Customer Reviews

Hearts of the Innocent

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was one of the vocal minority thoroughly disappointed by Kutless's previous album, the praise & worship one. "Hearts of the Innocent" redeems them, though. With this one, they return to the driving, hard-rock edge that made them so great. The lyrics are, of course, inspirational, and the album is filled with uplifting messages of hope ("Smile") and unabashed faith in God ("Shut Me Out"). But it's the edgy guitars and great beat that make this album rock (okay, "Promise of a Lifetime" is a little slow, but still very good). An excellent album for Kutless fans, and a great example of some of the best in rock music today.

I'll start off by simply saying that this album just blew me away! It is probably their heaviest album yet (even moreso than their first self-titled album) as they really rock out pretty much throughout the entire album. "Shut Me Out," "Hearts of the Innocent," "Beyond the Surface," "Somewhere in the Sky," "Million Dollar Man," and "Legacy" are just a few of the highlights. There are some great "slower", but still awesome ones on here in "Smile," "Promise of a Lifetime," "Mistakes," and "Changing World" as well.

The powerful guitar riffs are fresh (there are even a few solos on this one), and Jeff and Dave's added drums and bass are really great. Also, Jon Micah's vocals are just about perfect (as they always have been) and they blend seamlessly with the music.

Lyrically, the album is spectacular. The Christian message is powerful and really penetrated my heart. They talk about subjects such as the tragedy children endure in divorce, perseverance in spreading the truth of Christ even when people put you down, keeping our hope in Christ's promise, and the lack of fulfillment from material possessions - just to name a few.

"Hearts of the Innocent" is probably Kutless' best album yet. It is definitely an excellent, well-crafted hard rock album from start to finish. I'm a huge Kutless fan, so I may be a little biased. But they seriously blew me away with this one! Check it out! If you like good hard rock music with an inspirational message, you won't be disappointed in the least...

DON'T listen to Michael Harmon (he posted a review a little bit above this one), he must have been preoccupied while hearing the great and diverse rhythm, strong rock base, and even the softer songs that still maintain Kutless's image as a CHRISTIAN rock band. I just recently went to a Kutless concert, and the lead singer took some time before starting to talk about his and other's christian faith. For one thing, I do not think that leaning on Jesus is all that christian songs can be about. That is a good subject matter, but not the only thing. Like in song #7, when he sings "I'm learning how to fly", it seems to represent growing and enjoying your relationship with christ, just it of course doesn't actually say that. You have to think outside of the bun, and then you will find the messages it speaks about. Great CD.

I'll start off by simply saying that this album just blew me away! It is probably their heaviest album yet (even moreso than their first self-titled album) as they really rock out pretty much throughout the entire album. "Shut Me Out," "Hearts of the Innocent," "Beyond the Surface," "Somewhere in the Sky," "Million Dollar Man," and "Legacy" are just a few of the highlights. There are some great "slower", but still awesome ones on here in "Smile," "Promise of a Lifetime," "Mistakes," and "Changing World" as well.

The powerful guitar riffs are fresh (there are even a few solos on this one), and Jeff and Dave's added drums and bass are really great. Also, Jon Micah's vocals are just about perfect (as they always have been) and they blend seamlessly with the music.

Lyrically, the album is spectacular. The Christian message is powerful and really penetrated my heart. They talk about subjects such as the tragedy children endure in divorce, perseverance in spreading the truth of Christ even when people put you down, keeping our hope in Christ's promise, and the lack of fulfillment from material possessions - just to name a few.

"Hearts of the Innocent" is probably Kutless' best album yet. It is definitely an excellent, well-crafted hard rock album from start to finish. I'm a huge Kutless fan, so I may be a little biased. But they seriously blew me away with this one! Check it out! If you like good hard rock music with an inspirational message, you won't be disappointed in the least...

SPECIFIC TO THE SPECIAL EDITION: The bonus DVD with the new music video for "Shut Me Out" and Kutless' other 6 music videos is really cool to have. The "Shut Me Out" video is especially awesome, but I love the others as well. Also, the four bonus acoustic versions of "Shut Me Out," "Smile," "Somewhere in the Sky," and "Changing World" on the CD are really awesome to listen to...

Coming off of the "worship album" Strong Tower, Kutless returns to a more aggressive rock sound on "Hearts of the Innocent." Featuring 12 new tracks, "HotI" is overall much more energetic than Sea of Faces. Many of the tracks on HotI are heavily guitar oriented, and utilize the sound used on the previous Kutless track "Not What You See." There are still a few tracks on HotI that are a little more slow paced ("Smile", "Promise of a Lifetime", "Mistakes" and "Changing World"), but the majority are all heavy and fast paced.

As for the lyrics on HotI, it would seem that Kutless took more time to expand on their writing. While many of the lyrics have the same writing style that Sea of Faces had, substance wise they are more metaphorical. The meaning behind them is a little more difficult to interpret at first in places, giving Kutless a much deeper feel. There are spots on the album that definitely give away Kutless are a Christian Rock band, but this does not subtract from the overall feel of the album. Rather, the mixture of faith inspired lyrics and metaphorical ones gives Kutless a much stronger feel than on previous albums. If Kutless continues at this rate, they may become one of the most unique Christian rock bands that the world has yet to see.

Written by my son, Daniel:

With Hearts of the Innocent, Kutless has further solidified their standing as one of the top Christian rock bands. This album features a combination of the edgy style of their first cd and the melodic rock of Sea of Faces. The result is simply excellent rock.

What Kutless has done here is they have produced a rock album that covers all the bases. There is the hard rock of such songs as "Legacy" and "Hearts of the Innocent", and then there's the melodic, sometimes haunting rock found in "Mistakes", "Smile", "Promise of a Lifetime", and "Changing World". Both styles of music are executed perfectly.

True, the lyrics are not as overtly Christian as previous albums, but so what? Songs like "Beyond the Surface" address real life issues that need to be faced, even if they aren't overtly Christian topics. What Kutless has shown here is that they are trying to minister to people's problems, not just playing up to their evangelical base. And regardless, anybody listening to such songs as "Smile" and "Promise of a Lifetime" (my personal favorite on the album) will have no doubt as to Kutless' Christianity.

Kutless is a unique sound in Christian rock, and they deserve the attention of any fan in the Christian music scene.

I really like the style that kutless is going into for this CD. A more aggressive rock stage. Of course their weakness is that their style seems to not change too much. I really like the song shut me out. I watched the music video of it and I thought that it had good lyrics. I dont understand why people tend to complain about their lyrics in this album. I mean they might not be as clear as their previous music, but it still send the message. I think that anyone would think the lyrics are clear. Other people do have the freedom of speech, but I wouldnt exactly believe them right away. Its best to hear the album yourself. I would say that this album is worth the money.

I have just discovered Kutless in the last six months after coming across their first CD at a CD Warehouse. I was an instant fan. Hearts of the Innocent is a wonderful CD. Unfortunately, two of the songs here just don't do it for me: Winds of Change and Somewhere in the Sky.

It is hard to say which song I love the most though. Smile is great; Changing World is wonderful; Beyond the Surface, Mistakes & Legacy contain excellent messages.

While I agree that Jesus isn't mentioned as much as other CD's, the lessons and messages within these songs are powerful and Christian themed.

Kutless is the reason why I love Christian rock. Before hearing Kutless two years ago, the only music I gave a chance was Point of Grace and ZOEgirl. Now, two years later, I'm a huge Christian rock fan, and I can sense a bad album when it comes. So what should I say about Hearts of the Innocent? Absolutely just.. wow. None of their cds sound alike, and that's one thing I really like about this band. With some bands, cds just sound recycled with new words and a few new guitar chords. Not this one! Okay so.. songwise I'd have to say that "Changing World" is my absolute favorite. The lyrics are so deep and it's such a pretty song, even though it's slightly repetitive. Beyond the Surface is a really good song too, and they perform it well live. (well actually they perform every song well live, but that's besides the point.) I could go on for hours about the greatness of this band, but I'll spare you. If you're a Kutless fan, you should like this album.

I first heard of Kutless late in 2003. A friend of mine burned me a Christian rock mix CD, and on that CD was a song called "Your Touch," by a band named Kutless whom I had never heard of. Well, I was so blown away by the quality lyrics and awesome music of this one song that the very next day I went out and bought Kutless' self-titled debut. It quickly became one of my all-time favorite albums, and one that I still thoroughly enjoy to this day.

Wondering when I would be able to hear some new material from these guys, I found out several months later that their sophomore release, Sea Of Faces, was already in stores. So I picked that one up, and again...wow. This was quite possibly the best Christian music I had ever heard. Songs like the title track, "Not What You See," "All Alone," "Let You In," "All The Words," and "Perspectives" just resonated with me on many levels, personally and spiritually.

Fast-forward to March of 2005, and the band's third release, a worship album called "Strong Tower." Chock-full of Kutless-style renditions of several classic worship tunes, my favorites of which being "Take Me In," "Draw Me Close," "Better Is One Day," and "Word of God Speak." This album also featured the previous Sea Of Faces track "All The Words" (retitled as "All Of The Words" for whatever reason, but it's the exact same song), and it didn't sound out of place amongst the other songs, having been the most mellow of the songs on Sea Of Faces.

About a month after I purchased that album, I got my first opportunity to see Kutless perform live, and what a show it was. They only played six songs as they, along with a little-known Christian punk band from Canada named Hawk Nelson, were opening acts for Toby Mac. Now, I am a huge Toby Mac fan, and while Kutless' style deviates greatly from his, their performance ranked right up there. They tore the roof off the place, especially when frontman Jon Micah Sumrall shouted "Put your fists up!" during "Not What You See." Easily one of the best concerts, Christian or otherwise, I have ever attended.

Here we are about a year later, and with Kutless' fourth release (third if you only count original material), "Hearts Of The Innocent." Truth be told, I had no idea this CD was even out until I saw it at a local Wal-Mart last night. And I figured coming from Kutless, it must be good, so I picked it up. I popped it in my truck's CD player on the way home, and the moment the first verse of the title track hit, a huge smile formed on my face. Kutless were back, and in a big way. Since last night, I have listened to the entire album twice from start to finish. I'd have to say that the title track and "Promise Of A Lifetime" are my favorites, but every song is excellent. No surprise from these guys though.

So if you're looking for well-written Christian music that can both rock your socks off yet also calm your soul, look no further than Kutless. And while you're at it, check out Toby Mac as well...his two studio albums, Momentum and Welcome To Diverse City, are outstanding as are the remixed versions of those two albums: Momentum Remix and Renovating Diverse City.