Search - Kutless :: Sea of Faces

Erica F. from GILBERT, AZ
Reviewed on 2/23/2007...

I love this CD, I just don't listen to it enough to justify keeping it. Kutless is an awesome band.

Excellent Christian Rock Album

J. Caruso | Palm Coast, FL USA | 02/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the things that puzzles me about people who turn their nose up at Christian music, is they claim to not want to be "preached to" in the music they listen to. Problem is, a good portion of popular secular music is preaching as well, just not about God or Christianity. Many bands pound into our heads songs about sadness, homelessness, poverty and other social ills.



I must say that 10-15 years ago, good Christian music (for rock fans) was hard to find. You can praise God as much as you want, but bad music is bad music. Even the good music was poorly produced. It wasn't until bands like DC Talk and Jars of Clay for example started to break through, into the mainstream, that things really started to change.



Now, bands like Switchback are enjoying widespread mainstream appeal, and I suspect many other bands will follow. For whatever reason, rock stations are very hesitant to play Christian music as they feel it will alienate listeners. That is such nonsense. Good music is good music. If it's good, people will listen.



Kutless is one band that I suspect will cross over at some point. They are really good, and yet the are all young (the 'oldest' members will turn 25 this year). I expect many good things from them. What I like most about them is that they are not afraid to be bold about their love of God and Jesus in their music, but can still rock hard and seem to have a great time doing it. As for specifics:



The Music - Excellent. Kutless has a sound that gradually at times moves from very hard rock into alternative and then into slower and tender melodies. Unfortunately, Kutless is one of the very many bands these days that seemed to have done away with the guitar solo. But that's a minor quibble. Overall, the guitar work is done very well and Kyle Mitchell, the drummer is a standout as he is able to keep everything tight but still stand out with his fills and beats.



Vocals & Lyrics - Jon Micah Sumrall wrote all of the lyrics and his passion for the Lord is evident. He's a bold writer in that he's not afraid to write songs from Christ's perspective (as in 'All Alone'). It's great and it's a good way to reach listeners. Sumrall also writes for a younger generation that often has to deal with peer pressure ('Better For You') and offers up a powerful song about Christ's crucifixion how we can take comfort in His pain. Sumrall has an amazing voice. He's been compared to Scott Stapp of Creed, but I think that's a poor comparison. Stapp has a good voice, but his range is limited whereas Sumrall can take his voice down and make it very soft at times and quickly turn up the power.



As far as I am concerned, this is a great CD, whether you're a Christian or not. Play a few songs for your friends who might otherwise not bother with Christian music. When they tell you how much they're enjoying it, tell them what it is."

My review for:Kutless - Sea of Faces

Rockmusicfan | USA | 10/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kutless is:Jon Micah Sumrall(vocals), Ryan Shrout(guitar), James Mead(guitar), Kyle Zeigler(bass) and Kyle Mitchell(drums)



I like different types of Rock/Alternative, and to be honest, I wasn't sure if I'd like this CD. It's a bit softer than my usual stuff. But it's still a very good, positive CD. And, Kutless are now one of my favorites, and my review below will show you why.



My Grading System:I like to grade my reviews a bit different than all the rest. I'm using As, Bs, Cs, and so on. Also, instead of breaking it down song by song or rating it overall, I review four parts of the CD that I think are important:the Vocals, the Music, the Lyrics and an overall grade.



The Vocals:Jon Micah Sumrall is a very good, polished singer. Vocally this album is very solid and boy, does this guy have talent. Yes, he's been compared to Scott Stapp(ex-Creed lead singer) but the truth is, he is not Stapp. He's much different. On songs like "Sea of Faces" and "All the words" his voice is very soft, and good. And on more aggressive songs like "Let You In" and "Treason" it's rougher, just like it needs to be. He's got very good range. Sumrall's voice is also much more polished than it was on the first album, and he no longer screams/shouts like he did on some of the songs off the first album. Vocally, he's improved alot and I can't find much, if anything, wrong with his voice.



Grade:A-



Lyrics:Sumrall writes the lyrics for this band. Speaking from a Christian perspective, these lyrics are great. They're positive, catchy and are just really good. Being a Christian, I can relate to these lyrics very easily. Sumrall tackles many different topics on this album in the songs, with "Better for You" being about the peer pressure to have sex and "Treason" being about not living like a Christian. "Passion" is about Jesus Christ's death and sacrifice and "All the words" is a very nice worship song.



Grade:A-



The Music:The music on this album is very, very solid. It's much better than the music on the first album, and the addition of an acoustic guitar on some tracks helps. Sumrall's vocals fit in perfectly with the music of Ryan Shrout, James Mead, Kyle Zeigler and Kyle Mitchell. The two guitarists do some very good work on this album, as does the drummer and bassist. The tunes on here are very catchy and really fit the lyrics good. There aren't any solos(that I can think of) on this album, but that doesn't matter. It should be mentioned that a guy from Demon Hunter does some guest work on the hardest track on the CD, "Let You In". The album is more diverse than the first and goes from being rock, to alternative, to softer stuff. They've improved very much musically from the first CD. Musicially, this album is real good.



Grade:B+



Overall:I am blown away by how good this album truly is. This was the first Kutless album I picked up and I fell in love with it right away. It's an awesome album with an awesome message behind it. This CD alone made me a big fan of Kutless. I highly recommend picking this thing up and giving it a listen. If you like good rock/alternative with a positive, Christian message behind it, buy this and you definitely will not regret it.



Overall grade:A



Standout tracks:"Not what you see", "Better for you", "Let you in", "Sea of Faces", "All the words"."