It has been nearly 3 years since the release of “” in 2007. On February 9th, TobyMac will release the much anticipated Tonight, the first single off of the album “City on our Knees”. This has topped the chart faster than any other single and has sold over 133,000 copies.

This album is nearly 47 minutes long and has 13 tracks.  It has a great assortment of sound including rock, reggae, hip-hop and pop.  All arranged to really portray the lyrics as intended.  TobyMac has a great talent for incorporating great song writing about how the Lord has worked in his life with fantastic musical arrangements that bring them from the speakers’ to life interpretation.  This album also has TobyMac teamed up with other Christian music leaders including: John Cooper of Skillet on the title track Tonight and Matt Thiessen of Reliant K on Wonderin’.  Tonight was produced by TobyMac and by his side was Portable Sounds producer Chris Stevens.

It was hard to determine what top tracks to breakdown, because all of the tracks bring a different feeling. In my opinion, you should definitely check these out: Tonight, City On Our Knees, Captured, Start Somewhere and Hold On.

Loud n Clear: This is Toby’s 10 year old son’s continuation of his role as TruDog, a neat song that shows that this little guy has Dad’s talents.

The album is complete. Sometimes a record can lose you somewhere in the message or decline in production.  This does not falter.  Be prepared to have a year packed of TobyMac rocking the airwaves of your mp3 device and christian radio.  The 2008 GMA Dove Award’s Artist of the Year holds his own, and elevates what he established by Portable Sounds.

8/10

review by Ben Dempsey of RockTheCross.net

Jeff Schneeweis, of Number One Gun, wowed us in early 2008 with his release of The North Pole Project, the first solo Number One Gun album. Now, in 2010 he has returned with a new collection, titled To The Secrets And Knowledge. At 10 tracks long, this album is a refinement of the sound that was created on North Pole and has been referred to as “like Owl City, but with more guitars, and a little harder”. From the opener The Victory, to the closing song, a cover of the Journey hit, Don’t Stop Believing, To The Secrets is a collection of hits, one after another.

In writing and recording this album, Schneeweis says that “I did this record for me. I wanted to push myself musically and on the production side of things. Because I feel like I accomplished what I set out to do with this album, I’m open to seeing what the listeners will walk away with. I hope it inspires something within themselves.” After listening to this album repeatedly, I can honestly say that it does. Each song a little nuggets that you can take and put to use in your daily life. Starting with The Victory, the phrases that stick out to me are:

“All I want is to resemble, all of you.”

and the chorus:

“All I need to get by

Is the death of me and the can not’s

Anything through you

I can do what I want to”

What powerfully simple statements in just the first track. Through both To The Secrets and North Pole, Jeff has shown his ability to craft lyrics that can truly speak to you, and The Victory is one of those songs.

In Big Machines, the song seems to point towards a relationship that has failed and the main character is listing all of the reasons that he is leaving. Its driving beat and excellent use of electronics make this another of the must listen tracks on the album. The first single from the album, Forest, was actually written with his two-year-old daughter in mind and what she will encounter when she starts school. This is most evident in the chorus:

“I’ve said a lot of things

I’ve done it all but not this

I’ve gotta figure out

why the world is so big

I’ve gone way way out way out of bounds

Ill do anything tell me how”

As you progress through the album, the songs tend to be a little slower and more thoughtful, all building back up to the close of the album, which includes the tracks Try It and the cover of Don’t Stop Believing. I was extra cautious as I listened to this cover, because mostly, the cover never lives up to the original song. In this case, it does. He doesn’t try to reinvent the song, but instead stays true to most of its original elements and presents a version of this song that I think any Journey fan would be proud to listen to.

The great care that went into producing this album is evident. Its even more impressive to find out that not only did Jeff self-produce this album in between working on projects with bands such as Secret and Whisper, Hawthorne Heights, Esterlyn, and Brighten. He also recorded each song from top to bottom before moving on to the next track, including all of the vocals and instruments. If you didn’t know that he was a talented musician before now, the should be no question now. In this early months of 2010, this album is poised to make a huge splash and the ripples will be felt for the rest of the year

8.5/10

review by Wes Brawner of RockTheCross.net