Customer Reviews

I Can Hear You

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I usually dont buy debut albums. Most seem to have a not finished appeal to them. And some just dont have any good and well written songs on them. But here is something different. A debut album with massive production and deep down bright and well written songs. I first heard Carolyn's I can hear you when I was round my Auntie's place. She told my Dad you would like this Cd and so Dad took it and then I heard it when I came home one day. The most awesome song that struck me right between the eyes was the brilliant "You Take My Soul By Storm" and to this day this is my fav song of Caz's! The other amazing standouts are the lovely quiet "Reaching" and the brilliant marriage orientated "Home Fires Burning". The best heavier song has to be "The Power Of Love" amazing dulcimer and guitar on this song! ALl in all a fantasy starting album that to me has an out of this world feel! Carolyn is destined for a great future!

Terrific album from Canadian singer/songwriter Carolyn Arends. If you like contemporary Christian rock with a touch of country, then I guarantee you will love this cd. She is a very talented young lady and the messages in her songs are very inspirational as well as uplifting, without being at all 'preachy'. Even non-Christians should be able to enjoy this album as the messages in them are relevant to everybody regardless of faith.

I simply love Carolyn's way with words! She uses such vivid imagery in her songs, you can see, hear, smell, or taste exactly what she's talking about! And this CD keeps up the standard of Christian music, too. For those who like a distinct folk "twang" but not exactly "folk," this CD is for you! (Oh yes, and Carolyn is Canadian, NOT Southern! Hello?) (Yeah, yeah, I know "fantabulous" isn't a word . . . you don't have to tell me.) CAROLYN YOU'RE AWESOME--HOPE I CAN SEE YOU IN CONCERT SOMEDAY!!

Like many teenagers, Christian music bothers me. I recently identified why: most Christian artists simply don't have anything to say.

This is also a problem in secular pop, but many secular artists, especially rock artists, really have a message to convey, often a deep and profound meaning. Creed is a great example. On the other hand, most Christian artists really only say "Jesus is good! Rah rah rah!" and leave it at that, leaving the listener unsatisfied, no matter HOW good their music is.

Enter Carolyn Arends. Every song in this fantastic album conveys a message. Her lyrics are fresh and not at all worn out, like a typical Christian artist is. The songs are profound, uplifting, and spiritually envigorating, and on top of it all, it's darn good music.

Besides, the first verse of Seize the Day is practically about me :)

I bought this CD for the song Seize the Day and discovered that the rest of the CD is equally great. Her style is contemporary christian and she has a great voice. Very easy on the ears to listen to. You won't be disappointed with this choice.

Remember Amy pre-"Age to Age"? I think about those days when I hear Carolyn's "Reaching" from this CD. There are also plenty of echoes of Susan Ashton's debut on this album. Arends is at her best on songs she's penned..the collaborations usually trod too close to typical CCM fare to be interesting lyrically. She also tends to be best without the big pop overkill production, though there are occasional exceptions. This debut landed "The Power of Love" off here in the Top 10 for Christian radio with one other hit.

HIGHLIGHTS:
"Seize the Day" is a carpe diem rallying cry "'cause life slips away like hourglass sand". Gospelly "Love is Always There" is bombastic but all the production flourish helps the tune in this case. "Reaching" (a non-single) may well be the best tune here as Arends struggles to come to grips with the mystery of an invisible Creator. ("When we taste of the divine/It leaves us hungry every time/For one more taste of what awaits/when heaven's gates are reached") Country jammer "What I Wouldn't Give" is a stark confession of a divorcee. ("I built my fortress with blood, sweat, and fears") It's all too uncommon with CCM but at a time when countless marriages are failing (inside the Church and outside it) it's a message that's needed. The subtle "All is Well" is an update of standard "It is well with my Soul" for the 21st century.

LOWS:
"This is the Stuff" is a fairly cliched "stop and smell the roses" song that we've heard before with more telling details. It's also WAY too overproduced. A song about celebrating simplicity shouldn't be full of every pop bell and whistle in the world. "I Can Hear You" is fairly ordinary..and of course was a big Christian radio hit (#13).

BOTTOM LINE:
While it's too produced to qualify as "folk" like some are inclined to say, a lot of this stuff is decent acoustic pop. Fans of early Amy Grant, Susan Ashton, and Kim Hill will probably like this.

3 1/2 stars

"I Can Hear YOU " is a classic cd. I constantly have this cd in my changer and I have had the cd for over two years and I still love it. Definitely will put a smile on your face and my children start singing along with the postive messages of the songs

Very pleased wtih every aspect of my transaction. The product was in excellent shape, the price was right and it arrived very quickly. Keep up the good work!!

I first heard Carolyn Arends in 1995. I was thirteen years old, and in desperate need of some direction. Music, I believed, was my calling, but writing songs really wasn't a strong suit of mine. I was immediately drawn in by her very first radio single, "Love is Always There," and shortly thereafter discovered perennial hit "Seize the Day" on the 1995 Reunion Records sampler Music You Can Believe In. (OH, and like a previous reviewer, I also believed the first verse of "Seize the Day" was about me!)

I didn't actually buy the CD until I found it in a pawn shop around 2000 or so. By then, Carolyn had released a few more albums and I'd grown a little more in my musical journey, but I still had much to learn. The lyrics on this CD are amazing, all telling a clever story with rhymes and metaphors that are any word-lover's paradise...all sung in such amazing sincerity. You can tell that Carolyn truly embraces what she writes about. She believes it. She lives it. She really means it...which is the most powerful gift that a singer/songwriter can offer their audience, I believe.

There is not a track on this CD that is in any way lacking. They're all masterfully composed, beautifully performed & thought provoking to this day. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to go a little deeper than the standard Christian pop fare. This is a woman with something to say, and lyrics that don't just hook - they impale.

This album is my all-time favorite music album. Carolyn Arends has a way of making God's words immediate and relevant to your everyday life. Love Is Always There has gotten me through many dark and hopeless day!