The Road Acoustic is, as its name suggests, an acoustic album. As such, it’s a nice change from the slick production sounds of worship giants such as Hillsong and so fourth. The simple struts of the guitar create an “at home” atmosphere, and listeners will feel as if they were sitting in a circle around a singer and his guitar.

Timing in at about 40 minutes, The Road Acoustic is easily that which can be enjoyed on a car ride, or plane flight. While nothing entirely original, Jadon’s take on worship is a breath of fresh air in an increasing gigantuan industry of those who care for nothing more then fame and profit, and for this alone he should be commemorated.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Street Date: October 20th, 2009
Label: BEC Recordings

Track Listing:
1.) Here Our Song
2.) Move On Faith
3.) Come Thou Fount
4.) Father
5.) Come To Me
6.) Come To Me End
7.) On The Outside
8.) What If
9.) Wondrous Love
10.) Mighty God
11.) Surrender

Those unfamiliar with Joy Electric territory should know that Martin explicitly sticks to the basics of analog electronica when composing songs. As such, the album is a far cry from the likes of Bass Hunter or the Medic Droid. And although at times this works to make the music a little dull, some would prefer to call it minimalist, and this formula works rather well for the big name cover songs.

His take on Viva la Vida is unorthodox while sticking to the original song structure, while his rendition of The Killer’s 2006 hit “When We Were Young” is a fun analog synth take on the song.

Although the ears of many have been tuned to only the most glossed and produced songs, Joy Electric’s take is accessible if only some would give it a chance. As such, Favorites At Play is easily a must check out for any synth-pop fan / electronica fan, or music enthusiast in general.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Street Date: November 3rd
Label: Tooth and Nail Records

Track Listing:
1.) 1,2,3,4
2.) Viva la Vida
3.) I Miss You
4.) Falling Slowly
5.) When You Were Young
6.) Somewhere Only We Know
7.) It Ends Tonight
8.) Decode
9.) Say It Right

Unfortunately, success is not likely to be found. The EP begins with a rather blandish opener, and the tracks which follow don’t work to do much better. The composition feels a bit more complex than the standard scene club track, however the uninspiring vocals and lack of memorable hooks, makes each listen feel a drag.

As such, there is little hope for Queen’s Club. The vocals despite explicitly not auto-tuned desperately need it, to ironically enough, create something interesting. The EP reminds of a toned down Jonezetta debut album. Since this is their debut, there’s a rather negative first impression, and time is needed to see if something worthwhile will come fourth.

Rating: .5 out of 5
Street Date: n/a
Label: Tooth and Nail Records

Track Listing:
1.) Nightmarer
2.) Dust
3.) Family Ties
4.) Greinke
5.) Uh Huh
6.) Nightmarer – Justus Remix

Breaking The Silence is a mix match of Linkin Park, Red, and Evanescence alternative guitar riffs, with Flyleaf and Fireflight vocal similarities being all too obvious. Despite slick production moving Ms. Anthony’s voice to the front of the songs, it’s hard to find any of them memorable. “Moving On” is a song which has been written hundreds of times by too many other bands, while “All Of Me” feels cliché with its hard-rocking chick goth vibe.

(Is it so much to ask for a female fronted band doing something around the likes of Muse, MuteMath, or any other innovative artist?) Breaking The Silence is not a complete failure though, “Best Of Me” and “Hanging On A Thread” are at least memorable, especially with their slick production. The Letter Black will really have to impress though following a mediocre EP.

Rating: 2 out of 5
Street Date: September 22nd, 2009
Label: Tooth and Nail Records

Track Listing
1.) Moving On
2.) Hanging On By A Thread
3.) Best Of Me
4.) Collapse
5.) All Of Me
6.) Perfect

Live Life Loud feels a bit of a time machine. The opening title track faintly reminds of their hit single “California,” while “Eggshells” feels a mixture of Letters and Smile. Constructed via multiple jam sessions, songs feel a bit more rock and roll, as opposed to the more produced approach of Hawk Nelson Is My Friend. Things change up on the reggae-esque “Ode To Lord Stanley” which although has been suggested to be light hearted, feels metaphorical on some fronts and serious, and “Alive” is easily a highlight.

The main downfall of Live Life Loud is it isn’t particularly memorable. While a few of the tracks are highlights, it falls short of previous material where nearly every song stood out. Despite attempting to energize songs like “The Job” feel uninspiring, while “Tis So Sweet” borders on boring. Still Hawk Nelson is easily a favorite Christian pop-punk act, and more than likely has years ahead of them.

Rating: 2 out of 5
Street Date: September 22nd, 2009
Label: BEC Records

Track Listing:
1.) Live Life Loud
2.) Never Enough
3.) Eggshells
4.) Meaning Of Life
5.) Alive
6.) Ode To Lord Stanley
7.) Long Ago
8.) The Job
9.) Shaken
10.) Lest We Forget
11.) Tis So Sweet
12.) The Final Toast

And Welcome to the Masquerade delivers. From the anticipation building intro, and rather pummeling title track, to the rousing “Fire It Up” many fans will wish this record was released following their Tooth and Nail debut. Nearly every song feels reminiscent of the strong points in their previous works. The title track reminds of Phenomenon’s, while “Fire It Up” feels a blend of previous anthemic tracks with a “Move” styled vocal delivery and a “Bounce” lyrical mentality. The heavy delight “E For Extinction” brings back the nostalgic “Quicken,” and “The Part That Hurts The Most” carries a “Faith Love and Happiness” vibe and is among the strongest songs they’ve written.

Despite a genre filled with cookie cutter acts which incorporate what many would accuse cliché lyrics, McNevan’s voice sounds authentic when delivering what he’s penned: “It’s not a joke, I feel as messed up as you do, I’ve felt the feelings you’ve been feeling, been through the same things you’ve been through.” To the dismay of some, there is a new “Rawkfist” however this one isn’t as cheesy sounding, and while the thirteen song collection has a more Phenomenon tone then the previous two albums, it is not a clone copy. Just as Meteora expanded on Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory, the album takes bits and pieces of earlier work and evolves them.

As such, Welcome To The Masquerade is everything a Thousand Foot Krutch record should be, and could contest as the best rock record of 2009. As John DiBiase of Jesusfreakhideout noted, Welcome To The Masquerade combines nearly all the bands strong points. TFK couldn’t sound stronger. However, McNevan put it the best when he said “Thousand Foot Krutch has kinda been my baby my whole life,” its evident Welcome To The Masquerade has tons of time invested in it.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Street Date: September 8th, 2009
Label: Tooth and Nail

Track Listing:
1.) The Invitation
2.) Welcome To The Masquerade
3.) Fire It Up
4.) Bring Me To Life
5.) E For Extinction
6.) Watching Over me
7.) The Part That Hurts The Most (Is Me)
8.) Scream
9.) Look Away
10.) Forward Motion
11.) Outta Control
12.) Smack Down
13.) Already Home

relapse – eminem
in shallow seas we sail – emery
awake – skillet
wars and rumors of war – the chariot
approaching normal – blue october
constellations – august burns red
felony – emmure
with roots above and branches below – the devil wears prada
the fray – the fray
it hates you – he is legend
ruination – job for a cowboy
it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright – mewithoutyou
armistice – mutemath

While the band garnered quite the fanbase with previous albums, Comatose worked to catch the ears of many new listeners with its mainstream sensibilities. Spawning multiple headlining tours, a re-released deluxe edition, and a DVD of their live performance, Comatose was extremely successful.

Awake looks to pick up where the band left off, however feels a little premature. Only two years have passed since the incredibly successful album, and a project looking to fill such shoes would seemingly require a fair amount of time. Regardless Awake is here, and ready for the store shelves.

Perhaps nothing characterizes Awake more than the words straight from John Cooper’s mouth, “[Awake] is even more immediate than Comatose.” In a musical sense, the album takes their new sound to the next level. While Comatose had power ballads, Awake has several. While Comatose inched on radio friendly territory (think Shinedown), Awake runs into at blazing speed. While Comatose could have been perceived as geared toward at a new audience, Awake undoubtedly is.

And this isn’t inherently bad. Teaming up with famed producer Howard Benson, Skillet has never sounded so… “large.” Songs are loud, catchy, memorable, and fun. “Hero” is a hook heavy anthem, “Monster” would feel at home on rock radio, and “One Day Too Late” is easily top-40 material. Gone however are the days of the band’s signature gritty heaviness, metaphorical lyrics, and perhaps more original songwriting.

It does feel slightly odd to hear Cooper singing some of the lyrics. The married thirty-six year old sings of broken dating relationships in “Should’ve When You Could’ve” and teen driven angst in “It’s Not Me It’s You” shouting in the chorus “It’s not me it you! It’s not me its you! It’s not me its you! All the lies and stupid things you say and do. It’s you!” However, the album is not without its highlights. “Awake and Alive” takes the brilliance of Comatose’s title track and almost reinvents it perfectly, “Don’t Wake Me” is one of their best ballads, “Lucy” will undoubtedly pull at the heart strings bound to have listeners thinking about life in a way much music doesn’t.

The album feels specifically branded for a younger audience, but at times this tends to make the album fun. Some are the songs are just great to rock out too. Awake stands on its own, but does fall in comparison to their previous material. Unfortunately many longtime pinheads may be disappointed, but Awake will undoubtedly pull new ones in.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Street Date: August 25th
Label: Atlantic Records

Track Listing:

1.) Hero
2.) Monster
3.) Don’t Wake Me
4.) Awake And Alive
5.) One Day Too late
6.) It’s Not Me It’s You
7.) Should’ve When You Could’ve
8.) Believe
9.) Forgiven
10.) Sometimes
11.) Never Surrender
12.) Lucy

Camaren: First things first, thanks for taking the time to sit down and talk with us. Now you’re promoting your latest release “Storm the Gates of Hell”, about a third of the way through the tour, on the road with Living Sacrifice, Oh Sleeper, Advent, and the Famine, how’s it been so far?

Ryan: Awesome. Yep. You know, a lot of these guys we’ve known before, the Living Sac guys, we go way back with them. The Famine guys as well, and we’ve known the Advent guys for a while now. Oh Sleeper’s kinda a newer band on the label, so we’re getting to know those guys. So ya know, all the guys are great, and it’s just been a lot of fun.

Camaren: I know you’ve worked with a large handful of bands as far as recording goes. There was a question on the Tooth and Nail podcast regarding which Tooth and Nail artist, had worked with, or been featured with the most other bands, and I thought to myself, it had to have been you. As, you’ve worked with numerous bands, from Kutless, Anberlin, Thousand Foot Krutch, Falling Up, Becoming the Archetype, Advent, among others. So my question is, how have the guest vocal experiences been, any memorable moments in the studio?

Ryan: Yea, you know they’re usually pretty short and sweet. A lot of the times I just go in there…. the producer who does a lot of their records, does our record, so you know if he needs a screaming voice, he’ll talk to our band about it, or he’ll just request me. Sometimes the band’s there, sometimes there not even there.

Camaren: Yea, you know, I had heard Falling Up didn’t even see you, when you recorded with them.

Ryan: Yea. It was after their record was already done, they actually had that part, kinda loped off for someone else, and they had trouble writing to it, as it’s an off time part, off time signature or whatever, so Aaron, said “we should have Ryan give it a shot.” So that’s where I came in.

Camaren: On Summer of Darkness, the vocals were kinda growled, produced, very in your face and intense. Switch over to the Triptych, things sound a little bit more muffled, a further away type shout. How did you determine what you wanted “Storm the Gates of Hell to sound like?

Ryan: We just tried different things, as far as with mics, and the way we did vocals. The first two records, I used a mic on a stand with a screen, and I stood up and did it. Screaming for me like that is a little bit odd, as when I’m doing it live I tend to cup the microphone which muffles it a little bit. It’s a little easier for me to do certain things, to hold out certain notes, when I’m able to hold the microphone. So with the Triptych, what we decided to do was have a handheld microphone, like a real standard mic that I would use live. I was able to have the mic, and cup it with headphones on, that’s kinda why it has a gritty feel. And with the newest record, I sat down with a nicer microphone, which was still handheld, but I was able to sit down, crouch, and do whatever I needed to do, to hold certain notes. It was somewhere between having that real clean scream filtered mic and the handheld.

Camaren: Got ya. So changing gears a little bit, I know you’re full time job is graphic design with Invisible Creature. How’s it been balancing things out, with the summer tour, and graphic design projects?

Ryan: Well, it’s a lot of prep work in order to “get out.” So what that means is I had to be real ahead of schedule on everything I was working on. I had to say “no” to a lot of projects. I have a really great designer, back at work that’s kinda picked up a lot of slack for me. I just did everything I could to get ahead of schedule, and so when I get back it’s gonna be a lot of catch up. Also ya know, outside of just preparing to leave that, we’re preparing to take this whole thing on. So it’s definitely a lot of work. Practicing late nights, practicing early mornings before work.

Camaren: Yea, I read an interview where you were saying you practice the lines, as you may forget them. There’s got to be a lot to memorize.

Ryan: Yea, some of the songs are word heavy to begin with. There are some songs we don’t play live, until you know a year later, maybe two years later. So I’ll end up listening to the record in my car, or in my spare time, or whenever I can get a chance.

Camaren: Working in the music industry has got to have you flooded with new artists and music all the time, I know just from being a writer who covers the indie and Christian scene, that’s there’s so much out there. How often do you find yourself listening to new stuff and if you had a 160gig iPod how much of it would be filled?

Ryan: Well I have an 80gig iPod, but I only fill that up sporadically when I go out of town. I think I have about 150 gigs on my computer.

Camaren: Wow. Not Bad.

Ryan: Yea. I have about 5000 cd’s at home. I mean I get tons and tons of new music. Some of its free, some of it I’ll download, see if I like it, listen to it on Myspace, so I’m constantly listening to new music.

Camaren: Any current favorite artist?

Ryan: Uhh… well recently…

Camaren: Anything you listen to on the bus?

Ryan: We don’t listen to a ton of music on the bus, we watch TV, or talk and hang out. The music system in there, for some reason it just doesn’t work very well to listen to music and hang with people.

Camaren: You’re probably “music-ed” out anyway

Ryan: Yea I listen to music all day every day.

Camaren: Any creepy fan experiences, people who call you up, people who see you on the street? Anything weird?

Ryan: Oh yea, everyplace we go. There are always weird fans. We love everyone, but there are a lot of fans, who I think don’t understand the “tact issue.” There’s people who will talk my ear off, when theres a lot of other people to talk to. There are people who like to ask questions that are kinda pointed, to try and get me to, ya know…

Camaren: Slander something?

Ryan: Yea, say something that they want to hear, but that isn’t really there, or doesn’t exist. There are fans who want to take a picture with every member individually, and then every member together, and then two members at a time, and them with their girlfriend and the band, and then them with their kid with the band, and then those three with each individual member. And you know, that’s fine but…

Camaren: But you can’t sit there all day, and take pictures with every single person, in every single way.

Ryan: Yea, there are some boundaries and rules, or stuff like that, that a lot of fans don’t understand, and it’s fine, we don’t get mad at them, or anything like that. But, sometimes we do want to write out a little rule book… “You come up to a guy; he’s trying to get his suitcase out of the bus… probably not the best time to ask for photos.”

Camaren: Yea. Let him be. A few more questions. I know Tooth and Nail is one of your clients with Invisible Creature, do you guys do any A&R work with Tooth and Nail, I know you guys helped Becoming the Archetype.

Ryan: Becoming the Archetype, was the first one that I kinda “headed up” as far as the A&R stuff. I’m real busy with design stuff, so it’s hard to find time to do the A&R side of things. With that comes, ya know… I’m talking to producers and mixers, talking budgets, which isn’t really part of my job, but I’m kinda taking it on as a project. So yeah, I did that with Becoming the Archetype, and then we started talking again to Soul Embraced, and so I’m doing Soul Embraced A&R right now. And then we have a new band, that myself and Jimmy Ryan are kinda co-A&Ring that we’ll be announcing in a few months.

Camaren: One last question. Some are critical of the band’s initial dark appearance. And you’ve always provided a through explanation of all the songs, normally posting them online. So my question is: What is the lyric process like?

Ryan: Yea, I write a lot of the music. A good chunk of the music, my brother and I write together, all the melodies and that sort of stuff. Theres some stuff that I write on my own, at home, just sittin with my acoustic guitar. Most of the ballads are written that way. And then my brother and I will get together before going into the studio, and we write the rest of the stuff. And it flows really easily and really well. We end up writing songs really quickly, but it works for us. We don’t write throughout the year or anything like that. We kinda cram. Sometimes I stumble writing lyrics, and I can’t really get what I’m looking for, and sometimes it just comes like that [snaps]. I write a lot when I’m traveling, or when I’m on a road trips.

Camaren: Well thanks for taking the time, I appreciate it, and I’ll probably be seeing you at Cornerstone.

Ryan: No problem. I’ll cya then!