Customer Reviews

02: Avalon Remixed

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love dance music. In fairness, I love all kinds of music. But I have often shaken my head at how Christian music has often come up with a poor alternative to secular. Surely we should be doing better than that. When dance music first hit the secular scene, it blew most people away. There's been little to rival it in Christian circles. BUT Avalon have stepped up to bat and what a beauty this remix album is!
I fully expected the usual lame, half baked effort that most Christians come up with. But this shines. Getting DJ Tiesto was a moment of inspiration. Can't live a day is my favourite track.But Wonder why is awesome too for the amazing jangly bits in the background, sounds like you're on a submarine. I was very impressed and don't feel embarrassed to have this on in my car when non-christian friends are in it.
The only other Christian dance Cd I will have in my stereo is Andy Hunter. Buy this and be amazed. Christian dance music may get there yet!!!

The first time I ever heard an Avalon song was in church, a PowerPoint presentation of "Testify To Love." It was awesome--the music was fabulous, and the pictures shown with the song fit perfectly. That experience made me want to get the album that had "Testify To Love" on it (A Maze Of Grace).

I figured it would be the only song on the album I'd like...and it was, but I realized that I would like some of the other songs better if they were remixed. Then, what do you know, sometime later, Avalon DID come out with a remix album! So I had to get that!

I was most anxious to see how the amazingly powerful "Testify To Love" could be made even better by a great remix. Unfortunately, the remixers (Tedd T. & Andy Hunter) decided to give it a lowkey, late night chill-style remix rather than take advantage of its elated sunny sound.

First impressions are lasting impressions, so for awhile I didn't like this album all that much, and in my Amazon review of Zoegirl's remix album, I stated that it was far better than either Avalon's or Rachael Lampa's. But now after repeated listenings, I now say that it is not far better. Actually, the three albums are quite different. Zoegirl's remix album is very creative, with a wide variety of styles, a very interesting album. Rachael Lampa's is more r&b/radio dance music style remixes. And Avalon's album is more nightclub-style remixes. I still think Zoegirl's remix album is best, but Avalon's is close.

One thing I like better about Avalon's album is that it has THREE Eurobeat remixes compared to just one on Zoegirl's album. My favorite is "The Best Thing (Euro Stack Mix)"--it has beautiful electronics and a powerful beat! A close second favorite is "Can't Live A Day Without You (DJ Tiesto Remix)." I first learned about DJ Tiesto in an article about Andy Hunter; it was describing Andy Hunter's music as being comparable to DJ Tiesto's. Since I like Andy Hunter, I sought out a DJ Tiesto album, and indeed I do like it very much! This Avalon song is remixed with signature DJ Tiesto sound--rich, lush electronics and a driving beat.

While musically "The Best Thing" is my favorite on the album, with music and words combined, "Can't Live A Day" is my favorite song on the album, because of the worshipful lyrics, which, accompanied by such beautiful music, make for a wonderful worship experience.

My third favorite song on the CD is "Undeniably You (Jeff Savage Mix)"--it has the strongest beat of any song on the album, a relentless beat with good electronic keyboard touches added to the singing.

Two other songs I particularly like are "Make It Last Forever" which has a heavy fuzz, slow funky bass line to it, and "Speed Of Light," which has a sparkling, floating sound. Most of the rest of the songs are over lowkey beats, almost chill-style, and don't appeal to me as much but they are all good remixes.

So the three Eurobeat songs I first liked on the album continue to be the ones I listen to most, but now I enjoy the whole album. These are quality remixes.

First of all, I would like to say that besides the Point of Grace "remix and raritites" CD (which I found quite lame) Avalon is the first Chritsian group to put out a REAL remix CD !!

I was personally surprised. I love dance music, but I wasn't expecting this. They get down with a little bit of Hil-hop with the help of Out of Eden and Lenny on "Make ot last forever" (by the way, when is "out of eden" gunna do a remix aIlbum?)and then they go in for the kill with a very club oriented mix of "The Best thing."

Both mixes of "Wonder Why" are good and look at the song from a different perspective. But the first one I didn't like, because they cut out a huge chunk of the chorus and the song never seems to climax.

Now I muxt say, that I have always thought that the lyrics for "My oxigen" are really stupid("the moon is at my feet"? Oh and you breath oxygen in, and breath CARBON DIOXCIDE out) , but the remix makes you forget the words and wanna get up and move. But The moving lyrics of "Testify to Love" are not lost and the beat is not overriding of the words in the least, but it will not satisfy fans of hard core dance music.

Since this CD came out, Rachael Lampa, Zoegirl, Tobymac, and Newsboys have all released Remix CD's with mixed results. But Avalon, has hit the nail on the head and remains one of the top, and it will remain so even if others release remix albums.

Which make me wonder. wa whose next ? Nicole C. Mullen ? Plus One ? No matter who goes next, I think Avalon has set a pretty high standard and I think any fan will appreciate this.

This album is a definite departure for Avalon. It's very interesting, and takes awhile to get used to. The album is definitely dance-focused as most songs are changed so they sound like songs you'd dance to at a night club (a Christian one of course! :)

There are a few songs that don't seem to work as well -- many songs go on for a long time and a lot of the original singing is actually cut out, making it mostly just the music that drives the tunes. However, this is typical for your dance music anyway.

Avalon took a risk with this CD. In my mind it was worth it, but this CD is destined to alienate many long-time fans. Rock band Petra tried something like this with Double Take -- except they went to acoustic rock, and the album didn't really sell well. This album may not sell great either, but it did the opposite of what Double Take did -- this album "juiced up" the songs and gave them vibrant, danceable life.

Very interesting idea, although I must admit that it does appear like something made mainly to make more money. I mean, why else would they do something like that? I guess it would be fun to hear your songs in a completely new way, and that is definitely the case with this album -- the underlying sense of trying to make more money still is there, though. It's not enough to deter me from buying the album (I already have), but it may be for many fans.

Despite the fact that Avalon is an astounding, spectacular, words-aren't-good-enough group to begin with, this album just proves the different approaches to music Avalon is willing to go. Their message of God is clear, their music is soul diving, and their powerhouse voices are translucent..... Avalon is a band all can enjoy.
With this album they have experimented with music by remixing many favorite songs in a dance club meets trance/electronica kind of way. This album makes you want to dance because it's fun and it dives into music that has not really been tampered with too much within the Christian music industry.
With songs like "Testify To Love", "In Not Of", and "The Best Thing" it's rather hard to turn your ear with their majestic lyrics but intriguing tunes.
I recomend the album to anyone who loves to listen to up-tempo beats and outerspacial, dance-filled, flashy music.

This is a fantastic CD - what pleasant surprise! I've purchased other Avalon CDS before, and when I saw this new remix CD, I was expecting disappointment - (previous Christian dance music CDS I've listened to have been) - boy was I wrong. If you like dance music, then you'll love this CD.

1) My Oxygen (Red Decibel Mix): 5/5 - easily, one of the best remixes - very creatively reworked.
2) Testify To love (New Birth mix): 3.5/5 - this one's a bit more laid back.
3) Wonder Why (Larring maix): 4.5/5 - great mix - a real grower.
4) The Best Thing (Euro Stack Mix): 4.5/5 - makes me move my feet.
5) In Not Of (Soul 2am Mix): 3.5/5 - not bad - clearly not my favorite reinterpretation - could've been better remixed, but none the less, the jazzy, funky sound grows on you after a while.
6) Can't Live A Day (DJ Tiesto Mix): 5/5 - Fantastic reinterpretation of a classic Avalon ballad. Christian Euro at it's best!
7) A Maze Of Grace (Ghost Mix): 3/5 - not bad, kinda bland.
8) Speed of Light (Mint Royale Mix): 4/5 - Very creative reinterpretation.
9) Undeniably You (Jeff Savage Mix): 5/5 - Another fantastic remix of another Avalon gem.
10) Make It Last Forever (Milleneyum Mix): 5/5 - Despite all the other negative reviews, this remixed version is still one of my faves. Real funky soundin'.
11) Wonder Why (Roswell Mix): 3/5 - probably my least favorite track. Perhaps a little too much experimentation here with the synths brings about a real NOISY sound which overpowers the vocals instead of complimenting them.
12)A Maze Of Grace (J. Edgar Hoover Mix): 4/5 - Suitably, the CD ends with a song about God's grace. Somewhat more laid back and less intense than some of the other tracks, and superior to the first remixed version (#7).

All in all, a great dance music CD with a positive Christian message. Very recommended.

This is a remix of some of Avalons great songs. They kind of lose their Worshipfullness and I dont think they are as good like this. But if you are fans of electronic dance type music then this is a great album. Also for those that like this type of music this maybe a great intro to Avalons Music.

When I heard this was coming out I was curious because I read that these songs were remixed by people that usally mix the other popular bands and artists like Brittany Spears. I did listen to some samples on the net and I just decided to buy it anyway. Half of this cd is really great though. The other half seems a bit mellow but good for relaxing on anyday. Let me show you my ratings and comments of each song

My Oxygen 3/5- this song has a slow pace and a pretty tune. Its okay I guess. I never heard the original version but this remix seems okay. Good for a relaxing day.

Testify to Love 3/5- this song starts out mellow then it gets into a pretty beat. Another okay song that I never heard the original version of but a good relaxing song with techno sound affects.

Wonder Why 4/5- this song is slower then the other version but it has an interesting beat and it's really pretty throughout.Has good techno sound affects

The Best Thing 4/5- this song starts out mellow then when it gets to the chorus it gets a strong techno/dance sound that's really pretty and cool.

In Not Of 3.5/5- I like this version better then the other one. At the chorus it is more sung differently but this version has a cool beat. It's tempo is a bit faster then other version and it has a more rnb touch to it.

Can't Live a Day 5/5- This version is cool because it has a dance beat to it and it has a bit faster tempo. It also has pretty added techno sounds to it.

A Maze of Graze 2.5- I never heard the original version of this song but it's very mellow. I don't listen to it as ofen. It has a latin touch to it and it's just too mellow for me. It's fine and I would just listen to it for a very relaxing moment.

Speed of Light 3/5- I don't listen to this song as often either but it's not slow it's just a little bit mellow. I have never heard the other version of this either. I guess it's ok.

Undeniably You 5/5- this is my favorite song on this cd! It's more faster then the original and it has a pretty dance/pop tune that's close to any other secular dance artist. This song I was able to dance to.

Make It last forever 4/5- this song is way different then the other version. It has a hip hop touch to it and there's this one sound that sounds like it was used from Joy Electric's (a electronic christian music group) synthesizer. It's cool though. Out of Eden are featured in this song and some other rap guy.

Wonder Why 4/5- A faster version thats cool to and it's faster then the original. It doesn't have a dance beat. It sounds more like the original beat only it's playing faster and it has rock guitar sounds in the chorus. Pretty cool;p

A Maze of Graze 3/5- Way better then the other remix! I don't listen to this one often though... I't okay and cool. Has a neat beat.

So after all this reading I hope you know what you'll be hearing. Sorry if I disappointed you in some areas if you do like very mellow music but that's okay because you could probably like this cd better then me. That's just how I feel about the songs. The other ones that I liked are cool if you like techno,dance,rnb and pop. Just try it out if you are curious or like Avalon's music. Believe me this music is way different then there other songs. Chow! enjoy! :p :) :B

I absolutley loved this disc! I saw it, hadn't even heard of it yet, and had to buy it, it sounded like so much fun. These are the songs:

My Oxygen (Red Decibel Mix) I hadn't heard "My Oxegyn" yet I'd probly be dissapointed with the original mix. This is so funky yet almost etheral.

Testify to Love (New Birth Mix) feat. ZOEgirl a little long (the music goes for over 2 min. before the 1st verse) but really cool, Remixed by Tedd T. who did such great work with Rebecca St. James and Raze

Wonder why (Larring Mix) the vocal distortions are kinda jarring but overall pretty cool

The Best Thing (Euro Stack Mix) Zarc Porter (Raze, Shine MK) really juiced this up, one of my fave tracks

In Not Of (Soul 2am mix) I think it'll take awile for this song to grow on me but it's OK

Can't Live A Day (DJ Teisto Mix) your typical vocals meet funky beats mix, pretty good.

A Maze of Grace (Ghost Mix) feat. The Katinas I LOVE this mix it's really funky cool.

Speed of light (Mint Royale Mix) this track's OK

Undeniably You (Jeff Savage Mix) sounds really simalar to Celine Dion's "That's the Way" remix, really groovin' with a great choir-ish sound

Make It Last Forever (Millinneyum Mix) Feat Out of eden- Should say Out of Eden featuring Avalon and Micheal Linney. The Eden Girls really bring a fresh sound to this track Linney raps, he also remixed for Carman's Mission 3:16 EP

Wonder Why (Roswell Mix) and A Maze of Grace (J. Edgar Hoover Mix) are both mixed by the-conspiracy and are way "out there"

this disc is well worth the dough 'cuz, as one sample says, its got that good disco beat. I'd give it 4.5 stars, instead of 5, for some of the too bizzare and weird tracks that go on too long.

This is a great cd!I love it!This is the third Avalon cd i`ve bought ever,and I was not dissapointed!Here is a song guide:

1.My Oxygen(Red Decibel Mix)-9/10

2.Testify To Love(New Birth Mix)Featuring ZOEgirl-9/10

3.Wonder Why(Larring Mix)-10/10

4.The Best Thing(Euro Stack Mix)-10/10

5.In Not Of(Soul 2am Mix)-9/10

6.Can`t Live A Day(DJ Tiesto Mix)-10/10

7.A Maze Of Grace(Ghost Mix)Featuring The Katinas-6/10

8.Speed Of Light(Mint Royale Mix)-10/10

9.Undiniably You(Jeff Savage Mix)-10/10

10.Make It Last Forever(Milinnium Mix)-9/10

11.Wonder Why(Roswell Mix)-8/10

12.A Maze Of Grace(The J. Edgar Hoover Mix)-10/10

This cd is definately reccomended for any Avalon fan!You`ll love it!