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CD Reviews CD (Single) / Long Black Train (Josh Turner) CD (Full Length) / Music Through Heartsongs (Billy Gilman) CD (Full Length) / Long Black Train (Josh Turner) *New* CD (Full Length) / Josh Gracin (Josh Gracin) Josh Turner "Long Black Train" Type: CD Single Rating: ***** Posted: 08/29/03 Track Listing: 1. Long Black Train 2. Backwoods Boy Song Highlights: Long Black Train - Oh my gosh, I just love this song! It sounds just like an old timey Country song... like something that could have been on the "O' Brother Where Art Thou" soundtrack. This is the first song I've heard of Josh's & he has such a great richness (beyond his years) to his voice. I could just listen to this song all day. Not to mention it has an awesome message! Summary: I cannot wait for his full album coming out in October! -------------------- Billy Gilman "Music Through Heartsongs" Songs based on the poems of Mattie J.T. Stepanek Type: CD (Full Length) Rating: **** Posted: 08/29/03 Tracklisting: 1. For Our World 2. About Things That Matter 3. Morning Gift 4. I Am/ Shades Of Life 5. It Happened Anyway 6. Possession 7. Songs Of The Wind 8. Making Real Sense Of The Senses 9. The Gift Of Color 10. I Could... If They Would 11. About Memories 12. About Watches Song Highlights: For Our World - "We need to stop, just stop... stop for a moment. Before anybody says, or does anything, that may hurt anyone else." A great song about understanding, compassion, & peace. I Am/ Shades Of Life - I think this is just a really uplifting song... It's really hard to explain this song... but it's really awesome. It sort of just sums up the whole world. It Happened Anyway - This is a really sad touching song. Lol.. the one thing that always gets me about this song though is it starts out "When Jamie died, I didn't understand". Lol... the boy who wrote this, his brother's name was Jamie... but my name is Jamie & I always just wanna cry out right away.. "Wait I'm not dead, I'm still here!" Lol. But like I said... this is a really sad song about a brother wishing he could have done something to save his brother from death. Possession - I think this is my favorite song on the album. It's a boy talking about how he fears his disease. The Gift Of Color - I'm writing this one down here because it is so completely different from all of the other songs. Most of the other songs are easygoing & soft & light... & this one is like pop. It's definitely an interesting song. I Could If They Would - My 2nd favorite song on the album. It really makes me think about all of the times I've complained about things & how stupid I am to do that. Most of us have it really good & we should count ourselves lucky. Think of all the things we've been able to do in our lives that some people have never gotten to experience. Little things like running around & playing... going bike riding... getting married.... getting to the age we are now. Each & every thing we get to do in our lives is a blessing, no matter how small it may seem to us.. it's something special to somebody else & we should be thankful for it. Summary: Ok, the first time I popped this CD into my CD player I thought... whoa, this is a little weird. You see, all of the songs on here are really poems (made into songs) by a young man called Mattie Stepanek. So they don't always flow just so... & some of the subjects are a little different than you usually hear. But it really grows on you & it's a really great CD. It's amazing how well Mattie can put his feelings down "on paper". I wish I could write like that! And Billy Gilman is just awesome on this CD. This is the first CD he's put out with his new maturing voice (It was quite a shock, about the first 15 times I listened to the CD... lol, to not hear his sweet little high voice coming out of the speakers... and instead hear a lower.. but still well controlled voice). I've been listening to Billy since he first came out when he was 11 years old & I always wondered how he would sound after his voice changed... I think it's safe to now say that even after his voice finishes changing, he's still going to have great control & a nice sound to it. I look forward to his next album. -------------------- Josh Turner "Long Black Train" Type: CD (Full Length) Rating: ***** Posted: 01/05/04 Tracklisting: 1. Long Black Train 2. In My Dreams 3. What It Ain't 4. I Had One One Time 5. Jacksonville 6. Backwoods Boy 7. Unburn All Our Bridges 8. You Don't Mess Around With Jim 9. She'll Go On You 10. Good Woman Bad 11. The Difference Between A Woman And A Man Song Highlights: Long Black Train - I've already talked about this song on his Single review... but I can't leave it off of here since it is my favorite song. It's a great song about how you need to avoid temptation even though it may look appealing... it's really just getting you nowhere. In My Dreams - This has got to be the sweetest love song every written! It's sounds so tender & sweet. The catch-line is just so awesome, "In my dreams, your dreams come true." Does it get any better than that? I think not! I Had One One Time - A really sweet song talking from a homeless man's perspective about how you may not know it from looking at him, but he used to have all the things this guy (passing him by in a car) has. It's really sad. Makes me thankful of what I have. Jacksonville - Aside from "Long Black Train", this is my favorite song on this album! It probably helps that I'm from Florida (although very far from Jacksonville... but heck, it's still FL!). It just flows so nicely. It's about how this guy doesn't usually hang around in one place for too long... & he didn't plan on hanging out in FL but he is because he met this girl. Backwoods Boy - Josh claims that this song is like his 3-minute biography. It talks about all the things he likes to do, like hunting & just being outdoors. She'll Go On You - Another sweet song talking about how your kid goes on ya (grows up). Summary: This is the best debut CD from an artist that I've heard in a looooong time. Josh has a really great rich deep voice. It makes him sound like he's a lot older than he is (26). The songs are really great too. He wrote some of them (including the song "Long Black Train"). -------------------- Josh Gracin "Josh Gracin" Type: CD (Full Length) Rating: *** Posted: 08/16/04 Tracklisting: 1. I Want To Live 2. Wheels 3. Nothin' To Lose 4. Brass Bed 5. Peace Of Mind 6. Endless Helpless Hoping 7. No One To Share The Blame 8. I Would Look Good With You 9. Turn It Up 10. The Long One 11. The Other Little Soldier Song Highlights: I Want To Live - This is his first single off of this CD & it's definitely my favorite. I especially love the chorus. It's a really fun song to sing along with. Endless Helpless Hoping - A song about a guy who likes a girl who is his friend & he can't tell her he loves her because she loves somebody else. Lol, for such a sad song it's got a really catchy beat. But even though it's a fast song, you can still hear the sadness. I Would Look Good With You - In this song, this guy is trying to convince this girl that they would be good together. I really like the music in this song. The Long One - This song really sounds like it should be a single to me. It's about a guy who's girl just left him & he's gonna have to face the long lonely nights, just praying for the morning. The Other Little Soldier - This is probably my favorite slow song on the CD. I really like songs that mean something & this one touches your heart. Summary: I watched Josh on American Idol 2 & I knew he had talent. I'm glad that somebody gave him a record deal. When I think about how many stars I am going to give a CD, I think about how many of the songs I like to listen to over & over again & how many I keep skipping over. This CD has a few that I usually skip over so that kept me from giving it more stars... but it's still a really good CD, especially for a first effort. It would be a good CD to get & keep in your car. Most of the songs are fun & catchy ones that you can sing along with. |
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