My "Happy Surprise" Of The Year
Posted September 20, 2007
By KevinMcNeese_NRT, Staff Reviewer
This album may very well be my "happy surprise" of the year. After a less than impressive debut a few years back on Flicker Records, I almost passed on even giving this album a chance, but after Reunion Records (their new label) played a few songs for me and asked if they could take part in a NRTeam Album Preview, I was forced to listen to the entire album. To think that The Twenty-First Time could have gone buried in my stack of "music to get to too eventually" is a shame. It's one of the better albums of the year.
Fans of John Mayer, Bebo Norman and Shawn McDonald will instantly love the acoustic drive of this album. Those who love the story telling of Mark Schultz and Casting Crowns will love the lyrics of songs like "Beautiful You," "What Soldiers Do" and "Wonderful Angel." If your favorite music is typically driven by vertical worship like Chris Tomlin, David Crowder*Band and Sonicflood, you won't be able to put this album down. Personally, I think Monk & Neagle are now in great company.
One of my favorite things about this album is the clarity of the lyrics over very simplistic music. There are a lot of love songs to wives, families and Jesus on this album. On "Beautiful You" they sing "The only thing I ever wanna do / Beautiful You / Is have you hold me in your arms." It's a great song that would apply to any relationship, but in this example, they are singing to the one who "put the stars in the sky and then taught them to shine." My wife can't do that, but it's a great example that we should love Jesus first, and our family second. Most guys have trouble expressing "love" and "admiration" to a God that typically has a "male" image in our society. It's a nice change of pace that can't go unnoticed and it's duplicated over and over. Monk & Neagle don't just love Jesus, they adore Him.
Overall, listening to The Twenty-First Time encourages me to love God more as well as everyone around me, even those I've never met. It also encourages me to start from the start and listen all over again. And that's a sign of a great album. View All Music And Book Reviews By KevinMcNeese_NRT | View KevinMcNeese_NRT's Profile
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