Oh Those "Crazy Love" Children

The 2012 Music Season begins, and first up out of the gate is Go by Rachel Chan. If the last name sounds familiar, it should. Rachel is the fifteen year old daughter of Crazy Love author Francis Chan. Never heard of Crazy Love. What? Next thing you're going to say is that you never heard of Hawk Nelson either.

Go is a straight ahead Sugar Pop album, but not as corn syrup as they go. As debut albums go, it is pretty good.

The album is pretty short as Cd's go. It clocks in at just over a half-hour. It's just her for vocals, unless you count her father's "Rap" on Prove it.

Right now my favorite is Show Me More, which is pretty much a Modern Worship/AC song, but it shows off her vocal ability the best. Her producers should steer her in this direction for future albums. Actually I like the AC tunes on this CD the best. Another good song is You Must Love Me, as is Still Singing.

If you're looking for teen pop about boys, zits and Twitter, that's the rest of the album. On the whole, I am going to give it a recommendation of 4 Emeralds. It's in the 2012 pool, but it's early, and there will be much better albums that will knock it out. It will probably stay in the Best New Artist pool though.

The first Review of 2012 is out. More will come. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Mission To Massachusetts: The Final Act

Chapter Four: Night of the Hawk

Hawk Nelson That is. In advance of this final posting on the MWAM Shrewsbury concert, we at The Night Beat express our regret if any Vancouver Canucks fans are offended by some of the Jokes that are contained within.

Perhaps as you have been reading the previous posts and looking at the photographs you have noticed in the background certain cloth covered obelisks. They have been hidden for this moment and now are ready to be revealed.



Presenting: Hawk Nelson

The second Canadian group in the lineup, and coincidentally, both are from Calgary. I mention this because, if you remember my mentioning about Kiros, you know that Flames fans also root for "whoever is playing the Canucks." Well the last one to do that was the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals, and the Bruins won. Woo-Hoo. Stanley Cup Champions has a really nice ring to it. It doesn't get old.

Anyway, instead of just saying stuff like "Any Bruins fans in here?", Lead singer Jason Dunn decided to tell Roberto Luongo jokes during the night. He told three, but I can only remember two at the moment. No for the non-hockey fans out there (probably most of my readers), Roberto Luongo was the Goalie for the Vancouver Canucks, and during the Cup Finals, when the game was in Vancouver, he was the rock of Gibraltar, stopping just about everything that came his way. When the game was in Boston, however, Bruins players found more holes in Goal than a colander. Considering that Game 7 was in Vancouver, Canucks fans were confident, but some Bruins Pranksters must have hung a TD Banknorth Garden Sign over the stadium, because Luongo acted like he was in Boston, leading to a joke like this.

It was sad to hear about Roberto Luongo. After the Game he tried to commit suicide. Yeah, he tried to get run over by a bus. But like everything else it went through his legs (drum roll)

Yeah, I know, pretty bad. We're Bruins Fans Here at The Night Beat and we ate it up.


Hawk Nelson's Jason Dunn

It was a great set, and included Songs From Letters to The President (California), Smile, It's The End of The World (Everything You Ever Wanted), Hawk Nelson is my Friend (Friend Like That, Let's Dance, Bring Em Out) and the Title Tracks of Live Life Loud and Crazy Love. And then there were the Canucks jokes.

Dunn: Knock Knock
Crowd: Who's There
Dunn: Roberto Luongo
Crowd: Roberto Luongo Who
Dunn: Exactly

Crazy love was the last song of the set, they said goodnight, and the lights went out. Then came the inevitable cheer of "One More Song", and here I think that it's not only God's Love that is crazy, but also Hawk Nelson, because for the encore, we were told:

Don't Stop Believing

As in the Journey Song. And they not only did the cover, but they did it in style. I'm not sure just any band could have pulled this off, and I've got the photos to prove it, so here we go.

Big Sound and Bigger Hair.



A Journey into the Mind of Hawk Nelson

I have enjoyed bringing you this multi-part tale of the Music With A Mission Concert Event in Shrewsbury, and I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Night Beat Rewind: February 2011

One of the nice things about a short month is that you can wrap up some of your posts with plenty of time to spare. Such is the case this February. Music is traditionally released on a Tuesday, and today is the Last Tuesday of the Month. It is also Washington's Birthday. The Second edition of Night Beat Rewind will be finished before the end of the month. Two Editions in one month. Progress.

As I said in my previous post, I use a best of 5 Emeralds rating system. For an explanation click here. If you don't see a release listed here, I either couldn't find sound files on Amazon or I did a full review of the release. So far this month I have managed to review The Civil Wars, Red, and Worth Dying For. A few more will be coming soon.

The Night Beat Rewind, Second Edition, for February 2011:

• Bethel Live, Be Lifted High, 3.5 Emeralds, (Modern Worship)
• Chris Clayton, Hope of Glory, 4.5 Emeralds, (Modern Worship)
• Brian Doerkson, Level Ground, 4 Emeralds, (Modern Worship)
• After Edmund, Times Have Changed, 4.25 Emeralds, (Pop, Dance, Rock)
• Jamie-Grace Harper, Hold Me, 4 Emeralds, (Pop) (D)
• Hawk Nelson, Crazy Love, 4.5 Emeralds, (Rock)
• Hawk Nelson, The Light Sides, 5 Emeralds (Rock/Acoustic)
• Hillsong United, Aftermath, 3.5 Emeralds, (Modern Worship)
• Canton Jones, Dominionaire, 5 Emeralds, (Hip Hop, Gospel)
• Martha's Trouble, Anchor Tattoo, 4 Emeralds, (Pop, Folk)
• Heath McNease, The House Always Wins, 3.75 Emeralds, (Pop, Folk)
• Overcome, The Great Campaign of Sabotage, 4 Emeralds, (Hard Rock)
• Parachute Band, Love Without Measure, 4.5 Emeralds, (Modern Worship, Rock)
• Propaganda, Art Ambidextrous, 3.5 Emeralds, (Hip Hop) 
• Stryper, The Covering, 5 Emeralds, (Hard Rock)
• Josh Wilson, See You, 4 Emeralds, (Pop) 

That concludes the second edition of Night Beat Rewind. We shall return with Edition Three in early April (March's release days are the 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th). Until then, happy listening.