The front cover of this disc begs the question: Just what is the title of this, Big Tent Revival's fourth CD? The local Christian bookstore had it on their "new releases" list as Chooseternalife, and that's what the cover suggests at first. Shift angles a bit though, and the segment "terna" fades, revealing the album's official release title, Choose Life.
Clever cover aside, the disc itself is something of a disappointment, coming as it does after BTR's phenomenal Amplifier. The songs are mostly of a radio-rock variety. The title track itself is completely tailored for CCM radio outlets. But where BTR had previously mixed radio singles with scorchers like Amplifier's "Rivalry," the new album seems to step back to the territory they covered in their debut release, with all the "rockers" on the disc being seemingly acoustic-based.
As is the case with most recent Ardent releases, this one is an enhanced multimedia CD. The multimedia section contains a link to the Choose Life website (http://www.chooseternalife.org), a subscription offer and software for Integrity Online, as well as a pair of videos. The first is the concept clip for "Choose Life." The sound on the video has a little more hiss than I was really happy with. The other clip is a mini-sermon from BTR's lead singer, Steve Wiggins, from one of their concerts. The sound here wasn't great either, not that it mattered quite so much on a speaking clip.
This is an extremely average disc. If you're already a Big Tent Revival fan, this probably won't change your mind. If you need an intro to BTR, this isn't the disc to start with; go get Amplifier instead.
3 tocks
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