Chris Rice

Item: Snapshots: Live and Fan Favorites
Author: Burton Wray

Snapshots: Live and Fan Favorites

(2005)

Reviewed by Burton Wray

Discogs Apple Music

Label Rocketown RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2005

adult contemporary ccm

After releasing a best of CD for Chris Rice in 2004 (Short Term Memories), Rocketown heard from so many fans about songs that were left off that they decided to release Snapshots: Live and Fan Favorites. Instead of just featuring studio versions of Chris's greatest hits, Rocketown decided to make things more interesting by including live versions of some of his greatest hits. The live versions are okay, but they don't feature a great deal of fan interaction. The most notable live aspect of the songs is the acoustics and the way that the vocals sound. There is some cheering from the fans and some singing along, such as on "Sometimes Love (Live)", but not much.

For those who are not familiar with Rice's work, this album is a good primer to introduce them. The songs on this album show his lyrical creativity and how he's able to make amazing word pictures and images through his songs. This album shows his simplicity and yet also his depth at the same time. For those who already know and love the music of Chris Rice, this project no doubt contains at least some of their favorite songs, including "Deep Enough to Dream," "Big Enough," "Me and Becky," and "Cartoons."

As with any best of CD, fans are sure to quibble over the song selection. Some may be disappointed that there weren't more songs from his Smell the Color 9 project, such as the title track, and others will have other songs from other albums that they feel should have been included.

One minor problem with the CD is the fact that the liner notes do not have lyrics, instead featuring fan quotes about Rice's music. Those who do not have his earlier CDs, which have the lyrics will be out of luck.

For those who are not familiar with the music of Chris Rice this CD is a good primer and at the same time, fans of Rice will be reminded what they love about his music.

3.5 tocks