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First Impressions - short CD reviews based on one listen (or partial listen)

The newest release from Legacy Five is called Monuments. Excellent graphic design always makes a good first impression. A lack of lyrics printed in the booklet of a full priced, non-budget CD however, does not. Monuments benefits and suffers from both of these characteristics respectively.

Production quality on the first song "Consider The Cross" sets a good standard, although it's pretty basic in nature. Scott Howard is featured on a slow/mid tempo. The Belinda/Sue Smith song is well written, as I've come to always expect from them. Skimming thru a few more, I hear a lighthearted feel in "Out Of My Darkness" and "Roll Away," a big anthem in "Unless," an easy going number in "It's The Truth," and another big anthem in "Calvary Reminds Me" featuring Frank Seamans. The second half continues to alternate between light tunes (including a Glenn Dustin feature on "Raised To Walk") and sweeping anthems. The title track goes for an acoustic guitar sound alternating with the orchestra . . . quite a contrast.

My first impression of Monuments is that it's in the 4 1/2 star territory.

Next up is The Freemans. Their new CD is a "best of" collection titled The Very Best Of . .. and more. I believe four of the twelve songs are new recordings by the current group. I'm not very familiar with their older material aside from "Children Of The Dust." With a suggested retail of $13.99, maybe fans will let the lack of printed lyrics inside the CD slide. It's not exactly "budget," but it isn't full priced either . .. plus there's the "best of" nature of the CD to consider.

Production quality sounds good on the first new song "In Spite Of The Storm." Chris Freeman is featured on this slower song. Next up is "Hello In Heaven." I liked Gold City's version better. "Once Was Enough" and "Something Out Of Nothing" have a good Country quality going for them. You can hear the Hinsons influence clearly on these tunes. The Freemans seem to choose tunes with great lyrics. I'm not a big fan of their vocal delivery, but I like the songs themselves. "Rise Up" is a good example. I'd love to have heard The Happy Goodmans tackle that one.

Then there's "He'd Still Been God." Maybe the Freemans had a hit with this song, I can't remember, but it's hard not to contrast it with Greater Vision's more polished rendition. Of course, "Children Of The Dust" is a signature moment for the Freemans. It comes in at track ten. The CD concludes with "Already Sold Out" and "Going Back (2004)." From listening to this CD, I can see the aspects of the Freemans that attract fans. Chris Freeman sings with a lot of expression and feeling in a way that would appeal to a Hinsons/Country type audience. The songwriting is consistently top notch . . . they're not my cup of tea on the vocal delivery as I said previously, but I can certainly see why their fans appreciate them.

Based on this first impression, I'd rate The Very Best Of . .. and more at 4 stars.

I've commented on The Gospel Side Of Elvis previously, but now Daywind is releasing some of the same songs with different packaging. Hopefully the Daywind connection will get the recording better distribution. As far as I can tell, nothing has changed about the songs themselves other than the fact that the original package had two CDs and a total of 18 songs while this one has just one CD and a total of 12 songs. The cover definitely looks better than the original cover . . . nice graphic of a theatre marquee on the front with the group names as if they are appearing at that location. The pictures are all in black and white on the inside, but it's a more of an organized look layout. If I'm not mistaken, the written notes have been updated. I think Daywind did a great job keeping the best cuts when they cut the number of songs down, but I'm not sure WHY they did. If people run across the original later, they're going to be annoyed. It's not like 2 CDs were really required. The 18 songs would have easily fit on one CD. Still, I love this recording, particularly the way they used some signature Elvis rhythms in the arrangments.

The Daywind version of The Gospel Side Of Elvis gets 4 1/2 stars from me . . . not exactly a first impression since I've been hearing it for several weeks, but the new packaging and distribution arrangement get a hearty thumbs up from me.

Finally, I was handed a copy of I Know It All by The Magnificent Melody Boys Quartet while at the National Quartet Convention. Wait a minute . . . that title is actually I Owe It All. Sorry . . . for a moment there I was thinking about the CD's producer! Anyway, after listening to this CD, I believe most MMBQ fans would agree with my first impression that while I Owe It All comes in perhaps a notch under this group's CD Get Happy, it's still a very good CD for fans of traditional quartet singing. I've given the other groups 4 and 4 1/2 star ratings so far. No point in changing now. This CD gets a 4 1/2 star rating from me based on my first impression.

By the way, that very intelligent (and he knows it) producer's name is Jonathan Sawrie. Look for his comment below as soon as he finds this article on the web. :o)

And watch this space for more "First Impressions."

Reader Comments

David Murray is one of the most knowledgable people I know on music. He knows what he is talking about. This wasn't a full blown review...it is only an article based on his "First Impression" after only listening to it one time. I think it's a great article.

I am a big Freeman's fan and I took no offense to his thoughts on it. I haven't even heard the CD yet, and I am anxious to hear it.

I must respectfully disagree with you and David does know how to respect "SG royalty". I didn't at all see him disrespecting anyone...just giving his thoughts on a CD. Nothing more, nothing less...

If he had said the same thing about Vestal, I wouldn't have thought anything more than what I think now...

I do agree...Chris has, in my opinion, been a big part of the "Hinson sound". In fact, you can read my thoughts on that here: http://sogospelnews.com/index/scene/comments/2791/

But again, I don't see anywhere that David disrespected her at all.

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