I remember reading an interview with Peter Furler, who does vocals, guitars, and drums for the Newsboys. He was promoting "Step Up to the Microphone" at the time and the fans were afraid that the band was about to break up because John James, who was their lead singer, had just left the band. When asked the question, "Is this the end of the Newsboys?" he gave an answer that I'll never forget.
"It's only the beginning."
Now, about a year and a half later, I am ready to agree. Love Liberty Disco is not only great, it was almost magical. Never have the Newsboys sounded this good.
The first track, "Beautiful Sound," should capture almost anyone. Beginning with a simple yet effective keyboard intro, it soon explodes into one of the most wonderful and worshipful choruses that has ever been written.
It's a beautiful sound
Moving through the crowd
Voices lifted up
On high for you
It's a beautiful song
And we've only just begun
To understand
Rediscovering you
The catchy and poppy title track, "Love Liberty Disco" is next. Even if you don't like disco you should love this (or at least tolerate it). While I can almost see John Travolta on the dance floor and the Bee Gees backing the Boys up on this tune, it's still a great song.
The best track to me is number four, "Good Stuff," taken from Corinthians 13. In it, the band proclaims that they can write a great song or speak with tongues of angels, but without love it is nothing but just a sound. The bridge says it all.
We got the rhythm
We got the rhyme
Print up a T-shirt
Throw them a line
But without love we are nothing
Without love we are nothing more than noise.
This song should be the band's anthem--it should be every Christian band's anthem.
If I had to criticize anything about this album, I guess it would be the song, "I Would Give Everything." When I heard this song, it reminded me of 80's music, which I usually find mundane and tedious. But, ironically, I still like this song a lot, so it's just a minor problem.
I do wish that there was at least one or two more upbeat songs. The songs are very meaningful but the album seems to drag near the end, and if they had just put another fast song around track nine or ten it would have sounded great.
Peter Furler was right. I believe that this is probably their best album yet.
5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
ReAL Magazine 1999Reviewed by Kevin D. HendricksThe newest Newsboys CD showed up in my mailbox, and as I sat down to review it I really tried to like it. I wanted to find a new CD to claim the coveted position in my CD player. After all, it's the Newsboys, right? It's a done deal, right? Well, it wasn't. Love Liberty Disco didn't claim that empty spot in my CD player. It's not that it's a bad CD, it just doesn't shine like it could. The title…The Phantom Tollbooth 1999Reviewed by Michial FarmerDisco. It's blamed by some for the fall of quality musicianship, but it's also embraced by others as the most fun genre of all time. Some people in the 1970s sneered at the leisure suits and platform shoes, while others wore them with pride. In the end, though, disco is probably the most hated style of music in pop music history. So, at the very least, the Newsboys deserve a certain amount of…The Phantom Tollbooth 1999Reviewed by James StewartEvery time the Newsboys head for the studio, rumours abound that their next release is going to be a real departure from what went before. This release was no different, with the stories of their new "disco" material floating around for many months. It seems that like most rumours, these contained a fair dose of exaggeration. The title track here is unashamedly 70s influenced disco. The band…Similar sounding releases
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