Night Beat Rewind: March 2013

March brings us to the midway point of eligibility for the 4th Annual Platinum Vinyl Awards. For those new readers of the WENC Night Beat, the Platinum Vinyl Awards, now in its fourth year, runs from October 1 - September  30.

Before we get to the entries a little housecleaning. Sparrow Records released a series of Greatest Hits albums this month, entitled "Icon", and the initial releases were of Steven Curtis Chapman, Amy Grant, Newsboys, and CeCe Winans. As Amazon is carrying them in CD only and no samples were available, they receive no rating and are not eligible. Also among the unrated and ineligible releases are new "Deluxe Editions" of KJ-52 Dangerous (made initial pool for current awards), and Francesca Battistelli's Hundred More Years (made the second PVA pool). For the same reasons as the Icon series, these are also unrated. There is one last ineligible release, and that is Family Force Five, The Third. Not only couldn't I find a audio sample, it is just a rearranged version of III, which didn't get into the pool. Now onto those that did get an Emerald Rating, though it wasn't high enough and it is said that these releases are:

Missing The Mark

• Phil King - Phil King 3.75 Emeralds
• Don Moen - The Ultimate Collection 3.75 Emeralds
• Alexis Spright - L.O.L. (Living Out Loud) 3.50 Emeralds
• Various Artists - The Bible: Music Inspired By The Epic Mini Series 3.75 Emeralds
• Various Artists - Jesus, Firm Foundation: Hymns of Worship [+digital booklet] 3.75 Emeralds
• Various Artists - Nashville Publicity Group Presents Ten 3.75 Emeralds
• Various Artists - iWorship Now/Next 3.75 Emeralds

Now once again, all of these releases are pretty good. It's just that pretty good isn't enough to make the cut among the Platinum Vinyl Awards. On the complete other end of the spectrum are those albums that completely wowed me. These albums are

Pure Platinum

• Audio Adrenaline - Kings & Queens [+video] 5 Emeralds
• Andy Hunter - Glowing Collision 5 Emeralds
• JJ Heller - Loved (Deluxe Version) 5 Emeralds

Of course not all albums are perfect, and not all albums miss the mark. Most of them lie somewhere in between, in a place we call

Semi-Precious Metal

• The Advice - The Advice 4.25 Emeralds
• Bethel Music - Without Words [+video] 4.75 Emeralds
• Citizens - Citizens 4.50 Emeralds
• I am Empire - Anchors 4.50 Emeralds
• Fit For A King - Creation/Destruction 4.75 Emeralds
• Hope for the Dying - Aletheia 4.75 Emeralds
• Kingdom - Kingdom 4.50 Emeralds
• Shawn McDonald - The Analog Sessions 4.25 Emeralds
• Glenn Packiam - The Mystery Of Faith 4.50 Emeralds
• Passion - Passion: Let the Future Begin (Deluxe Edition) [+video] 4.50 Emeralds
• Seventh Day Slumber - Love & Worship 4.50 Emeralds
• Stryper - Second Coming (Re-Recorded) 4.75 Emeralds
• Various - Worship Central: Let It Be Known (Live) 4.75 Emeralds
• JJ Weeks Band - All Over the World 4.50 Emeralds
• Darlene Zschech - Revealing Jesus 4.75 Emeralds

That completes this edition of Night Beat Rewind. No Fooling. It's nice to be up to date and on schedule right now. Click on the linked titles to buy from Amazon and support The Night Beat at the same time. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.