Search - Phillips Craig & Dean :: Restoration

April W. (mommyof2girls) from HENDERSONVLLE, NC
Reviewed on 8/9/2006...

Great group...wonderful songs. Worth listening to over and over!

Good album, but not quite up to par with previous recordings

Chris Gooley | Anchorage, AK | 11/03/1999

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Phillips Craig and Dean, on the heels of their greatest hits album (which was excellent) have just released their 1999 album, "Restoration". When I spotted this CD on the rack at Fred Meyers, I nabbed it right away, and that just goes to show you what we fans have come to expect from Phillips Craig and Dean. For years they have been ministering to the Body, writing songs that cut to the heart, uplift us and soemtimes make us cry. Needless to say, the notoriety that PC&D has earned is well-justified.Unfortunately, a couple of the elements which make Phillips Craig and Dean's albums so good are absent on this album. While the musical quality has most definitely taken a step up (and it's obvious that they meant to experiment a little bit on this record), the songs seem a bit less real to me than previous albums. Admittedly I have only listened to it one time through so far and it took a while for "Where Strength Begins" to grow on me (it is now my favorite PC&D album), but some things just didn't sit well. The strongest element PC&D has is that the members, Shawn Craig, Randy Phillips and Dan Dean, are terrific songwriters. But their talent is only utilized on five of the ten songs on the record, compared to nine of ten on "Where Strength Begins" and eleven of fourteen on "Favorite Songs of All". With half of the songs on the album penned by non-members, the deepness of feeling that makes PC&D great is sorely missing on much of the record. In addition, although the music is high-quality, is too busy and covers over far too much of the passion and almost-always-perfect harmony that PC&D excels at.There are a few gems. All the songs written by PC&D themselves are all good. But at least to me they do not compare to songs such as "Mercy Came Running.", "Let the Blood Speak for Me", "Freedom of the Sea" or "Favorite Song of All", which were all golden.Big PC&D fans will want this CD for sure, and there are a couple great ones especially near the end of the album. But on future albums I would like to see PC&D simplfy a bit again, to phase down the musical artistry and focus more on the heart of the lyrics that encouraged me so much, especially during my early Christian life. PC&D, you guys are still great!"

If you love the gospel, you will love this album

jeff "chiro" mitchell | Salt Lake City, UT USA | 02/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I love this album. It is full of excellant songs that can and do touch you to the very soul. I am not much of a fan of contemporary christian music, but because of this album I have listen to others and now I find christian music wonderful. Do yourself a favor and buy this album. I now you will find it enjoyable and you will also find the Spirit of the Lord attend you while you listen."