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Post by Helmut83 on Dec 14, 2015 6:53:03 GMT
- God loves a broken heart: pretty decent chorus. Nice guitar solo. The song is not bad, but somewhat irrelevant.
- Friend in you: that keyboard sound at the beginning is so very ‘80s… The melody is a good one, although combined with the base it sounds a bit like a mass song. Also, I would have liked the song to catch some groove at any point, but unfortunately it didn’t. In any case I think it’s quite a well-achieved song for it’s purpose.
- Jesus loves you: this one sounds to mass too, particularly the chorus, although the rhythm is stronger. I didn’t like the “dep, dep, dep” part, and the song is way too long. Not good one for me.
- You can’t live without Jesus anymore: best one so far: relaxed, pleasant and with a good melody. The refrain is a good one, very effective. I also like the bridge when it enters in those minor chords.
- “In too deep” and “Enough is enough” aren’t available in my country either.
Well, 4 songs is quite a small sample to draw general conclusions, particularly when they don’t belong to the same album. Some elements I can find in common in these songs are: good vocals (the guy sings well and has a nice tone of voice), quite animated pop songs and, above all, the production work sounds extremely ‘80s, with those keyboards/synthesizer sounds. That last thing was a bit of a drawback for me because I’m not quite a fan of that sound. The guy has a healthy idea of searching for original, memorable melodies, although he doesn’t always achieve that.
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Post by jrmugz on Dec 14, 2015 15:38:41 GMT
- God loves a broken heart: pretty decent chorus. Nice guitar solo. The song is not bad, but somewhat irrelevant. - Friend in you: that keyboard sound at the beginning is so very ‘80s… The melody is a good one, although combined with the base it sounds a bit like a mass song. Also, I would have liked the song to catch some groove at any point, but unfortunately it didn’t. In any case I think it’s quite a well-achieved song for it’s purpose. - Jesus loves you: this one sounds to mass too, particularly the chorus, although the rhythm is stronger. I didn’t like the “dep, dep, dep” part, and the song is way too long. Not good one for me. - You can’t live without Jesus anymore: best one so far: relaxed, pleasant and with a good melody. The refrain is a good one, very effective. I also like the bridge when it enters in those minor chords. - “In too deep” and “Enough is enough” aren’t available in my country either. Well, 4 songs is quite a small sample to draw general conclusions, particularly when they don’t belong to the same album. Some elements I can find in common in these songs are: good vocals (the guy sings well and has a nice tone of voice), quite animated pop songs and, above all, the production work sounds extremely ‘80s, with those keyboards/synthesizer sounds. That last thing was a bit of a drawback for me because I’m not quite a fan of that sound. The guy has a healthy idea of searching for original, memorable melodies, although he doesn’t always achieve that. From my opinion, I mean being that "Time" is 80s keyboard sounding, I don't always see it as a detraction, if it serves the song well enough. Something like "Dancing in the Dark" by The Boss, maybe to me that sounds a little dated. Yeah, from my experience with the guy, he had a few decent enough CDs in his heyday, that I touched on; but then he got no money for all his hits, so went for a long time without contracts and his releases have been sparse at best, and when there are any he rehashes the "I love Jesus, Jesus loves me" thing to death, it's like he really needs to break out of the touchy feely stuff. I think for the few songs I put there, those represent the best of that, but would be nice to see him get a good record contract again, and then work on some deeper output. Well he made for a couple fun concerts for me and few good cassette tapes, at the time. Like I told you and Uno, will shoot you the MP3s, of the stuff you couldn't access, probably by tomorrow or so. Jim
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Post by jrmugz on Dec 14, 2015 15:40:53 GMT
Helmut83 , "a mass song", as in a Catholic mass, or are you using some terminology I'm not familiar with? Not really sure I understand what that terminology means to you when you use it a couple times in your review. BTW, "Jesus Loves Ya" song spent 18 weeks at the number one spot on the CCM charts, so guess a lot of people liked it. For me, I mean, hey, I sure enjoy hearing that I'm loved, and I'm fairly convinced it's true, so works good enough for me. But when I hear that song, to me it's like he was trying a bunch of vocal experiments, and then kept them in the song. I mean some parts remind me of dry heaving, ha ha. But the overall effect of the song, I'll take it. Jim
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Post by Helmut83 on Dec 14, 2015 16:28:01 GMT
Yeah, Jim, I was talking about a Catholic mass, that exactly.
Wow, so "Jesus loves you" has had a lot of success! How different musical tastes can be, if I had to say something I'd say it's the weakest of the bunch, and if you told me there had been a hit among them I would have said for sure it was "You can't live without Jesus anymore". I guess the fast-paced groove of the former has a lot to do.
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Post by jrmugz on Dec 14, 2015 17:29:32 GMT
Yeah, Jim, I was talking about a Catholic mass, that exactly. Wow, so "Jesus loves you" has had a lot of success! How different musical tastes can be, if I had to say something I'd say it's the weakest of the bunch, and if you told me there had been a hit among them I would have said for sure it was "You can't live without Jesus anymore". I guess the fast-paced groove of the former has a lot to do. Well "You Can't Live Without Jesus" was a hit too for sure. But as most people in life like the feel-good stuff the best, the "Jesus Love Ya" one caught on the best. Maybe lines like "many of you truly can't call your house a home" hit a soft spot, coupled with the message of hold on tight (as Jeff says), someone actually does care. As far as "mass songs", not from the kind of masses I go to, the old traditional and/or Latin type, where it is somber/reflective organ/choir hymns, etc. And from our experience as a family, we shun modern masses that use that kind of music, as we just want to reflect on the liturgy and The Eucharist, and no feel-good-emotion stuff required. To me, the music is of a guy who got good wind of Jesus and knows that He's the answer, so got in with the born again Christian crowd, and is right to sing about it, because gotta be yourself and express what you honestly feel. But at the same time, their faith only goes so deep as "me and The Bible alone", where Christ actually gave a church founded on St. Peter that today is the Catholic Church, IMHO. But for me, those tracks work good, as good as any pop music I can reflect and identify my life with, and I'm glad he's explicitly into God, because so am I. Anything that's a sincere expression that doesn't do any harm, is alright with me. Jim
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Post by jrmugz on Dec 14, 2015 18:45:39 GMT
Here is one that might more meet your approval outside of the keyboard intro, Helmut83. Jim
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Post by Helmut83 on Dec 15, 2015 4:53:54 GMT
Not fascinated by it but it's OK. Maybe it would sound better if the production wasn't so very exaggerately '80s, something more pure and acoustic. His voice sounds a bit more nasal there, doesn't it?
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Post by jrmugz on Dec 15, 2015 15:49:29 GMT
Not fascinated by it but it's OK. Maybe it would sound better if the production wasn't so very exaggerately '80s, something more pure and acoustic. His voice sounds a bit more nasal there, doesn't it? He was younger, it's 1986. Jim
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Post by jrmugz on Dec 15, 2015 15:50:37 GMT
I don't understand this "80s-sounding" complaint, when "Time" is 80s-soudning.
Jim
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Post by jrmugz on Dec 15, 2015 15:51:37 GMT
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Post by Helmut83 on Dec 15, 2015 16:48:19 GMT
I don't understand this "80s-sounding" complaint, when "Time" is 80s-soudning. Jim Time isn't '80s sounding in my opinion, it doesn't have those typical sounds of the '80s. It was a bit of a new, revolutionary sound for the era, but I think it sounds more like stuff that came 20 years later in many aspects. OK, I'll give it a listen, thanks.
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Post by jrmugz on Dec 15, 2015 18:01:37 GMT
I don't understand this "80s-sounding" complaint, when "Time" is 80s-soudning. Jim Time isn't '80s sounding in my opinion, it doesn't have those typical sounds of the '80s. It was a bit of a new, revolutionary sound for the era, but I think it sounds more like stuff that came 20 years later in many aspects. OK, I'll give it a listen, thanks. OK fair enough. I don't play that close attention, just that if it works, it works, whether it sounds dated or not. Jim
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Post by unomusette on Dec 15, 2015 21:14:18 GMT
Thanks Jim, all received in good order *salutes* Will give them a listen and report back asap
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Post by queenofthehours on Dec 16, 2015 20:35:13 GMT
Many of the tracks on the album wouldn't work for me so I just reviewed the tracks I could find on the internet which is probably enough to get an overall view of the record, especially as time has been tight lately -
2. In The Name Of The Lord – A really good track. I like the music – very solid 80s, great piano. In fact the music sounds a little like early 90s Procol Harum with the drums and piano parts but the vocals are very different. A great song.
4. God Will Find Ya – Not so keen on this. Vocals are quite Michael Jackson, the 80s elements in this track aren’t my favourites mostly due to the rhythm instruments. Overall a nice relaxed, smooth tone though.
6. Have A Talk With God – This again reminds me musically of one of the tracks from Procol’s early 90s album. Just the music though and this is why I enjoyed the track mostly. I’m a sucker for a good old fashioned tune even if it’s only 25 years! Quite a nice upbeat track this. I like it.
7. Long Ago – My favourite so far. Has a bit of a Paul Simon vibe.
9. Everyone Needs The Lord – Another good track. Love the piano, the backing vocals and the singing. Very easy to listen to.
I quite liked these songs. They all sounded similar but also different, I was surprised how different - each track I heard could easily come from it's own album. Jon is probably not an artist I'd have listened to but he seems to deserve some kind of fame, he's rather talented.
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Post by jrmugz on Dec 17, 2015 12:39:59 GMT
Many of the tracks on the album wouldn't work for me so I just reviewed the tracks I could find on the internet which is probably enough to get an overall view of the record, especially as time has been tight lately -
2. In The Name Of The Lord – A really good track. I like the music – very solid 80s, great piano. In fact the music sounds a little like early 90s Procol Harum with the drums and piano parts but the vocals are very different. A great song.
4. God Will Find Ya – Not so keen on this. Vocals are quite Michael Jackson, the 80s elements in this track aren’t my favourites mostly due to the rhythm instruments. Overall a nice relaxed, smooth tone though.
6. Have A Talk With God – This again reminds me musically of one of the tracks from Procol’s early 90s album. Just the music though and this is why I enjoyed the track mostly. I’m a sucker for a good old fashioned tune even if it’s only 25 years! Quite a nice upbeat track this. I like it.
7. Long Ago – My favourite so far. Has a bit of a Paul Simon vibe.
9. Everyone Needs The Lord – Another good track. Love the piano, the backing vocals and the singing. Very easy to listen to.
I quite liked these songs. They all sounded similar but also different, I was surprised how different - each track I heard could easily come from it's own album. Jon is probably not an artist I'd have listened to but he seems to deserve some kind of fame, he's rather talented.
Enjoyed the review qoth! Yeah, I had the same thought on "Long Ago", that it Had Paul Simon all over it. Yeah, I like the piano solo for "In the Name of The Lord" too, sounds very inspired. For track 4, I think like I alluded to before, it's actually best soaked in when you're falling asleep, I think that's the affect it's supposed to have, like a nice soothing lullaby, and then that's how the track best works for me. Hey, PM me your email, and I will send you the MP3 of the missing tracks, like I did for Helmut and Uno. Jim
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