Disco Saints

Item: Dance House Praise
Author: Roger Appelinski

Dance House Praise

(1995)

Reviewed by Roger Appelinski

Discogs YouTube

Label StraightWayThe LighthouseSeptember 1995

dance pop techno worship

Look out Scott Blackwell!

For some time now, Blackwell and his team at N-Soul records have all but cornered the Christian market on hard-core dance music. From his solo work to the Nitro Praise project, there has been a lot of dance praise music from his efforts. Now, StraightWay (sublabel of Star Song) has offered a noteworthy collection of praise music in the dance genre.

The band is the Disco Saints, comprised in part by Julius, Paddy, Vicki, and others (who are as unwilling to divulge their last names...) The album is Dance House Praise. The shocker is in the producer-David L. Huff-known as an immensely capable rock producer, but not a man you would instantly picture producing a dance project.

Seven of the ten tracks are remakes of familiar praise choruses or songs-such titles as "They That Wait," "Soon And Very Soon," "Praise The Name Of Jesus," "The Joy Of The Lord," "We Exalt Thee," "I Will Call Upon The Lord," and "I Go To The Rock." Two are covers of other tunes: the Newsboys' "Shine," and U2's "40." The remaining track is one written by the group, "The Power," which sports a Steven Wiley pseudo-rap sound in the verse paired with an Allegra Parks/Sandra Stevens ala Blackwell vocal in the chorus set to a strong techno beat.

The album covers a range of dance styles, ranging in tempo from 111 to 140 beats-per-minute-most around 126 bpm. Many samples and loops are taken from popular dance tunes, lending a familiar feel to much of it. There are strong grooves, house beats, and techno/club loops throughout, and even a little Art of Noise feel on "We Exalt Thee." It covers a range without having each cut try to cover the entire dance realm in one song.

The project leans to the familiar instead of the innovative. It will be very ear-friendly to fans of today's club music, but will not appeal to the more progressive crowd looking for something radical.