Night Beat Rewind: February 2012

Due to the time it took to get the PVA Nominations out this year this edition of Night Beat Rewind is about two weeks late. Lucky for me this week is a slow one.

Before I get on with my ratings, I want to make an announcement regarding keeping the night beat going. Due to actions by Google many months ago, the amazon affiliate widget that I previously used was disabled. I have found a minor workaround. I am inserting Amazon text links manually into my posts, and unless I specify otherwise, a link will lead to Amazon where you can buy and support The Night Beat at the same time. I would prefer image links, but manually inserting them doesn't allow the text to seamlessly wrap around the image. If any tech savvy reader knows a way to get that to happen, please contact me.

Since I am picking up new readers all the time, I will go over the basics once again. This is a quick hits column for those releases that I was not able to get a full preview for. Of course if I did have a full review, it will be linked and pointed out. We begin, as always, with releases which were:

Off The Mark

And by mark I mean the 4 Emerald Mark which allows entry into the annual pool from which the Platinum Vinyl Awards are picked. Of course, while they wouldn't make the awards pool, you shouldn't be ashamed of anything with 3 Emeralds or above.

• Christ for the Nations - 37 3.75 Emeralds
• Hillsong United - Live In Miami : Welcome to The Aftermath 3.75 Emeralds
• Mission Six - Heaven Down To Earth 3.75 Emeralds
• Carson Parks - All You Gotta Do Is Love 3.75 Emeralds
• Izzi Ray - Izzi Ray 3.75 Emeralds
• Various Artists - 30 Favorite Celtic Hymns 3.75 Emeralds

Now as I said before, a lot of these albums are good, but not spectacular. Some of them, especially the Modern Worship entries, sounded flat, like they were mailing it in. For worship, I think that qualifies as some sort of sin.

Now of course next up would be my listing of Perfect Platinum albums, those that got the coveted 5 Emerald Rating, except there weren't any in February. Maybe I was picky, but there was always just one thing that prevented me from saying "perfect". A lot just fell short, so we move on to those releases considered:

Semi-Precious Metal

These were the releases from 4-5 Emeralds, not including 5 of course. Of course the links, unless otherwise specified will go to Amazon, where you can buy. For the first list, I only included the Download Page.

• Advocate - Trial And Error 4.50 Emeralds
• Vanessa Bell Armstrong - Timeless 4.25 Emeralds
• Audrey Assad - Heart 4.75 Emeralds
• Beware the Neverending - The Next Level 4.75 Emeralds
• Matt Brouwer - Til The Sunrise 4.5 Emeralds
• Cornerstone Church Worship - The Heart Revolution 4.5 Emeralds
• Eisley - Deep Space EP 4.75 Emeralds
• For King and Country - Crave 4.5 Emeralds
• The Fray - Scars & Stories 4.5 Emeralds
• Aaron Gillespie - Echo Your Song EP 4.5 Emeralds
• I The Breather - Truth and Purpose 4.5 Emeralds
• Json - Growing Pains 4.5 Emeralds
• Kiros - Lay Your Weapons Down 4.75 Emeralds
• Kutless - Believer 4.75 Emeralds
• Nine Lashes - World We View 4.75 Emeralds
• Samestate - The Alignment 4.5 Emeralds
• Sent By Ravens - Mean What You Say 4.75 Emeralds
• Isaac Simpson and Divine Providence - The Process 4.5 Emeralds
• The Rubyz - Unchanging 4 Emeralds
• Sixteen Cities - Love is Making A Way 4.50 Emeralds
• Sons - Keep Quiet 4.75 Emeralds
• Various Artists - Awaken My Soul : Songs of Redemption 4.5 Emeralds
• Various Artists - Maranatha Music: How Great Is Our God 4 Emeralds
• Various Artists - Mission Worship: Come People of the Risen King 4 Emeralds
• Various Artists - Worship Together: 25 Favorite Worship Songs 4.25 Emeralds
• Jaci Velasquez - Diamond 4.5 Emeralds
• Vineyard Music - I Love Your Presence (Live From Phoenix) 4.5 Emeralds
• Worth Dying For -Live Riot 4.75 Emeralds

That was a lot of work. I miss the widget. In the case of Eisley, Kiros and Jaci Velasquez, clicking on the name goes to my full review of the CD. All other links go to Amazon, where I hope you will buy through the link and support The Night Beat. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.