Never for Nothing - CCM Record Reviews archive Y
Y FRIDAY : Rainmaker. (Soul Survivor : SURCD 039)
Delirious? Have inspired many of the young bands currently playing
the local Christian circuits up and down the country, but here's
one who have gone one step further. Y Friday have been playing
in their native north-east of England for some time, and have
now been picked up by Soul Survivor. The music isn't just a Delirious?
tribute, and the band's style reflects that. Based around the
vocals and songwriting of Ken Riley, they cleverly mix rock with
praise and worship that, overall, works well. "Holy, Holy,
Holy" is quite an attacking number while the following "Closer"
and "Thank You For the Cross" show the true strength
of Riley's gifts. It's not a one man show though, far from it,
in fact. The rest of the band show what skillful musicians they
are, especially on my favourite track "Greatest". "Part
of Me", on the other hand, is quite weak in comparisson and
"If" is another that didn't make the grade. However,
the closing "Here" is a song of epic proportions with
the simple statement "I Will Worship You". 8/10.
(January 2000)
YAZZ : Turning Back to You. (ICC : EMMPYZ01)
Yazz is fondly remembered for her big uplifting hit single 'The Only Way is Up'. Sadly, most of the follow up singles didn't do so well. These days, she lives in Europe and has a strong faith, which she now sings about. The album has some good points, but also some lows. The first radio single, 'Freedom' is a bit of a mixture. It's a Yolanda Adams gospel sort of thing, but really doesn't take off. 'Love Creation' speaks for itself, while 'You Are My Daily Bread' tells of being empty without Jesus in your life. 'Strength to Carry On' is a summer sounding number, and it's quite nice to listen and relax to. What I did find mid-album was that the album seemed to run out of stream. There are some great sentiments in the lyrics, but the structure of some of the songs left a lot to be desired. It all ends with a touching, if rather short, version of 'Amazing Grace', sung accappella. Not the exciting album I was hoping for but there are some quality moments. 6/10. (Feburary 2008)
YOUTH ALIVE : The Plan (Hillsongs : HMACD115)
Here's the Hillsongs Australia youth album that is supposed to
reach the parts of young people that other albums cannot reach!
So many styles contained within the 10 tracks that there must
be something for everybody. Saying that, styles are spread so
thinly that you may well find you only enjoying one particular
track out of the whole thing. For grunge and metal fans, take
"Servethe Man" or "God Made the World", complete
with it's Metallica guitars and grunting vocals. For the dance
freaks, there's the sugary synth pop "Real" or the rapping
"True Disciple". Even if you're stuck in the 80's with
Bon Jovi rock, try "Are You Hungry". I think it's a
brave try for something a bit different but I'm not convinced
that it will actually serve it's purpose. Let's pray I'm wrong.
5/10. (May 1999)
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