The Choir is on a rampage! "Circle Slide," the sixth release by the Choir, is a powerful yet ironic album with a deep statement underlying it all.
The Choir is one of Christian music's best alternative bands. They have won several awards including: 1989 CCM Reader's Choice for favorite alternative album, favorite long form video, favorite alternative rock band, the 1989 Harvest Rock Reader's Poll for artist of the year, alternative album of the year, favorite alternative act, song of the year, best drummer, and the 1989 Campus Life Award of Excellence (not to mention numerous others).
Now the album "Circle Slide" is a new flavor of music that the Choir hasn't played before. The vocals are still the same, the music seems to have more joy and hope in it which leaves behind a lot of the Choir's old melancholic tone. A lot of catchy tunes and some pop flares bring out the message behind the music.
The songs here are insane. They lead into each other forcing the album to build off itself. The songs are like puzzle pieces, holding each other together and precisely fitting into the next piece. The song "Merciful Eyes" is the most desperate song the Choir has ever produced. It's a cry and a prayer of a lost and hurting man, "Did the dead man arise when she entered the room/ Did I smell love decaying and call it perfume/ Should a justified man know the grave from the womb..." But the song "Restore My Soul" picks up the cry of "Merciful Eyes" and answers the prayer.
Looking at the album there are three songs that stand out and grabbed my attention. "A Sentimental Song" is a great song about love and about showing someone how much you love them, "Listen closely, I will sing for you, A sentimental song, And you will know how I love you...".
Then "Tear for Tear" and "About Love" make this album complete. "Tear for Tear" isn't really a song but more like a long introduction to "About Love". "Tear for Tear" is a song about marriage, it's about commitments and life, "Until by death we fade, I'll try to trade you, Grin for grin, And tear for tear".
"About Love" is the most ironic song the Choir has ever done. It's a song that makes you feel good because after all, "There's something wonderful about love...". The song paints the picture of the joy there is in love, it sings of the world as seen by someone lost in love. A beautiful song that answers questions and names reality.
"Circle Slide" is another hot album by the Choir but it's a lot different from anything they've ever done. I learned a lot about life from this album, a lot about love, and a lot about hope. "There's something wonderful about love."
Other coverage for this album
Heaven's Metal #28Reviewed by Doug Van PeltThe Choir's new album, the band's sixth, is a consistently moody collection of tunes somewhere in between side two of "Wide-Eyed Wonder" and U2's "The Unforgettable Fire" (minus "Pride"). I still think the band's best material lies on "Shades Of Grey" and "Chase The Kangaroo."Salt #7Reviewed by ErcmanOh my goodness, if this ain't the coolest, trippinest, tape of the year of 1990, I don't know what is! Nine songs total and all of them are awesome but the stand outs are simply incredible. My personal faves are "If I Had a Yard," "Blue skies," and "Restore My Soul." Check this out from "Restore My Soul," "I cry to you, with two eardrums blistered, from laughing with preachers of night, with my…Similar sounding releases
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