.

Overall, worth every cent you will spend to get his package.

In Response

This is a response to one of my friends notes on facebook, but i thought id post it here as well cause i like it alot.
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sometimes life rolls around us like a thundercloud, preparing to strike out. other times it surrounds us, suffocating us like the waves of the salty ocean. other times it is invigorating, like the smell of early morning on a rainy day. but what is life if it is not imaginative? when life has become nothing, like the void, we panic and breathe heavy even though there is nothing to breathe. we scream and scream for someone to save us, even though we know no one is there. but then, out of the darkness, comes a hand a reassuring hand. a hand that grabs us by the hand and pulls out of that void that used to be called life. but now it is called death, not because we died in that void, but because death died in that void. we look around and we see the people that were there all along, our friends and loving family. we start to say thanks, but they know already. we sit and laugh and play and dance and sing and capture the moment, the moment of true joy. that joy wells up like a blocked spring of the purest water, and no matter what we do it gushes out. and this joy is special because it is contagious, and soon all of you are filled with this overwhelming joy. and there is nothing that can take that away, not in this world or the next.

The Colbert Report: The Word - Fight to the Furnish

This is the clip of The Word from The Colbert Report from July 22, 2008. The Colbert Report shows on Comedy Central weekday nights at 11:30pm.

Music Review #1: The Classic Crime - "The Silver Cord"

So I love music, and I've always enjoyed critiquing music, so I've decided to start doing music reviews on here! *cue applause*. I don't know how often these will be, probably whenever I get new music. I'll also do some older stuff in my spare time. Hope you guys enjoy!



Artist: The Classic Crime
Album: The Silver Cord
Label: Tooth and Nail Records
Release Date: 07.22.08

Rating: 9.5/10

I've loved The Classic Crime for several years now, ever since the release of their debut CD, "Albatross". Coming in to listen "The Silver Cord", I had high expectations. Their acoustic EP, "Seattle Sessions" that was release in the past year revealed a more mature band than "Albatross" had brought to us, and I was prepared to hear a different band from two years ago, but what hit my ears was more than just more mature, it was beautiful.

Opening with a short track, "The End", displays TCC's lyrical genius. Principal songwriter/lead vocalist Matt MacDonald really shines in this CD, and "The End" was just the beginning, no pun intended. After the under two-minute opening, standout songs "Just A Man" and "Gravedigging" please the listener with well produced effects, crunching guitar riffs and MacDonald's mature and raw vocals. Halfway through the comparably long album (this CD clocks in with a hefty 15 songs, just under an hour long), we come to the first single from this CD, "Abracadavers". I love this song. Its intense guitars, MacDonald's almost-screaming vocals and an all-around catchy lyrics and beat really drive home the emotion of this song. The rest of the album is similarly compelling, offering standout tracks "Medisin", "Sing", and the album's only instumental, "The Ascent".

Overall, this is an album I would recommend to every listener of the general rock genre. Lyrically this band is as clean as could be, so cautious parents you need not worry with this band. What I find most intriguing about this band their newest CD is their belief about the whole "Christian Band" label pinned on them. The record label they are signed to, Tooth and Nail Records, isn't an exclusively Christian label, but a majority of their bands are marketed for the Christian music market, but TCC wants to throw off that label and become their own. This is a post off TCC's forum posted by the lead vocalist Matt MacDonald:

I get this question a lot:

OK, i dont know if or when you might respond, but to stat off i will tell you that i am a big fan of you guys and i was just wondering one thing, i know people consider you a Christian band and i do too, but do you consider yourselves that? And looking at the lyrics and interpretations of We All Look Elsewhere and i see the Christian interpretation of it and i, myself see it that way but people from varius sources see it as a song about getting over drugs as well with the "straight line" portion of the song referring to cocaine. Get back to me if you can.


God Bless,
A South Dakotant

I'd like to answer this on our news forum, because I think a lot of people have asked if we consider ourselves a "christian" band or not. The answer is no, and there are numerous reasons why. Hopefully by sharing those with you I can shed some light on the topic.

Reason #1: We feel the term "christian" has been abused in years passed, especially by Americans, and thus has been associated with other words like; judgemental, narrow-minded, pious, self-righteous, exclusive, etc. Jesus was none of those things, and we're sure He would not want us associating who we are with those types of words.

Reason #2: We believe faith is personal, and can be only held by an individual person. To entitle a group "christian" would be to assume that the group has a collective soul, or at least individual souls tied to a solid collective belief. Not everyone in our band is decidedly set in their faith, and we respect that.

Reason #3: We do not prefer to endorse an industry that currently thrives on exclusivity.

Reason #4: We would like our music to reach the mainstream. Bob Dylan once said, "People want to label you so they can limit your accessability." We do not want our accessability limited by labeling ourselves something that has negative connotations in todays day and age.

To the Christians who listen to us: Thank you, we welcome your ears and your hearts. Its understandable you may have expectations for us based on the label we are signed to, but our music is not exclusively for you, and we cannot accept a label that will in most ways limit us to you alone. We also cannot accept a label that in its purest form we cannot live up to. "Christian" literally means, "little Christ." We are far from that in many ways, and we cannot live up to those heavy expectations, not to mention the added religious expectations of the "western church." All this aside, I do encourage and endorse people who wish to seek out and learn from the works, life and death of Jesus.

To everyone else who listens to us: Thank you so much for relating to our songs. The music we write is for people who struggle, people who have questions, and people that want to change their surroundings. We've all individually struggled with a lot of things, and we hope you can relate to our experience as its portrayed in our music. Thank you for looking deeper than surface level. We hope to continue our artist/listener relationship with you for a very long time.


With love always,

Matt and The Classic Crime

To be honest, I love this. I too don't like the words often pinned to the word "Christian". While I am not ashamed to say I am Christian, I am sometimes ashamed of how we as The Body of Christ act and judge people. So take this how you like, but if anything, I love and respect TCC for their honesty even more.


Zach Hall

Welcome to Earth, Where We're Sure To Disappoint

07/22/08 - 11:14am
*So I've changed around some stuff, nothing too major but I've changed around words to help along my chord changes that I've done since I wrote it. I've also changed the "God aweful" part to something a little less violent ;-). I'll update this ASAP.*

07/22/08 - 10:10pm
*I just edited this to it's semi-final version.*

[Verse 1]
I took your hand, you took mine
We walked down a dusty gravel lane
In one way or another we crossed a line
I'm sorry, but you’re too much pain.

[Pre-Chorus 1]
Why did you do this to us?
What did I do to end this between us?

[Chorus]
This is where we go in opposite ways
This is what we just have to do
You might not like it, I sure don't
I'm sorry to disappoint

[Verse 2]
You took my hand, I tried to let go
But you just wouldn't, you held on tight
Now I know just what I needed to show
In order to get past this God awful fight

[Pre-Chorus 2]
Why couldn’t you just let go?
What did I do to deserve this?

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
You came and cried on my shoulder
Why, oh why did you ever come back
You spread word I was depressed but to be honest
This is the happiest I've ever been

[Ending]
This is where we go in opposite ways
This is what we just have to do
You might not like it, but I sure do
I'm not sorry
I'm not sorry
But I'm a little dis - appointed too

Deception and Misconceptions

So I was reading another of my favorite blogs (the JesusFreakHideout blog...check out their website) and a guy on there said that sometimes we are deceived by "the world" AND "the church" and that rocked me. I had never thought about it like that, but we really are aren't we? Sometimes we accept what "the church" tells us as truth without checking up on it, and are deceived into thinking something that might not be true. Now I'm not saying that all churches lie, but no ones perfect. Sometimes we let tradition, personal feelings, and other things bias what we believe.

I know I've said this before, but we got to go back to what we KNOW is the Truth, The Bible. It is 100% true, no lies, no deception, no contradiction. If you want to know what to believe, take a look in there. What I've gotten in the habit of doing is after I hear a sermon or teaching I go back to what I know is absolutely true, the Bible, and compare what I heard and what I read. 98% of the time they agree, but sometimes I will find stuff that makes me think and have to dig a little deeper. Regardless of the outcome, you end up spending more time in the Word and learn more and more about God and His Will in your life.

God Blessed America

Anybody seen these bumper stickers, signs, posters, ads, etc. saying "God Bless America"? I find it incredibly American to think God hasn't already blessed America. Look at the stats. America is appx 6% of the world's population, yet it consumes 40% of the world's resources. Experts estimate that in order to feed every single person in the world, it would take 20 billion dollars. Thats how much Americans spend each year on ice cream.

It's incredible to even begin to think of how much God has blessed us in America. I'm 99.9% sure that everyone that reads this will eat tonight. That's just a given. But there are going to be 800 million people that will go without food today, 300 million of them are children.

What can we do to help?

I believe that Christians are saved in order to do good works. In the letter of Ephesians, Paul writes that we're saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ in order to do good deeds. I'm going to take it one step farther and say that God has blessed us in order to bless other people. You don't have to bless people with just money either. Sometimes, all people need is a loving word, or time. Maybe you could buy someones lunch for them (One time I paid for a person's lunch through the drive-thru. Not only was I able to bless them, it was just an awesome feeling!).

Maybe God has really blessed you financially. He might be calling you to give some of that money (that is His to begin with) to the poor or a charity that you know will really help the needy.

I hope that you will see that you are blessed to live in a country where you don't have to worry about necessities. May you be able to bless because you are blessed.

Lately

So lately I've this ominous feeling over my head. I don't really know what it's all about, but it's there. There's been a lot of complicated stuff going on, including but not limited to: me being without my car, the car I was driving breaking, drama with several friends, and just not hanging out with anyone lately. The hanging out part is my fault, I've been out of town and having to take care of stuff at home.

I would say that my "friends" situation is weird. I have two very separate groups of friends: my "church" friends, and then the rest of my friends basically. I love both equally, but I feel like I hang out with one a lot more than the other and the other is now mad because of that. But is it entirely my fault? I don't really get invited to do stuff with them, so I don't really hang out with them. I don't really plan stuff, but I love just being there for the ride. I love just sitting around, even if we aren't doing anything, just because I love being with awesome friends. All of my friends are incredible.

Then there was the whole thing that my posts "From the Real to the Fake" and "A Venting" refer to. First off I'd like to say that that has been resolved-ish. The outcome wasn't what I wanted (or what I still want) but it's an acceptable compromise for now. Hopefully things will steadily get better and eventually to the way it was before, but that might just be wishful thinking on my part.

My parents are as heckling as ever. My mother just got home from a trip to her parents and I didn't even get a "How was your past couple days?". It was immediately what I needed to do around the house (even though the only reason there was something to do was because of a simple misunderstanding). My brother is grounded so he's all depressed and that doesn't exactly put me in the best mood.

On the upside I've been able to listen to a lot of good music lately, including Mayday Parade's "A Lesson In Romantics", John Mayer's "Where The Light Is - Live in Los Angeles", Relient K's "The Bird and the Bee Sides", and OneRepublic's "Dreaming Out Loud". All of this stuff is just incredible. I love music.

Waiting by Luke Hall

Here is a song my bro Luke wrote that I really like. I wish I had his talent, 'cause he's the man. So check it out, leave a comment to let him know what you think.

I think he might record this in upcoming weeks, and I hope he'll let me do some piano and maybe some backups. Oh well.

------------------------------------------------
V1:
I stare out of my window tonight
Thinking about the first goodbye
My only wish is that you stay
And forget all that is left behind

As the rain hits the window
My tears hit the ground
My head spins in circles
But when I come around
The only thing I think about
Is how it will happen
Will we be together
For one last time

Pre-Chorus:
The lights in the sky
Sing a song of distant sorrows
As we cry we try
To just think of tomorrow
When all of this will turn to grey
We both say that it’s okay.
We can’t wait until that day

Chorus:
We both sing the same song
And think of distant times
Mixing memories with thoughts
Sitting under the sky
I don’t know what to think
Now that we’re finally here
It feels so right
To be here with you

V2:
As the clouds are rolling in
Our light seems to fade
Like a small burnt-out candle
Suffocating in the shade

We stare at each other
Trying not to cry
Holding each other
Like it’s the last time
Only we have a connection
That no one else knows
As if our souls were one
Never giving up hope

Bridge
Chorus