Customer Reviews

Cry Holy

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I bought this CD, because I have Sonicpraise (their live album) which is ABSOLUTLEY INCREDIBLE. The lead singer, Jeff Deyo brings their music alive with his passion. So, I popped "Cry Holy" into my CD player the other day, and was shocked to hear what kind of music they are singing. First of all, I didn't know that they are a NEW BAND, with NEW MEMBERS... Jeff Deyo isn't there anymore. And I immediatley could tell... because the songs are sung without any heart or soul, flat and passion-less. I am so disappointed, and as the other reviewer said, they should change their name, because by releasing an album under the name of "Sonicflood" (just because one member of the old band is still there) they have a HIGH BAR TO MEET, and they did not. The expectations definitley overdid this album... I'm so sorry, too.

I bought Sonicflood's debut album back when it was the only Sonicflood album out, and liked it okay, but it was never one of my favorites. It was quite uneven, I thought, some good songs and some uninspiring songs.

For that reason, I guess, I wasn't inclined to get their subsequent albums. But I did end up getting "Cry Holy," albeit not with great expectations.

Boy was I surprised! What a difference from the first Sonicflood album! Immediately I liked this one much better! Upon looking at the credits, I discovered Jeff Deyo was gone, and in fact I've heard Jeff Deyo's first solo album, and I didn't like it at all, so as far as I'm concerned, it's just as well that Jeff Deyo left Sonicflood because I like better the direction the band has gone without him. By the way, I've now also heard Jeff Deyo's second album, and although it's a little better than his first album, I still don't care for it. There's a lot of energy there but I cannot relate to it worship-wise, not to mention the musical weaknesses of his albums.

From reading the reviews of others here, I've learned that all of the original members of Sonicflood have departed except for one. It seems some reviewers are perturbed that this band uses the name Sonicflood, when it's not the same band, and they forever miss Jeff Deyo. I suppose if you were a big Jeff Deyo fan, then you're better off buying his solo albums than buying this. As for saying this band does not live up to the name Sonicflood, I don't get it, because I like this far better than Sonicflood's debut. (I haven't heard any other albums besides the debut and this one.)

I like every song on this album. The music is beautiful, repeatedly leading me to a time of intimate communion with God. Song after song dwells on the greatness of God as well as his wonderful love.

Something that I find especially pleasing about this album is the guitar work. The guitars on here add such richness to the songs. There are only two songs on here I had heard before--"Here I Am To Worship" and "Famous One." On both of these, the beautiful guitar embellishments make them my favorite versions of these popular songs. The eloquent guitar sounds add to the worship experience, making beautiful music before our glorious God.

In my growing up days, people in church would find that a particular organ solo would enhance their worship experience. I was never much for organ; I liked electric guitar. These days I go to a church where the electric guitars are very strong and upfront, so I'm used to the ways in which the guitar can add to the beauty of worship. So many worship albums I get, the guitar is so much in the background that the album sounds wimpy and lacks character. This album shines above most worship albums because the guitars are not buried in the background but are a central contributor to the worship experience.

While the guitars on this Sonicflood album are not cruncher-killer, they are upfront and full of beauty. I feel as I worship while listening to this album that I am surrounded by opulent sounds of guitar floating up to the majestic God, or at other times in joyous communion with him, surrounded by beautiful sounds as if in a sonic garden.

There have been some complaints in other reviews about the singer's voice, calling it "whining" and displaying "little heart and emotion." I don't feel this way at all. I think the vocals are very fitting to the overall sound of the band. As I follow the words and engage in worship, I feel full of emotion. If the singing were bad or lacked emotion I would not feel that way.

I like every song on this album, but I would like to mention two highlights. The climax of the album is "God Is Great," which soars in elation and praising of God. "Rushing In" and "Love Of My Life" are two songs that are particularly sweet in their expression of communion with God, experiencing his love.

This album is one of my favorites of 2003, and definitely one of my favorite worship albums. I am certain that I will enjoy this for years to come.

SonicFlood sells records because of an awesome legacy. Their first cd revolutionized worship music and kicked it. Even their live cd, while basically all the same songs, was equally good. Then, for reasons known only to them, the band broke up. Everyone went their own direction, except the bass player who became the lead singer. Now imagine what would happen if Ringo Starr decided to release a new Beatles album without the rest of the band and you get the idea of what you're hearing here. As with their last cd "Resonate", the guys have a different sound from the one that made the band name famous. Unfortunately, the songs on here that are covers of famous worship songs fall flat. There's really nothing new added to them to stamp them "SonicFlood" as there was with the first cd. As a result, the best songs they do on here are the original ones, and it's only when they step into the "familiar" songs that it crashes and burns. No doubt they do a fabulous job doing these songs live, but it just doesn't capture the energy on the cd. "God is Great", "Famous One", and "Here I am to Worship" are great songs in their own right, so you really won't waste your money buying this if you like them. "Cry Holy" and "I Will" are good songs too. All in all, I think these guys need to just drop the name and begin as their own. Two of the three members of Big Tent Revival are in the band, so maybe they should go that direction. The name isn't helping them because the bar has been raised so high that they just don't seem to have the dynamic to reach it anymore. Nothing new here, but if you liked "Resonate" you'll probably enjoy this one too.

I got this CD for the song "God is Great". I was deciding between this CD and the Hillsong CD (which also contains a version of that song) and I am glad I chose this one!

I do not have any other Sonicflood CDs so I cannot compare, but there are tons of great songs on this CD, "Cry Holy", "Everyday", "Unconditional", "Rushing In", "I Will Exalt The One", "Satisfied" and "God is Great" are my favorites. I like the Chris Tomlin version of Here I Am to Worship better ... but the version on this CD is still pretty good.

Overall I was really happy with this CD, and am now going to have to (eventually) get the other Sonicflood CDs too :)

The popular worship band Sonicflood has been around for four years now. Well, that's not exactly true. In a sense there have been two Sonicflood's. The first band was lead by Jeff Deyo and it was this group that made a ground-breaking debut album which changed the face of Modern Worship music as we know it today.
Now, four years later, only the name Sonicflood remains and not the original band. When Sonicflood reemerged in 2001 with the album "Resonate", all of the group's original members were gone. The new band is fronted by Rick Heil who joined Sonicflood shortly after the self-titled album was released. He was originally the band's bassist. It is Heil who now owns the Sonicflood name and is carrying the band in his direction.
The latest Sonicflood album "Cry Holy" is the second to be recorded by the new line-up. While it is a good album, it's not a great album. Many of the tracks simply sound like the band is going through the motions. It's almost as if they are trying to live up to a band name instead of creating what many people would arguably call true praise and worship music. However, there are some genuine moments of greatness that are heard sporadically throughout the album. The title track is a solid worship song with a great hook in the chorus. Their version of "God Is Great" can bring a person to their feet to give high praise to the Lord. "Satisfied" is a driving rock piece which sounds slightly similar to bands like PFR.
Many of the other tracks have some defining moments embedded in them but I must admit that this album is a disappointment compared to "Sonicflood", "Sonicpraise" and even "Resonate".
Back in 2000 after hearing the news that Sonicflood was carrying on without any of its original players, I thought it would've been a better idea if Rick Heil would just allow the Sonicflood name to rest in peace and perform under a different band name. After hearing "Cry Holy", I am even more convinced of it. Sonicflood will always be Jeff Deyo, Jason Halbert, Dwayne Larring and Aaron Blanton. Who we have in their place now is a very good band but it's not really Sonicflood.

I think they received some pretty harsh poll results.
I think the CD is pretty good. It is smooth sounding. It's one of those music CD's you have to keep listening to, to understand there musical style. You know how you listen to music, you may not like it at first but then you keep listening and it grows on you. That's this CD. It is a GREAT CD...

Worth buying...

"Sonic Flood is Jeff Deyo, Jason Halbert, Dwayne Laring, and Aaron Blanton" (taken from the leaflet inside the self-titled album, "SonicFlood").

Think about that for a second. Now, go check out the credits for Cry Holy (and "Resonate", for that matter); see where I'm going with this?

I'm sure that you have heard this before in at least one (probably many more) review of SonicFlood's "Resonate" when it was released two years ago. Well, you're going to hear it again in this review of "Cry Holy", because the point cannot be stressed enough that this is NOT the SonicFlood that made the stunning self-titled CD back in '99. It really pains me to see this happen, because the SonicFlood of today is nothing like the original, in terms of both members and music, and if you ask me, it's for the worse. If you want an idea of what SonicFlood is now, take the original band that released "SonicFlood", wash it out, bleach it, and you've got the team that's behind the latest release, "Cry Holy". Can you take a guess as to what I thought of the album?

Let's start with the vocals. They're hard to miss, as they will be the grinding, whining sound that is causing all of the glass within earshot to shatter into oblivion. Ok, so that's a slight over exaggeration, but you see, I have this real pet peeve about nasal singers, and this singer is nasal to the point where I am certain that he is singing out of a hole that has been drilled into the highest point on his skull and then connected to his sinus cavity by some inter-cranial tunnel or synthetic tube. Not only are the vocals nasal to the point of annoyance, but they also have a very distant sound to them, almost as though the singer isn't using his diaphragm at all but is forcing it from the throat. It leaves me wishing for Jeff Deyo's powerful voice, I'll tell you that much.

One of the driving forces of the original band was the thundering nature of the music, with rolling base and intense electric guitars. In "Cry Holy", you get the feeling that that's what the new SonicFlood was aiming for with this CD, but it falls short of their intent. The electric guitar is probably the worst of it, being so far from anything close to intense that it's laughable at best; like it's been fed through so much post-production filtering that it's lost all of its edge. On top of that, the entire album has an odd quality about it as it sounds like the music is being dampened through some sort of muffling device, like you've strapped pillows over your speakers or something. The result is a distant, far away sound that lacks any real power behind it.

One thing I will give "Cry Holy" is that its lyrics are good. They're not great, but they're good, and do glorify God, so at least that aspect is there.

In all fairness, I'm probably being much more harsh on this release than I should; it comes from being a huge fan of the original band. The problem is not that "Cry Holy" is particularly horrible; it's just that it is mediocre, being neither bad nor good, and when stacked up against the original band, these new guys just don't have what it takes to live up to the dizzying heights that were set by the first album. I'm sure that I'll catch some serious flack from some people for a constant comparison, but as far as I'm concerned, as soon as these new guys stepped up to claim the name of SonicFlood they had an obligation to keep to the same standard set by their predecessors, and if they can't hack it, well, they knew the job was dangerous when they took it.

Here's my advice to you; if you want another nameless and faceless Christian rock/praise album that will act as good background noise, who's music and vocals won't be distracting from whatever you're doing at the time, then pick this up. If you were a fan of the original Sonic Flood and didn't pick up "Resonate" because you were afraid it would be a disappointment (which it was), then steer clear and avoid "Cry Holy" in the same manner. If you have never heard of SonicFlood, then grab the original self-titled album and avoid any of the new stuff, because as it stands now the only thing that could vault SonicFlood back to the level it started at in `99 would be another member switch.

I have to tell you, I've never heard Sonicflood's music before until I heard 'Cry Holy' on the radio. I fell in love with it. Then I went to the store, found their album and read the title's on the back of the cd. I loved all the titles so I figured I'd buy it. Well, after hearing the album all the way through the first thing that came to my mind is that these songs were just the words and feelings I have for God. These songs are love songs that we would love to sing to Him. To be honest, this album helped me a lot when I was going through a ruff time in my life. It was a constant reminder of God's love for us and it helped me lean on Him through it all. My favorite's are "I will exalt the one", "Satisfied", "Shelter", "Love of my life", and "God is great". But I do love ALL these songs. I don't know about anyone else who has listened to this album and worshipped with it but, I really felt God's spirit in these songs. Sometimes it's hard to find the words of love to express to God. These songs hit the mark. I HIGHLY recommend this album. You won't be disappointed :)

I feel that this is a good cd and everyone is a little harsh to judge this group. Yes they are not as good or sold like the sonicflood with the old members. But this is still a good group with some great songs. Holy Cry and Surender are very good songs along with some others on this cd. If this group didn't use the same group name (Sonicflood) I bet they would be getting much better reviews

I apparently disagree with most of the reviews. I saw Sonic Flood in concert before I purchased this album or even hearing their full albums with Jeff Deyo. First of all, the concert was a worshiping experience. Rick Heil sings effortlessly and with such a spirit it was moving. The album is excellent, beginning with Cry Holy which is great rock music with beautiful lyrics. Rushing in, Shelter, and Unconditional are so inspirational. The lyrics are so moving when one meditates on them. I can't say enough about this album and their concert. I happen to prefer them to the harder Jeff Deyo sound but understand those who liked the original Sonic Flood and compare this group to the original band. This album is definitely better than Resonate and strongly recommend purchasing this album. One of my favorites.