Village Thrift: Circa 2005 Review NEW!
Samuel Aaron | 07/08/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you would have told me that a Christian worship band would release a completely unique album of progressive pop, I would have laughed. Worship bands are lucky if they could even remotely sound like what is currently popular - let alone trying to sound ahead of the game, but that is what this album does.
It has completely smashed through the mold set by bands like Sonicflood, Delirious and Mercy Me; there is no clichéd top 40 schlock, there are no cheesy rock riffs and absolutely no `normal' song structures to be found on this entire release. Created and released completely independently it runs smoothly and operates on the premise that worship music does not need to sound like everything else to give it meaning.
The words are taken, for the most part, directly from the book of Psalms, but they are mixed into the samplings, symphonies and backbeats to give them a completely chilled effect.
The opening track "Simple" sets the stage for the entire album, filled lightly and it just breezes through. I continue to enjoy myself, only finding a problem in track three ("How Sweet") which seems to be very beautiful until they bring in someone to rap, and worship music should never have a rapper - it just doesn't mix well. "All You Angels" bursts from a slow beginning to become a strong highlight, reminiscent of Kevin Max filtered through some obscure Moby tracks, creating a highly entertaining and a pleasantly surprising track.
My absolute favorite track would "Wake Up Sleepy" just because one of the main lines tells you "...don't be stupid..." - and I would never expect words like that to come out of a Christian album.
I cannot stress enough that this is a truly original release; highly stylized and lushly arraigned it is the perfect addition to any music collection, and don't let the worship title get you down, even if your not a Christian you should find enough talent and beauty in this release to make you hum along without any kind of guilt."