Casting Crowns – A Live Worship Experience
Feb 16, 2016 CD Reviews
Casting Crowns
A Live Worship Experience
Something records
12 tracks @ 60:05
Grade = Depends
This is Crowns second live record. It was recorded at the band’s home churchEagle’s Landing First Baptist Church, in Atlanta. The record features some of the group’s well-known songs and covers of some contemporary worship songs.
Many years ago, when getting my music via vinyl, the pop band Supertramp released “Breakfast in America,” one of the best-selling albums of all time. Not too long after, the band released a live, in concert album. I remember an acquaintance asking if I was going to buy the concert album, because “it sounds just like the studio record!”
My immediate reaction was no, why do I need two copies of the same song? Same here.
– Rob S.
Blessed Assurance: The New Hymns of Fanny Crosby
Feb 16, 2016 CD Reviews
Various Artists
Blessed Assurance: The New Hymns of Fanny Crosby
Integrity Music
15 tracks
Grade = A
Franny Crosby did not write her first hymn until she was 44 years-old. She went on to write 8,000 more. Some 2,700 unpublished hymns and song fragments were re-discovered. This record features a variety of Christian artists performing some of those lost gems.
Given that one of the songs is “Blessed Assurance,” a mainstay in the Lutheran Book of Worship, it’s not clear why the claim is made that all of the songs on the record are rediscovered.
“Where Could We Go,” performed by the Blind Boys of Alabama, is outstanding. A reasonable guess is that Miss Franny would be tapping her toes to that one.
– Rob S.
