I loved Exodus when it was first released. I thought it was a great album, then I started getting more objective with it and parts of it simply didn’t work for me. I’ve been listening to Life now for about 5 days straight. I don’t have that feeling at all with this album. The first two tracks don’t really do much for me, but the rest of the CD is a sonic gold mine.

The Vitals:

Label: Sparrow
Genre: Breaks, Trance, House, Electroclash
Number of Tracks: 6
How you can obtain a copy: Most Christian bookstores, retail outlets and itunes Starting May 24, 2005 and for only $9.99.

Factor Scores:

• Production Quality: 7.6
• Programming and Arrangement: 8.1
• Entertainment Quality: 8.7
• Total: 8.1 – Great

Summary:

Andy Hunter is back with his sophomoric release from Sparrow Records. This follow-up EP/album however will not be released in partnership with Nettwerk America as Exodus was. As with Exodus, Life has a theme. Its inspiration comes from a picture God gave him of a wasteland where everything was dead and a man, Jesus, stood on the horizon. The closer he got to Jesus, the more life came to the wasteland. That picture is the focus lyrically of each song on this release.

Factor Scores:

Production Quality: 7.6

The production on this CD is light-years ahead of the previous one. In fact, I still may be rating it a bit too low. Mixing and mastering on Exodus, in my opinion and the opinions of several other producers and DJ’s I’ve talked with, just seemed way too heavy handed. Much of the CD sounded overly compressed. While this gave everything a nice loud sound, it lacked some of the dynamic ranges and simply sounded … loud. Life however, for the most part seems to have been done right. The mixing and mastering left most of the CD with a light and airy feel to it that helped to accent some of the more melodic parts rather than force them into submission with the heavier parts. The only the first two tracks seemed rather heavy-handed, but they were both still had better production than most of what was on Exodus.

Programming & Arrangement: 8.1

Life is a different animal than Exodus in regards to production. The goal from the start seems to have been to write pop music that is very accessible to the dance floor. To this effect, just about every track on the CD could be a radio single. Beyond that, as is, all of the tracks could be played out by a wide range of DJs and remixes of this project will help further the dance floor acceptance.

Stylistically, Andy Hunter seems to borrow or follow the success of other club/radio crossover producers such as Moby, Hybrid, BT, Oakenfold and the Crystal Method. In some cases direct comparisons can be made between several of the tracks. Alive for example is structured and produced similar to Hybrid’s If I Survive while Wonderful is very similar to the rock/pop stylings from Moby’s new album Hotel. This doesn’t make Andy Hunter’s Life original and groundbreaking, but it does make the album on par with current writing standards and keeps the album accessible to those who may not be hardcore clubbers, but still love electronic music.

Entertainment Quality: 8.7

Remember the two tracks I mentioned earlier as having the worst production on the album? Those are the two that will entertain the general masses the most and get licensed to movie soundtracks. Personally, I do not feel that they are the strongest structurally or sonically, but they are exactly what the weekend non-trainspotting clubbers will go for. Tracks like Alive, Life Light, and To Life To Love are by far better tracks and very entertaining, especially To Life To Love, but they are written to a more mature club crowd.

Total: 8.1 – Great

This is a great collection of song. Lyrically these are very raw, open and seeking songs. Musically, the CD is sonically mature and shows great growth on the part of Andy Hunter and his producer Tedd T. If this is a sign of things to come, the third album will only get better.

Dave’s Take:

I loved Exodus when it was first released. I thought it was a great album, then I started getting more objective with it and parts of it simply didn’t work for me. I’ve been listening to Life now for about 5 days straight. I don’t have that feeling at all with this album. The first two tracks don’t really do much for me, but the rest of the CD is a sonic gold mine.

Beyond that, this is probably the most important dance release in the Christians scene in years. The song writing is amazing, the production is over all right where we all need to be, and it is a CD that everyone should be able to find something they enjoy listening to. I am disappointed that Nettwerk America is not apart of this release, but that is a small complaint in the grand scheme of things.