The Home of the Platinum Vinyl Awards. Reviews of New CD releases, mostly CCM but also mainstream releases that may interest the Christian Music listener. Music News and Commentary, especially when there's a CCM connection.
No, we're not talking about the Stats Tom Brady keeps piling up. Hey, we're in New England here, we never have too much winning. No, this is a music blog, and we are talking about the undisputed Greatest Of All Time. Definitely on the CCM front, and if the Mainstream Music Industry would be honest, they don't have anyone better. We're talking about none other than Phil Keaggy. Philip Tyler Keaggy (known Simply as Phil Keaggy in the CCM World) is not only the Greatest Guitarist of All Time, but he is "The Guitar Hero" of the CCM era. The man is 68 years old and shows no signs of slowing down in the near future. He's already released THREE ALBUMS THIS YEAR. Not impressed? How many albums have you released this year. Professionally speaking, Keaggy's music career began in 1968 when he formed Glass Harp when he would be 17. His Christian Music career began while still with Glass Harp, but his solo career began with What A Day, which was released in 1973 (it turned 45 in 2018). He has recorded 46 Studio Albums so far. Of the three albums recorded this year two are instrumental albums, which are the true measure of musical excellence. I really loved The Wind And The Wheat when I was in college. Here's a guitar solo to prove my point. Three albums is a bit hard to catch up on, so let me just be brief. The three albums are all rated 5 Emeralds. How can they all be perfect? Well, Phil is part of all three, and you can't deny the guitar work. I highly recommend
The Bucket List, Phil Keaggy, Jerry Marotta and Tony Levin (Jan 11, 2019)
Cappadocia, Phil Keaggy, Jeff Johnson (February 4, 2019)
Illumination, Phil Keaggy, Rex Paul (April 9, 2019)
We'll try to have a more traditional post next time. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Summertime and the livin is easy. Things are always easy at Night Beat HQ since we cast all our cares on The Lord. That doesn't mean that there's nothing to do. Actually we're somewhat behind schedule. But there's no stress.
The Singles Scene
Danielle Apicella - Silly Girl 5 Emeralds
Apollo LTD - Misfits 4.75 Emeralds
Brandon Bee - Heaven's Burst (In Awe of You) 4.75 Emeralds
Ty Brasel - Night Dreaming 4.50 Emeralds
Anthony Brown and Group Therapy - Blessings on Blessings 5 Emeralds
Jeremy Camp - Dead Man Walking 5 Emeralds
Jekalyn Carr - I See Miracles 4.75 Emeralds
Celldweller - A Matter of Time (The Browning Remix) 4.75 Emeralds
Celldweller - A Matter of Time (The Browning Remix Instrumentals) 4.75 Emeralds
Aaron Cole - Fasho 4.50 Emeralds
The Color - The Kind of Man (Neon Feather Remix) 4.75 Emeralds
Conrad - Holy 4.50 Emeralds
Sean Curran - Live Again 4.50 Emeralds
Color Theory - Backward (Moonspyne Remix) 5 Emeralds
John Crist - Check Your Heart (ft DJ Mykael V, nobigdyl & 1kphew) 3.75 Emeralds
Samuel Day - Time To Live 4.75 Emeralds
John Van Deusen - Whatever Makes You Mine 4.75 Emeralds
Embassy - Holy Spirit 5 Emeralds
Emery - The Noose 5 Emeralds
Foldinglights - Roses 4.75 Emeralds
For All Seasons - Speak To Me 5 Emeralds
For King and Country - God Only Knows (GATTUSO Remix) 4.75 Emeralds
Madaline Garcia - Big Enough To Break 4.75 Emeralds
Danny Gokey - Haven't Seen It (Acoustic) 4.75 Emeralds
Danny Gokey - Wanted (Piano and Cello) 5 Emeralds
Natalie Grant - King of the World (Time Electric Remix) 5 Emeralds
John Hanni - You're Close To Them 4.75 Emeralds
Koryn Hawthorne - Unstoppable ft Yella Beezy 5 Emeralds
Hillsong Young and Free - Every Little Thing ft Andy Mineo 5 Emeralds
Kurtis Hoppie - Spotlights ft V.Rose 4.75 Emeralds
Caitie Hurst - All The Things 5 Emeralds
Influencers - Just The Cross (Live) 5 Emeralds
Koa Jerome - Russian Roulette 4.75 Emeralds
Hannah Kerr - Split The Sea (Pop Mix) 4.75 Emeralds
Elle Limebear - Fly 5 Emeralds
Love and The Outcome - You Got This 5 Emeralds
Narrow Skies - Hold On 5 Emeralds
NF - The Search 4.75 Emeralds
Brian Ortize - Freedom 4.75 Emeralds
Peabod - Hoodie 4.50 Emeralds
People of The Earth - Kings and Kingdoms 4.75 Emeralds
Planetshakers - Fall on Me 5 Emeralds
Laney Rene - Speak your Name 5 Emeralds
River Valley Worship - Future 4.75 Emeralds
The Rocket Summer - Shatter Us 4.75 Emeralds
Allan Scott - Fearless (ft Charisah) 5 Emeralds
Shope - When You Land 4.75 Emeralds
Skillet - Legendary 5 Emeralds
Social Club Misfits -Testify (ft Crowder) 5 Emeralds
JSteph - Deeper (prod Coprous) 4.75 Emeralds
Ryan Stevenson - With Lifted Hands (ft Martin Smith)(Acoustic) 5 Emeralds
Roy Tosh - TGWMI (Thank God We Made It) feat Phil J 4.50 Emeralds
Trinity - Are You 5 Emeralds
Unspoken - Help Is On The Way 5 Emeralds
Rhett Walker Band - Believer 5 Emeralds
We Are Messengers - Maybe it's okay ft Steven Malcolm (Neon Feather Remix) 4.75 Emeralds
We Are Messengers - Maybe it's Okay (Chill Mix) 4.75 Emeralds
The Young Escape - Love Me Like You (TYE Remix) 5 Emeralds
Whew. That's a lot of singles. Now on to the albums. We begin with the albums which will not make the cut.
Missing The Mark
KJ-52 - What Happened Was 4.25 Emeralds
Ruslan - Indie Jones III 3.75 Emeralds
Grace Spencer - With You 4.25 Emeralds
The Next Bunch needs no apologies.
Pure Platinum Perfection
Jonathan Cain - More Like Jesus 5 Emeralds
Christ For The Nations Worship - Taste of Heaven 5 Emeralds
Empty Isles - For When You Need Me 5 Emeralds
Kirk Franklin - Long Live Love 5 Emeralds
Phil Keaggy and Rex Paul - Illumination 5 Emeralds
LZ7 - These Are Better Days 5 Emeralds
Dawn Michelle - Surrender 5 Emeralds
FixT Neon - After Dark 5 Emeralds
Newsboys - United 5 Emeralds
Seventh Day Slumber - Closer To Chaos 5 Emeralds
Stars Go Dim - Better 5 Emeralds
Switchfoot - Live From The Native Tongue Tour EP 5 Emeralds
We are back with an all new edition of Music Video Monday. It's been quite a while since our last post, and it was due somewhat to a lack of videos, but we are back with a vengeance. We start things going hunting. With Demon Hunter. From their album Peace, part of their War and Peace Release, this is More Than Bones. From The Arena to the Dance Floor. LZ7 is the successor to the Dance/Hip Hop Legend WWMT (aka World Wide Message Tribe or simply The Tribe). Lindz West formed the band shortly after the Tribe Broke up, and they have proven a worthy heir. These are Better Days released this year and I Give My All is by far my favorite song. And the crashing nature video is pretty good too. Finally it is time to get out your hankies once again. When Veridia came out with The Beast You Feed, I gave it a 5 Emerald rating for various reasons. The Biggest one was I'll Never Be Ready, a touching tribute to her late father, which had Deena accompanied by Amy Lee of Evanescence. It was a song worthy of Angels. Now we add a video done in the form of a home video of a dance between father and daughter. I won't spoil it further. I told you to get your hankies before watching, didn't I? I wouldn't let you get ripped apart emotionally without warning you first. I will return, hopefully, next week with an all new edition of Music Video Monday. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
