Southern-twinged pop/rock is not a new formula in CCM, and there's not very much about A'postrophe Records' Grand Prize that strikes as new; but there is no denying the catchy nature and replay value of their debut release Identity.
Grand Prize's musical spectra is reminiscent of Jeremy Camp and other southern rock, and Luke Caldwell's vocals somewhat resemble those of Camp, as well. However, Grand Prize has a power, especially noticeable on "King of Kings," that surpasses other brands of the genre.
Songs of worship to the Savior and encouragement to fellow believers are commonplace on Identity. The upbeat "It's Not Over" deals with the struggles we as Christians face to live our lives for God, while "You Are Wonderful" is an emotionally charged ballad of praise to God.
Grand Prize brings southern-twinged rock to a new level with Identity. Fans of the genre that have tired of the repetition will want to give Grand Prize one or two listens before dismissing them as just another name in the hat. Not perfect by any means, but definitely a force to be reckoned with.
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This is a great Point of View| Posted March 18, 2008
The first, and only release of Grand Prize (now Esterlyn), Identity is a CD debut CD where there is inexperienced, but good, rock music, rough lyrics, and great lyrics. If you like Jeremy Camps you will find a lot in common with this CD.
The vocals and music are similar to Jeremy Camp. Grand Prize opens with the pretty cool rock song: "it's not over". It does not take them long to establish their expertise in harder rock music with "break me" and "point of view". "So won't you come" is not a great rock song but is aided but the background vocals with intensify it some. "Shepherd" is a nice soft song which is nice and it has a charm to it that "I remember" doesn't have.
The chorus of "your love will never fade" is the best part of the song but it's repetitive. "You are wonderful" is a little pathetic because of it's shortness. "I'm waiting opens up with lead singer Luke Cadwell just talking along with a light beat and the song overall is cool. The rock songs " to see you" and "like I never did" are nice but nothing great. The bonus track is just Cadwell and his guitar which is pretty nice.
The lyrics are the soul of the album. "It's not over" has flat out great lyrics, and break me is taken so excellently out of Scripture it's not even funny it's so good. if it's "king of kings" or "shepherd of my soul" or "point of view" it's clear that in terms of lyrics Grand Prize is ahead of most debut bands. All the lyrics are solid and even those which are not that deep still have great truths ("your love will never fade").
For being the first album by these guys they sure did a lot of things right, having smart biblical songs which fitted in perfectly with the sweet music.
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