Much like The Narrator in "The Great Divorce", many of us find ourselves looking for a road to some other place. With Conquering The Fear Of Flight, Wavorly leads us through a musical landscape that journeys toward that "other place" we often hope to discover, basing several songs on the C.S. Lewis classic.
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C.S. Lews Would Be Proud - If He Liked Hard Rock| Posted August 01, 2007
When I picked up 'Wavorly' at the nearest Christian Bookstore, the cashier beamed me a blinding smile. 'This is one of the best rocks CD's ever,' she said brightly. 'I highly recommend it.' Obviously, I presumed, this CD must be pretty good.
And it was. From the classical string introduction, I knew this was band that was different from the rest of the metal infused, hard rock, Christian artists - and they weren't as unnecessarily wild as the rest of them. The strings slowly faded into heavy rock guitar, which evolved into the frenzied guitar riff of the band's first rock single 'Madmen.' The whole song was excellent, with well crafted lyrics that spoke out against our culture's obsession with entertainment. The next song, 'Part One', came in with a screeching background guitar and poetic lyrics about a man in the 'Great Divorce' that C.S. Lewis vividly describes in his fictional book. All in all, the combination of first class rock music and excellent, C.S. Lewis inspired intelligent lyrics had me intrigued.
Not every song is on something super deep or super poetic. The song 'Summer's Song' is a quiet acoustic romance song, which I think is better than most, with its catchy chorus and evident call to purity before marriage, without leaving behind its hopelessly romantic lyrics. And then there is the song 'Praise and Adore (Some Live Without It)' which is one of the best songs on the CD, and one of the best worship songs I've heard in a while. The song beautifully proclaims 'So I praise and adore/You made the world beautiful/ And I can't stand and deny/ You created Life/ And some live without it.' The addition of the 'some live without it' makes the song really powerful, as it laments the fact that some people will go through this whole life without recognizing and knowing Jesus as Creator, Lord, and Savior. Very powerful. 'Sleeper' and 'How Have We Come So Far' are not quiet, but not quite that rocky, and both are excellent, earnest, songs.
But that covers the softer songs. 'Endless Day', about a man waiting for heaven is pretty hard, as is 'Twenty-Twenty'. I thought 'Time I Understood' was fantastic with its heavy palm muted intro riff, and energetic verses. 'Forgive and Forget' is one of the hardest songs, and it comes along with one of the album's catchiest choruses: 'How could I choose not to forgive/ With everything you choose to forget?/ And still we will be loved.'
Then there is hardest song (in my opinion), and also the most poetic: The Tale of the Dragon's Defeat. The epic song seems to start as a metaphor for Jesus coming to the world to save His bride, but then evolves into a direct line from Christ to Satan: 'I died so she could have more/ the Life that she now finds in me/ is the tale of the dragon's defeat.'
At the end of the album is short strings composition; their seems to be little classical music performances after the end of many of the songs also which is a nice touch - it adds sophistication and beauty to the bombastic songs with the roaring electric guitars.
Because of the originality of the band, their poetic lyrics, the good message, and their powerful sound, I give them the highest rating. But what is the moral of this review? Trust the cashier at your local Christian Bookstore.
....| Posted February 03, 2009
My mom got me this CD for my birthday and I no clue who this band was. I didn't listen to the CD for like 4 months after she gave it to me. I got bored one day and listened to it and I fell in love with it. Wavorly, by far, is now one of my favorite Christian bands.
im a fan!| Posted November 16, 2008
I love Wavorly!
They are so different and just good music to listen to. I saw them at a show which was great! and then i listened to this album and was 28979 times amazed they were even better on the album!
i would highly recommend it!
Wavorly| Posted October 31, 2008
First off:I think these guys are an awesome band!!! Second: I LOVEEEE this cd!!! My favorite song are Part One and Summer Song. I really like the fact that they have a unique sound and I think that they have a VERY bright future!!!!!
Wavorly Conquers| Posted October 30, 2008
Wavorly began in 2001, as a punk pop band called Freshman 15. Between then and now they have grown into mature sounding modern rock band, and they only have one album out!
Drawing from a long line of influences from Relient K to Classic music to Dream Theater, they have a very fresh sound. I first heard of Wavorly from the NRT podcast and I was hooked. Their debut sounds like it could be any other band's third or forth effort, proving that this is no ordinary group.
The first full song "Madmen" is a creative hard rock song with lots of great guitar riffs and catchy melodies. Everything is very well done, and even the bass work is worth mentioning. The lyrics speak of what little time we have and how we need to make our lives count. "No excuses, the time for change is here and now."
The next song "Part One" starts out with screaming rock guitars and tapers off into a verse filled with a palm muted electric guitar and plucked string instruments then builds back into a sing along chorus.
The song is about how light and dark can't coexist, you have to choose one or the other.
The third song of the album is "Stay With Me", a punk pop sounding song with pulsing drums and memorable melodies. It's not a standout but it's still a good song and doesn't take away from the album.
"Praise and Adore" is Praise and Worship song, which is unexpected considering the musical tone of the first three songs. What is even more unusual is that it's actually very good. I'm sure it didn't get the radio airtime it deserved, it's so much better then most of what the radio plays.
With "Endless Day" the album picks up the pace again. It has a distinctly prog rock feel, especially in the intro. It's also one of the stand outs on this record.
Conquering the Fear of Flight continues with yet another strong song, "Sleeper". The drums are especially good. It's about God calling us awake, the lyrics to the chorus are,
"Sleeper, no deeper
Lift your eyes
Awake from dreaming
Sleeper, arise and you will find life
The answer is in Me"
The strings throughout the song are very tastefully done.
"Summer Song" is a romantic song driven by the acoustic guitar. Light drums and strings join in at the second verse as Dave Stovall sings,
"Two years ago, I had no idea that you were so perfect
As we wait so long, until we join hands
You make the wait worth it"
"Time I Understood" is a punk pop influenced song about things working out for good even when you doubted they would. After the rock part is done a piano and string duet begins. It adds a nice little break and ties the mid-album back to the Intro. Like "Stay With Me" it's not one of the best tracks, but it's good nonetheless.
"Forgive and Forget", a song that is not easily forgotten. It is one of the heaviest and best songs in the record. The foot tapping and memorable chorus is the pinnacle of the song and the verses provide a solid foundation for it.
The high hat (cymbal) being played on the up beats makes you want jump up and start clapping to the beat. And it finishes off with kick drum pounding. Try not to hit your head on anything if you listen to "Forgive and Forget" while in a small and enclosed area.
The following song is "How Have We Come This Far". It begins with a mellow piano and soft orchestral strings, which it followed by acoustic guitar, bass, rolling cymbals and vocals being added to the mix. It builds to the climax, which is the chorus where the honest lyrics deal are of someone wondering how he got so far from God and realizing he needs to change.
The electric guitar driven song "Twenty Twenty" returns back the pace of the earlier songs. It is a mixture of all of Wavorly's influences, everything from punk to pop to classical to progressive to hard rock can be heard. While that may seem like an odd combo that would end in disaster it actually works quite well and makes "Twenty Twenty" another stand out.
The last track is "Tale of the Dragon's Defeat".
It's a hard rock song that sounds sort of like something Skillet would write, with guitars and strings working together to create the riffs.
The lyrics actually tell a story, and I would suggest reading along with them as you listen.
"The Defeat" is sort of like part two of the intro, and like the intro is less then two minutes long with strings and piano.
Overall I think this is extremely strong debut album that is highly creative and entertaining to listen to. The unique sound is a must hear for any modern rock fan. Though God is rarely mentioned by name the songs are written from a Christian point of view about issues that relate to Christian life. Any stickler for Christian lyrics should find nothing wrong with them.
I'm giving it 4 out of five stars, because a few songs feel like album fillers. But the vast majority of them don't, making this album worth every penny.
I'd recommend Wavorly's "Conquering the Fear of Flight" for anyone who likes Skillet, Kutless, Relient K, The Killers, Subseven and Decyfer Down
Wavorly: Conquering the Fear of Flight| Posted June 30, 2008
A Great new band! This first cd rocks. You can feel their tremendous amount of faith put into the cd. The songs show/talk about God's love like in "Forgive and Forget" they write-'how can I chose not to forgive? With everything you choose to forget and still we will be loved.'- It has the perfect blend of guitars, drums and bass mixed w/ a perfect blend of string arrangements that enhance every song. The vocals are great too! This band has not got as much coverage and airtime as they should, so please go and listen to this cd!
Conquering the Fear of Flight| Posted June 24, 2008
This CD is a great CD. One of the best songs on this CD is "The Tale of the Dragon's Defeat". It has a meaning that Jesus died for us so that we could live. He has written us a love letter. Now is the time to read it.
Love It| Posted April 01, 2008
This is one of my favorite CD's, I highly recommend it! My favorite song is The Tale of the Dragon's Defeat; but I do find it a little annoying that the instrumental intro to the song is on the previous track, clumsy when using your iPod. One of the things I like best about this song is the first couple of times you listen to it you think this is just a cool love song. But the more you listen to it you realize it is about how Jesus saves each of us from "the Dragon". This is also true of almost all of their songs, you listen to them until you realize, hey wait I think their saying more hear then what I first thought. My second favorite song on the album is probably A Summer's Song mostly because I'm a real sucker for love songs ;). The melody is enchanting on this song, I love the how the guitar and singer's voice blend so nicely. I love how they weave the classical music in with the light rock on most of the CD. Not only are the melody's great but the words actually have a great meaning (one of my favorite parts)! I also like the main singer's voice. I cannot wait for their next CD to come out, which I hear is in August. I could go on farther about how much I love this CD but then I would bore you so I shall stop.
P.S I also desperately wish they would come for a concert in Alaska!
A shaky start, but overall smooth.| Posted December 20, 2007
Wavorly, my friend introduced them to me. I dont really like my friend's music, but when i heard wavorly's songs. Dang i liked it. Not that hard rock, but its good enough. Love how they add 'sleeper' and 'praise and adore' great, beautiful songs. Its a little bit of everything. Not the best album, but pretty good to catch your attention and look for their sophmore album.
Wavorly has got me hooked..| Posted December 02, 2007
I was hooked once I heard
Dave Stovalls beautifully written instrumental
introduction.
They have beautifully written lyrics
throughout every song on this whole record.
I highly reccomend Wavorly to anyone
who loves Melodic melodies.. to Rock.
to add lyrics if not listed.
