Mid-February Music Review

The Time of My Life - Mark Schultz: Another touching piece of art from Mark, once again telling a tearjerker of a true story through the power of music. A rare gem that meshes human emotions with spiritual experience, depicting two sides of the Christian love. It seems that we've been educated in church to think that the love between a man and a woman takes a back seat to one's relationship with God. While it is true that God should be our foremost priority in life, we could perhaps consider the fact that love for Eve was the second bond Adam felt. It's a shame that we seem to think that God-centered relationships cannot be as romantic or earthshattering or expressive, that it must be subtle and hidden. Or is that just the conservative Chinese church?

We Might As Well Be Strangers - Keane: I was first introduced to the British group Keane by my friend Sandy in Cardiff. I first listened to "Can't Stop Now", an energetic rock tune that really exposed vocalist Tom Chaplin's poor breathing technique, resulting in heavy and noisy breaths; it's not a bad song, but I got tired of listening to him hyperventilating and sucking all the air out of my room. I like "We Might As Well Be Strangers" for its lyrics, and the softer, more melancholic style means Tom's breathing problems are not as obvious, though they are still present in the louder chorus portion.

Me & You - Brian McKnight: Brian returns to his Christian roots with this last song of his new album, Gemini, and it stands out from the rest of the songs, which mainly convey ideas of sex and lust. A tribute to The Passion of The Christ, "Me & You" is a nice variation from your usual Christian songs. Delivers the powerful message of the Gospel, that "He died for me & you", with another outstanding vocal performance, backed by an equally impressive group of harmonizers (or is that Brian too? You never know these days). Surely one for the Easter collection.

禱告良辰歌 - 陶喆: A softer, quieter, meditative piece performed by David this time around, after his 9/11-inspired "Dear God". I say "performed by" because he didn't write it; "Sweet Hour of Prayer" was written by William W. Walford and its tune composed by William Batchelder Bradbury in 1861, later to be translated into 禱告之時 (聖徒詩歌552首). Nevertheless, it is pleasing to see this song in David's latest album 太平盛世, a sign of a brother using his power of influence in a positive, Christian way. (P.S. David has his own blog on his official website.)