Swing Season: The 2014 1rst Quarter - Rock

Well here we are, the penultimate (that means next to last, folks) 1rst Quarter Rollout Post of 2014. Rock Music had the second largest pool of entries, and would be even larger if we hadn't split off Alternative and Metal, and possibly Industrial as well.

The Grammy Awards took place Sunday, and, since they have always short shrifted the CCM groups, I really won't make too much hay of it until I check out the results. Don't worry, I'll have plenty of snark if I feel that it is warranted. On to the Rock and Roll.

• Baptized , Daughtry
• Behold , My Epic
• Engine of a Million Plots , Five Iron Frenzy
• Headswell , Sainthood Reps
• Icon for Hire , Icon For Hire
• Love & History: The Best Of Downhere , Downhere
• Made In Canada: The 1998 - 2010 Collection, Thousand Foot Krutch
• Proof Of Life [+digital booklet] , Scott Stapp
• Recollection , Superchick
• Rebuild , The Letter Black

There are three best of collections amidst the entries, and they will most likely be weeded out at the end, since we don't have a best of category. They are still among must haves in any collection. Personally, among the rest, I would say that The Letter Black is the early leader, followed by Icon for Hire.

Only Modern Worship is left, and that will be next. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Night Beat Rewind: October 2013

October is finally in the bag, release wise. It's time to do the monthly rewind. We begin the Platinum Vinyl Award Eligibility year with a doozy. Talk about candy store. There were a whopping eight Perfect 5's. One was a push from last year. Since the album was announced in the previous year but finally ceased to be vaporware in October. And then there was the Christmas releases, which aren't eligible for an award but have to be counted. There will be no links at first for this post, for obvious reasons.

Christmas Music (Non-Eligible)

• Paul Baloche - Christmas Worship 3.75 Emeralds
• Dave Barnes - A December to Remember 4.75 Emeralds
• Jonathan Butler - Merry Christmas To You 4.75 Emeralds
• For King and Country - Into the Silent Night 4.75 Emeralds
• Brandon Heath - Christmas Is Here 4.50 Emeralds
• North Point Music - North Point Christmas: Let There Be Light 3.75 Emeralds
• Phillips, Craig and Dean - Hope For All The World 4.50 Emeralds
• The Robertsons - Duck The Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas 5 Emeralds
• Marvin Sapp - Christmas Card 4.75 Emeralds

 Though I'm not a fan of Country, the Duck Dynasty group had me smiling. It's hard to top a duck call version of Deck The Halls. On to the releases which

Missed The Mark

• Keith Elgin - Our Hope Live 3.75 Emeralds
• The Exchange - The Exchange 3.75 Emeralds
• The Fold - Morning Past 3.75 Emeralds
• Natalie Grant - Hurricane (Deluxe) 3.75 Emeralds
• Gurl Code - Gurl Code 3.75 Emeralds
• City Harbor - Come However You Are 3.75 Emeralds
• One:nine - North Flew South For The Winter 3.50 Emeralds
• Lynda Randle - Ageless Hymns 3.50 Emeralds
• Sivion - Group Therapy 3.50 Emeralds
• Austin Stone - King of Love 3.75 Emeralds
• Various - Holy Hip Hop, Volume 17 3.75 Emeralds
• Various - Jam The Hype, Volume 1 3.75 Emeralds
• Various - Just As I Am 3.50 Emeralds
• Michelle Williams -Do You Know 3.75 Emeralds

Most of these albums just missed being pool eligible, so they are not bad albums. We move from the not in to those albums which are deemed to be 

Pure Platinum

• All The Bright Lights - The Wind and the Waves 5 Emeralds
• Anberlin - Devotion Vital Special Edition 5 Emeralds
• Beautiful Eulogy - Instruments of Mercy 5 Emeralds
• Downhere - Love & History: The Best of Downhere 5 Emeralds
• Icon For Hire - Icon For Hire 5 Emeralds
• Robbie Seay Band - Psalms EP, Volume 1 5 Emeralds
• Martin Smith - God's Great Dance Floor, Step 2 5 Emeralds
• Aaron Sprinkle - Water and Guns 5 Emeralds 

All The Bright Lights is the holdover. Anberlin is a special edition including a live second disc, and Downhere is a best of, which won't make the finals, because we don't have a best of Category. 

Finally we go to those releases in the middle, or ones we deem

Semi-Precious Metal

• Bride - Incorruptible 4.50 Emeralds
• Canon - Mad Haven 4.50 Emeralds
• Steven Curtis Chapman - The Glorious Unfolding 4.50 Emeralds
• Family Force 5 - Reanimated 4.75 Emeralds
• Flame - Royal Flush 4.50 Emeralds
• Gateway Worship - Women of Faith Presents: Gateway Worship 4.75 Emeralds
• Hillsong Young and Free - We Are Young and Free 4.50 Emeralds
• Dustin Kensrue - The Water & The Blood 4.75 Emeralds
• Thousand Foot Krutch - Made In Canada: The 1998-2010 Collection 4.50 Emeralds
• Bryan Popin - You Can Make It 4.50 Emeralds
• Press Play - #LITO 4.75 Emeralds
• Righteous Vendetta - The Fire Inside 4.75 Emeralds
• Royal Tailor - Royal Tailor 4.50 Emeralds
• Sainthood Reps - Headswell 4.50 Emeralds
• Laura Story - God of Every Story 4.50 Emeralds
• Superchick RE:Collections 4.50 Emeralds
• Jon Thurlow - Stand In Awe 4.75 Emeralds
• Chris Tomlin - Burning Lights: Deluxe Tour Edition 4.75 Emeralds
• Various Artists - My Hope: Songs Inspired By The Message and Mission of Billy Graham 4.50 Emeralds
• Vertical Church - The Rock Won't Move 4.50 Emeralds
• WARR Acres - Hope Will Rise 4.75 Emeralds
• Wolves at the Gate - Back To School 4.50 Emeralds 

That finishes off the month of October. Things are getting off to a roaring start here in the 5th Platinum Vinyl Award Eligibility Year. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Are You a Superchick or just a Barlow Girl?

How do you know they aren't one and the same? Have you ever seen them in the same room at the same time?

Welcome to a special edition of Flashback Friday. In the grand scheme of things, we're barely out of the driveway on this trip down Memory Lane. It really comes down to Two Bands linked by a Single Song.

While acting as a Sparrow Rep during the 2001 Inside Out Soul Festival at Loon Mountain, New Hampshire, my biggest responsibility was pushing new artists. One of those was a self-styled "garage band" by the name of Superchick (sometimes also spelled Superchic[k]). Sisters Melissa and Tricia Brock were picked out of an audience by Max Hsu (I believe it was at a House of Wires Concert). Their first concert was with Audio Adrenaline, the original edition, back in 1999. Rebels with a cause, their first two albums (Karaoke Superstars and Last One Picked) featured shout outs to Police Departments for making them aware of noise regulations.

Nicknamed "Cheerleader Rock" by us here at The Night Beat for Tricia's early shtick of singing through a megaphone, the band gave us fourteen years of encouragement and a band recommendation of their own. 

We met these sisters, Barlow's their last name. Ordinary girls they don't live in the fast lane. They don't rate with the guys that score, cause they don't flaunt what the boys want more.

The song was Barlow Girls, the group Barlowgirl. The sisters in question? Alyssa, Becca and Lauren Barlow. Superchick managed to heighten interest, but the sisters flew under the CCM radar screen for three years, but then when you're this good, you are Never Alone.
I heard the song on my local Christian Radio station. It was pretty hard for the stuff they liked to play, at least that early in the day. Still, that voice. When I found out that this was Barlowgirl, the sisters in the Superchick song, well, I was a fan.

Two Chick Rock Bands competing for the same fans. It was an eye candy match made in heaven. Sadly, dreams like those don't seem to stick around forever. For two bands linked together in history, perhaps it is fitting that they departed together as well. Barlow Girl was first. Maybe I should have seen it, but the deceptively titled Our Journey...So Far , a best set that was beyond perfection, was really, our journey, over. Their official statement was that while seeking God for direction for a new album, they got nothing. Perhaps it was just God trying to say, "whatever you do is fine with me", but they interpreted it as "time to hang it up". 

The writing was on the wall for Superchick when Tricia got married. Sorry, but it's true. Since the woman is the one who has the child, it is usually impossible to tour and have children at the same time. For a solo artist, it's usually not a problem, but a band isn't going to go on hiatus for months at a time. So by 2012 with a family in the making, the possibility of Superchick breaking up was becoming more and more of a reality, because, face it, unlike other bands, Superchick was never going to get a lead singer to replace Tricia.

Fans of Superchick don't have to mourn to hard. Radiate is pop rock enough and maintains the Superchick Snark we all know and love. It will have to do. Hey, if a band can get guys to say they are a "Superchick", they must have done something right. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Throwing a Pity Party All By Herself

And You're Not Invited.

One of my fondest memories of my years in Christian Music was the 2001 Inside Out Soul Festival at Loon Mountain, New Hampshire. I was a volunteer with Sparrow Records that year. Now besides the free pass to the festival, and the free swag, the inside track was the best experience.

We had to push a lot of upcoming artists, among them a group by the name of Switchfoot. (I wonder if they ever made it big?). One of the up and comers was a self-styled "garage band" by the name of Superchick. It takes a real man to say you are a Superchick. Cheerleader Rock was what you could call it, complete with Tricia Brock singing through a megaphone, an early band signature.

Fast forward a dozen years. The band has disbanded and members have gone their own ways. The megaphone was long gone, but the fun attitude always remained. Four Studio albums made with fun and plenty of attitude.

Though Superchick may have hung up the megaphone, Tricia is still here. Radiate is the lead singers debut, if you don't count The Road, her worship album under Tricia Brock. It is a fair baton pass. There is worship, rock, and plenty of the sarcasm that Superchick was known for:

Bummed out, it's never enough. Suburban living, she has it rough. She's got almost everything, but there's something missing.

Not enough shoes, not a big enough home. She doesn't even have the latest iPhone. Why does this always happen to her. She's gonna do something about it.

She's throwing a pity party all by herself. Yeah it's a pity party all by herself. A pity party all by herself. And you're not invited.

Solo debuts are a mixed bag, because you remember the band. Tricia has brought the excitement that was Superchick to Radiate . As such it is getting a near perfect rating of 4.75 Emeralds. The Revolution continues. I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Before I go, just a reminder. Go to the giveaway page and enter the Great WENC Night beat 3rd Birthday Giveaway for a chance to win one of four 5 Emerald Rated albums. It's on until September 30, so you've still got plenty of time.

Flashback Friday: Taking it Worldwide

Dictionaries are completely useless things. Case in point, I turned to Webster to help define our latest band, and it wasn't in there. I decided to break the name into its constituent parts and try that way, and this is what I got.

• Audio: adj. of or relating to sound or its reproduction and especially high-fidelity reproduction
• Adrenaline: noun. Epinephrine (Okay, so that was useless. What's epinephrine?)
• Epinephrine: noun a colorless crystalline feebly basic sympathomimetic hormone C9H13NO3 that is the principal blood-pressure raising hormone secreted by the adrenal medulla and is used medicinally especially as a heart stimulant, a vasoconstrictor in controlling hemorrhages of the skin, and a muscle relaxant in bronchial asthma —called also adrenaline

ZZZZZZZZZZZ. Oh, Sorry, dozed off there for a second. Like I said, completely worthless. Never let a dictionary do what you should do for yourself. Ladies and Gentlemen, Audio Adrenaline.

You've got to love a band whose name means, basically, Loud Music. Formed in 1986 as A-180, the original lineup was Mark Stuart, Barry Blair, Will McGinnis, David Stuart and Phil Vaughan, who all went to Kentucky Christian University. By 1991 they had gotten the attention of Toby MacKeehan (TobyMac) of DC Talk and Signed to Forefront Records.

I came to the attention of the band in 1992, they were the warm up act for DC Talk on their Free at Last Tour and came to Worcester Memorial Auditorium (no longer in existence). I proudly consider myself an Adrenaline Junkie (the bands term for their fans). The Classic Audio A lineup was:

• Mark Stuart: Vocals, Guitar
• Will McGinness: Vocals, Bass
• Bob Herdman: Guitars, Keys
• Ben Cissell: Drums
• Tyler Burkum: Guitars

They produced eight studio albums in their first go round

• Audio Adrenaline (1992)
• Don't Censor Me (1993)
• Bloom (1996)
• Some Kind Of Zombie (1996)
• Underdog (1999)
• Lift (2001)
• Worldwide (2003)
• Until My Heart Caves In (2005)

Some of the songs had a sort of demented humor to them. Take DC-10, one of their early songs, which I discovered on Underdog.

"A 747 Fell out of heaven, crashed through the roof of a 7-11
You're working on a slurpee, things get hazy
reach for a twinkie, now you're pushing up daisies
Do you know where you're gonna go."

Who knew that they would survive Hostess?
Audio Adrenaline is one more example among many of one of my musical facts of life. If you want to have a great soft ballad, have a hard rock band write it. Rock bands know how to slow it down very nicely. On the other hand AC and soft bands seem silly when they try to rock it out. Pierced, Leaving Ninety Nine, Hands and Feet, Good Life. All of these are excellent ballads by Audio Adrenaline. They also did one of the best versions ever of It is well with my soul (a duet with Jennifer Knapp). How that song turned into a morose funeral song I'll never know. It always made me wonder "Is it well with your soul?" I give you one of my favorite Audio Adrenaline ballads, Ocean Floor.

Mark Stuarts voice shot to you know where, the band broke up in 2007, but that is not the end of the story. The band recently reformed with only McGinniss among the original members. The new Audio A is filled out with Dave Ghazarian of Superchick, Jared Byers of Bleach and, at Lead Vocal, Kevin Max of DC Talk. Now I love Kevin, but I'm not sure he's the right fit for this band. You saw some of Audio A, but this is Kevin Max. You decide.

We shall see how things turn out for the new Audio Adrenaline. I myself am eagerly awaiting the new album.

I hope that you enjoyed this look at one of the great Alternative Rock bands of Christian Music. We have completed another rotation. Next Friday we return to The Commonwealth of CCM and the land down under as we cover Rebecca St. James. Tomorrow we return to the Christmas Parade. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Mission To Massachusetts: Part One

MWAM: Shrewsbury Edition

Wow. What a Night. The Music With A Mission Tour Rolled Through Central Massachusetts Last Night. For CCM fans of all stripes, this was an event not to be missed, and I would have you know, right up until Friday afternoon, I thought I would have to miss it, but everything worked out in the end. In my Quick Post written just before I left I just used the promotional poster and listed all the bands for the tour. Chasen, Manafest, and according to my ticket at least, B. Reith wasn't at this stop. That's not to say it wasn't a rocking night. The lineup for the night (in order of appearance) was Samestate, Kiros, Superchick, Hyland, Benjah, Mikeschair, Fireflight, and Hawk Nelson. For those playing the International Game, That's USA 6 Canada 2. That would be a cool score for a hockey game. (More on the hockey reference later). If things look a little fuzzy or red, I apologize in advance. I think I got the auto-focus figured out, but concert light wreak havoc with lighting sensors.

One of the bands on this tour, Fireflight, was at this same Venue (Liberty Churches, Shrewsbury, MA) Last October as Part of the For those Who Wait Tour. That was a penny-ante production compared to MWAM. MWAM Was full of Glitz and glitter, due mostly to the fact that it was orchestrated by New Release Tuesday. Before each act there was a video speel announcing them as coming soon. The energy and anticipation was sky high.



In the Samestate, unless they're not

 Newcomers Samestate opened the evening. I had the chance to preview their EP earlier in the year and they're pretty good. Pretty much straight ahead Rock and Roll. As newcomers to the scene they did a quick three song set, and went off the stage. It was their job to get the mood going in both directions and they did a good job. They told the crowd they couldn't stay around long as the next day they were opening for Switchfoot. Now that struck me as unintentionally funny, Samestate-Different State.



Kiros Loves the Bruins

 Kiros Was Next. For those not in the know it's pronounced KEYE-ros.  They proceeded to endear themselves to the local audience by giving shoutouts to our Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins. Since these guys are from Clagary they are ostensibly Calgary Flames fans, but they say they "Also root for whoever is playing the Canucks." I mmust confess that, being a Bruins Fan, I was unaware of this anti-Canuck sentiment. We usually save our emotions for the Montreal Canadiens (or Les Habs). As to the music, I would probably classify Kiros as Heavy Metal, but in a 80's metal style, not the metal-core prevalent today.

After two opening acts it was time for the first headliner. I say first because the night had Three Legitimate Headline acts. Again, hats off to Soulfest and NRT for this scheduling miracle. Samestate and Kiros both played a 3-4 song set, and then Superchick took over for headline act #1. I'm trying to recollect things here afterward, but I would say we got seven songs from Superchick.



Tricia Brock: The Original Superchick

 What can I say about Superchick? Garage Band to Super Band, I became a fan right off the bat while working for Sparrow Records at Soulfest back in 2000. That was when Tricia was still singing through a megaphone. Seven Albums later, they are one of the best know supergroups out there. Tricia can belt out rock (One Girl Revolution, Rock What You Got) as easily as a haunting ballad (We Live, Stand in the Rain), and even does a good worship set as well (You are My Shepherd, Always, from The Road).

Hey, Hey! Melissa takes the lead

Though Tricia is the lead, Lead Vocals on a few songs were either shared or done outright by Tricia's sister Melissa (who is also Guitarist). After the worship set we were set for the first intermission, but first, co-sponsors Compassion International had a presentation. Melissa talked about her mission trip to Uganda, and her experience with real poverty. She talked of 10x10 "houses" which were "made literally of garbage". When you hear of things like this you realize we have no poor in The United States.



Tricia With a Fan during Intermission

 A short intermission was next, and there were still five more acts to come.

I was running back and forth through the auditorium during the concert and have plenty more photos to share. I think they thought I was a media photographer, and in one sense I am. Since I have a lot more to share I am making a multiple post effort of it, so stay with me. As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

A Tale of Two Tricia's

Not really, I just liked the way it sounded. I guess I'm a sucker for alliteration. There really is just one Tricia, Tricia Baumhardt (nee Brock), the lead singer for the pop/rock band Superchick. After ten years of singing to millions through a megaphone, she has released a solo project entitled The Road. Now anyone who isn't familiar with her work with Superchick will take right to this album, a top rate modern worship entry that can go toe to toe with the best out there. If you're familiar with Superchick, you're in for a shock.

Mind you it's a good shock, but a shock is a shock. There isn't a lot of chances to highlight your vocal range in modern CCM, or pop music of any kind these days. As a result most of the music is just various shades of a scream. That's not good or bad, it just is. Modern Worship is singer friendly in such a way that it allows the artist to showcase themselves. I know, it sounds strange in a field that is supposed to be "all about God." Trust me, it's good. It prevents the genre from becoming stale.

The CD kicks off with the rocking "Breath of God", a song which would be perfect for a Rebecca St. James worship release if RSJ hadn't gone soft. Sorry Rebecca, love you, but I will praise you was a little lacking in the volume department. You Hear highlights her abilities perfectly. To put it simply, this "Chick" can sing. And it has strings. It's my favorite. Broken for Love's sake, the closing cut, is a Acoustic Duet compete with Banjo. It's a beautiful song.

I'm going to give the album 4 Emeralds. We'll see how that holds up in modern worship. On a traditional star rating I would say maybe 3.5 to 4 stars. For an opposing view, Christianity Today gave a fairly dismissive review, calling it a "Hillsong Knockoff". I think at times that Hillsong should be so lucky to do an album like this. This is a "Road" you wont regret taking. Your comments are always welcome. As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.