Customer Reviews

In the Name of Love

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I wouldn't have even considered this album, had they chosen mainstream artists to cover these songs. Luckly the bands here don't attempt to completely assimilate the classics here, but rather let them come natural. And 'natural' would be a good word to the feeling of this album in general. Nothing is too forced or strays too far from the U2 versions.

1. Sunday Bloody Sunday (Pillar): Very cool cover. The lead seems to be doing a perfect impersonation of Bono, be that good or bad. Instead Pillar takes their liberty with the guitar work, pushing this song into an alternative, almost punkish side.

2. Beautiful Day (Sanctus Real): I'd never really heard of this band, but they really seem to have an understanding of this song. Slightly sped up, but they keep all the drama intact, taking you on a ride with perfect emotional cues.

3. 40 (Starfield): The throwaway track on this album. The music, the vocals... all just seem so generic. Halfway through you can really hear him trying to convey... something. I'm just not feeling it. If you want to hear a great cover of this song, get dc Talk's last album, 'Solo'. It's the first track.

4. Love Is Blindness (Sixpence None the Richer): Sixpence covers a little-known U2 song. Her voice and music is hypnotic, but then again, what else is new? Any fan of Sixpence knows that their stuff on the radio is only their poppy crowd pleasers. This is their real music, and to say that it's nothing too different from their normal tracks is no insult. This has become one of my favorite covers on this album.

5. Gloria (Audio Adrenaline): The trademark guitar work of AudioA is the first noticable thing here. The balence of hard vocals and catchy high-octive lead guitar solo's (without being-in-your-face) reminds me of the 'Bloom' days of this band. A sure relief, as I was worried Audio Adrenaline would take the rock-pop way out of this one.

6. Grace (Nichole Nordeman): Another artist I'd never really paid attention to, covering a song off U2's latest album. This is a very simple song, reliant on voice, and this preformer does her best, ending up in a result very different from the original even though no stylistic liberties are taken, but certainly worth listening to.

7. All I Want Is You (Jars of Clay): Another singer doing an almost frighteningly similar impersonation of Bono. A slightly softer take on this song with the acoustic guitar. A little forgetable, but a good take to even out the almost hip-hop takes that are to follow.

8. Mysterious Ways (tobyMac): Ahhh... this is who made me buy this CD on it's release day. This is also where the album could have failed miserably. tobyMac puts an awesome spin on this already upbeat U2 single, and the results are wonderful. Toby's already gospel-swing-pop style of hip-hop work perfectly with this song. He doesn't bust into any corney hard-core rap solo's, keeping a a soulful respect to the source, in fact this song contains no rapping at all, keeping the more modern interpretations to the music instead of the vocals. In time I think I will probably prefer this to the original. The CD liner notes that the cuts on this track were done by the popular DJ Maj. One of the best on this album.

9. Pride (Delirious?): An all too average cover. If I'd heard this on the radio, I'd probably never realise it's not an original take unless I was really listening.

10. One (Tait): Suprisingly, another one of the best on this album. Not suprising that Tait would make it, but because they're covering one of U2's least catchy songs. Tait transcends his own music is such a way that I can defiantly say that I like this song better than the original. Quite a feat, but listening to Tait's rock/soul (in a style similar to Seal) manipulates your emotions in a way U2's somehow didn't. Suprising to me also because Tait has been my least favorite band to come from the dis-banding of dc Talk.

11. With or Without You (Grits feat. Jadyn Maria): A R&B spin on this single by Jadyn Maria, with some Hip-Hop sprinkled in the background by Grits. This song is probably the most diviant from the sourse material of all the tracks on this album, but in the end I would mark it as a success. Only The Edge's guitar treding on in the background remains the familar. Not as polished as tobyMac's song, but like Toby's, it doesn't go too far and collapse in it's own modern interpritation.

12. When Love Comes To Town (Todd Agnew): I expected... no, really wanted to hate this. U2 wrote this gospel/soul/rock/blues masterpiece for the legendary B.B. King, and it's being covered here by someone I've never heard of. But once again I'm pleasently suprised. Todd's voice is gritty, almost a slightly southern/ Dave Matthews quality, and I have no idea if that's how he always sounds, or if he's trying his best to sound like B.B., but the end result is definatly worth hearing. Toward the end he really starts belting out the verses, and what could sound like a monumental failure ends up being genuinely heartfelt. Nice.

13. Where The Streets Have No Name (Chris Tomlin): The closing track seems a little forgetable, saved by the fact that he doesn't stray far, and this was already a great song. He does it justice.

In the end I'm suprised they didn't cover 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For', which is undeniably U2's most spiritual song. In fact, I wouldn't have minded hearing a completely different version of it. They could have used it as a 3rd hip-hop mix using John Reuben with a gopel choir belting it out in the background.
I usally pass up tribute albums, but consider this a good one. Even though it's not a tibute at all. U2 fans will be pleasently suprised, even by the stylistic changes by tobyMac, Grits, and Sixpence... and even if you've never heard the artists chosen. Supports a good cause, too. Recommended.

I am an obsessive U2 fan as well as an admirer of several of these artists, so I had looked forward to "In the Name of Love" with great anticipation. While many of these acts have been nestled in the confines of Contemporary Christian Music, there is a lot of genuine creative talent here. Unfortunately, it is only on display in splotches.

Sixpence None the Richer's delicate rendition of Love is Blindness is everything you want in a cover, and by far the best work here: faithful to the melancholy spirit of the original song, and yet very much creatively reinterpreted. Jars of Clay's rootsy, almost playful version of All I Want is You is also a winner. The full frontal guitar on Pillar's Sunday Bloody Sunday really works for a song that is already aggressive and militaristic. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the album is how well Audio Adrenaline fares on their update of Gloria, a track that doesn't reinvent the wheel but really catches the life-force of the original. Nicole Nordeman's elegant version of "Grace" is a class act and welcome addition.

The Jadyn Maria/GRITS collaboration on With or Without You is pretty good musically, but I was disappointed that GRITS didn't show their stuff here. These guys are one of the best hip-hop talents anywhere, in or outside CCM, and I was a bit surprised they only "talked it through" (a la Kirk Franklin). Toby Mac's Mysterious Ways should have been the best track on the album, but Toby plays it a little too safe and a little too close to the Achtung Baby version. Delerious has already been doing a U2 tribute--on every album! I actually mean that as a complement, but besides the intro and outro, "Pride" wasn't worth the remake. Likewise, Sanctus Real doesn't do much with "Beautiful Day," besides a little punk around the edges. DC Talk singer Michael Tait's vocals work well for "One," but somehow doesn't quite capture the soul of the song. Todd Agnew's honky tonk version of "Angel of Harlem" stays a float, although of course we are now "finding love under the red sunset", since the album is to be sold in Christian bookstores.

In the cellar, we have Chris Tomlin's Where the Streets Have No Name, the low point of the album, which is note for note and line for line identical to the Joshua Tree version except we would all much rather hear Bono sing it. Starfield's "40" ranks as one of the most mediocre U2 covers of all-time.

"In the Name of Love" has some inspired moments and is for a good cause, if you can endure some pretty substantial low points.

Very good album overall, some covers are better than others. I was mostly impressed with Pillar's "Sunday, Bloody Sunday", Sanctus Real's "Beautiful Day", and Sixpence's "Love is Blindess." "Love is Blindess" may be the greatest song on the album, it keeps the emotion of the original, but it is done much differently.
The great thing about this album is that they simply didn't pick the 13 most popular U2 songs and cover them; there are some less known songs on this album. Tait did an interesting acoustic version of "One."
"All I Want is You" by Jars of Clay was a decent cover, but I did not like "With or Without You" by Grits. The song would have been fine with only the lead vocal, but for some reason Grits decided to add hip-hop vocals in the background, which destroyed the song. I would say it was the only bad point of the album.
Definitely recommended for U2 fans, especially those who like Christian music.

A couple of reviewers here mentioned that true U2 fans should stay away from this CD. I heartily disagree. I consider myself to be a huge U2 fan, and I truly found this "tribute CD" to be very enjoyable. (I use the phrase "tribute" very loosely here, because the point of this album is not really to pay tribute to U2 but to raise money and awareness for the AIDS crisis in Africa, one of the numerous causes that U2 has supported over the years.) I don't find that these artists butchered these songs at all (with the exception of maybe GRITS/Jadyn Maria's version of "With or Without You"). True, none of these songs are quite as good as the originals (after all, we *are* talking about U2 here), but they at least do the songs justice. Sixpence does a wonderful job on the stirring "Love is Blindness", and Sanctus Real and TobyMac do very upbeat, fun renditions of "Beautiful Day" and "Mysterious Ways", respectively. Other standouts are Jars of Clay's unique spin on "All I Want Is You", Todd Agnew's gritty vocals on the soulful "When Love Came To Town", Nichole Nordeman's smooth vocals on "Grace", Chris Tomlin's soaring rendition of "Where The Streets Have No Name", and Audio Adrenaline's energetic version of "Gloria". I think that if you are a fan of U2 and a fan of Christian music, you will find this to be quite an enjoyable and interesting album. If you are too closed-minded to appreciate different interpretations of these songs, then you don't have to listen. Otherwise, go check out this album. Not only will you be helping a worthy cause, but you may also find yourself pleasantly surprised.

Listening to this CD is a much different experience than I had prepared for. I am a devoted U2 fan, and their songs have a lot of personal significance to me for many reasons, including music solidity, ingenious artistry, and the band's spiritual journey. For that reason, I represent my bias up front before saying anything about this disc.

As a U2 enthusiast, I must say that this disc did not contain very many duplications of the band's songs. In some ways, this is a good thing, because, as a tribute, the album is meant to display the artists' interpretations of the original works; however, on the other side of the coin, these songs which have such familiarity and significance to me are somewhat difficult to swallow in their updated forms. Simply stated, no band can paralell U2. But then, who assumed that was attempted here? Maybe me.

Artistically, almost all of the bands on this disc receive my approval. The talent and quality is up to par (in some cases well above) and I enjoy the rhythmic grooves that support the songs. Pillar's cover of Sunday Bloody Sunday captures the agressive, actvistic approach of the original, lending the energy of their current style to Bono's edgy lyrics. While some might argue, and reasonably so, that "40" is one of the most overplayed covers by Christian artists, Starfield lands a solid take of this classic with a fresh, modern texture. Gloria, from Audio Adrenaline, is much, MUCH more enjoyable than I expected from the pop rock foursome; its driving beat follows closely with the youthful energy that appeared on U2's October album. Todd Agnew did a decent, soulful job with When Love Comes to Town, and Tait beautifully captured the heart and soul of One with tender precision.

Some average cuts, neither especially good nor especially bad, include the following: TobyMac with Mysterious Ways (decent song, but it sounded like a bunch of samples from the original all tied together), Delirious with Pride (these guys already sound a LOT like U2), and Chris Tomlin with Where the Streets Have No Name.

A few places that made it hard to listen were Sanctus Real with Beautiful Day -- although this is an amazing song, the cover feels bland and uninspired, likely because it is still such a new song -- and, suprisingly enough, Jars of Clay with All I Want Is You. This song is such an amazing masterpiece in its original form that it was a shame to hear it as a shuffling, swing-time ditty. I expected something more heartfelt and meaningful from this amazing group of musicians.

So to conclude, I reiterate that this is a great disc to listen to and well produced as a whole, but don't expect it to be a pristine replication of your favorite songs. The label's effort in producing a disc to raise funds for assisting Africans suffering from AIDS is admirable; they could not have chosen a better organization than World Vision to partner with for the cause of reaching to those in need.

Enjoy! brock76

My friend recently bought this cd on Amazon. I am an avid U2 fan and a Christian so this cd seemed like a good fit. I had to read the reviews first. What I found was really intriguing. I could not believe how many "Its really great except the Grits song" references I found. I found that most of the stand-by Christian artists were there: you got your Audio Adrenaline, DC talk, Jars of Clay, Deleriou5? and Sixpence nonethericher. You have some new names: Pillar, Sanctus real, Nichole Nordeman and some others. But most of the negative comments that really bothered me were about Grits. I love Grits. They have been on my favorite list for years. I am not a huge fan of rap, but i like what they bring to the table.

That being said, here is my review.
Pillar "sunday bloody sunday". YOu know I like what they did with this song. They made it their own, yet didnt freak me out with it. I hated the cover of Bullet the Blue Sky by POD. This cover was hard. It rocked. Yet, it was still the powerful U2 song. The music transcended its medium and still came through with soul. Good one. 4 out of five stars.

Sanctus Real- "beautiful day". I had the priveledge of seeing this band live a couple years back before they were really known. Cool guys. Cool cover. Not the same passion as U2, but really did a cool space punk version of the song that made me appreciate it. Again 4 out of five stars.

Starfield- "40" It didnt stink. It was ok. On the edge of boring. It almost sounded a lot like the group Sense Field if they covered a U2 song, with about 50% less interest in appealing to their audience. It sounded like a canned Christian music song that really hurts my ears to hear, like what Sonic Flood does to me. 2 out of five stars.

Sixpence None the richer- "Love is Blindness". I am in love with Leigh Nash. I like everything she sings. For a better version of the song "40" there was this great cd called "Acoustic Praise" which featured her voice on a few songs and Matt Slocum's guitars. It was a much better cover. This "love is blindness" cover is a great cover. Its a pleasure to listen to. Its beautiful. 5 out of five stars.

Audio Adrenaline- "Gloria" Happily not straying too far from the original these Kentucky boys create a happy happy cover of a great song. I would love to see them perform this live with their intense energy. It would definitely be a crowd pleaser. However, not much going in the way of originality. 3 out of five stars.

Nichole Nordeman- "Grace" I always like what she does. She has an incredibly sexy voice, recorded and used to its fullest perfection in this song. I know it's weird to say a Christian artist is sexy. Or that her voice evokes erotic moods. But it does. And I love it! Especially when you are trying to cover a U2 song. Bono ain't got a lot goin on in the super-clear vocal purity department, but he makes up for it with passion and sensuality. Good call, good move. 4 out of five stars.

Jars of Clay- "All I Want Is You". I have always loved this band. I've seen them in concert like three or four times (seeing them in the small tent before they blew up as i passed by at Cornerstone kinda counts). They have always had this really cool artsy sound that came off as sort of effeminite. I put up with the effeminite part, but was always moved by their thoughtful lyrics and danceable tunes. What i liked about this cover though was it seemed like they reached way down and found some masculinity (balls). Good show. 4 out of five stars.

TobyMac- "Mysterious Ways" No mystery here. This cover sounded like the parable of the talents. This song is the servant who buried his talent. Took no risks. It sounds beat for beat like the same exact song as the original. While a good copy it's no great cover. 2 out of five stars.

Deleriou5?- "Pride (in the name of love)" Since they came out, I have always figured that this band sought to be the church version of U2. The Christian arena rock band that sang worship songs. I always thought, wow, what U2 wannabe's are these guys? Then I heard this cover. Absolutely terrible. It proved what wannabes they are. It also proved what wannabesbutarent they are. 1 out of five stars. (However, if you like processed worship cd's and contrived christian music of the basest and worst kind, this cover should be right up there with all of your Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant CD's)

Tait- "One" Ok. Finally. I was never ever a fan of DC Talk (see comments above about contrived processed christian music). I always have had a secret guilty pleasure when it comes to Michael Tait. He produced Pete Stewart's album. That scored him some points in Brandon's "not so bad a guy" chart. This cover of One had soul. Oddly, for a not-so-white-guy, less soul that Bono. But enough to do a passable cover of this song. 3 out of five stars.

Grits with Jadyn Maria- "With or Without You" I bought this CD to hear this song. So many Christian Music fans who also listen to U2 (come on! you know you do because they are good, even if they use the "F" word and drink vodka like water and support the democratic party-its undisputably good music). So many white middle american protestant Christians are not going to react well to this song. I dont know why. Its a great cover. ITs a GREAT cover! The only disappointing part about it is that its missing the rap. For a rap group, the rap part is pretty essential. So what i Got out of this cover was this: a great vocal performance from Jadyn Maria, a great dance tune, and a great tribute to the Edge's guitar chimes. I bet if you asked which cover U2 liked the best on this cd, they would point to this one. 5 out of Five stars. (oh yah, to all the haters of this cover, shake off some of your flaky whiteness and dance a little-you might like it).

Todd Agnew- "When Love comes to town" Nice Bluesy cover. I was a little disappointed when he changed the lyrics to sound more "Christian". Bono sings "I used to make love under a red sunset" Todd sings "I used to fall in love under a red sunset". This is what's wrong with Christian music. We can't say we used to make love under a red sunset. In the context of the song "I did what i did before love came to town". How could you fall in love before love came to town? You can make love (still a euphamism for sexual relations) without love. That was the point. "i was makin promises i was soon to forget." No points for the coward cover. But since it was still a good cover besides that point, 3 out of five stars.

Chris Tomlin- "Where the Streets Have No Name" This sounded like a Karaoke version of the song. Chris has a good voice. Good range. Vocal Clarity. I just didn't see anything that would distinguish him from Bono in this cover. There was no indentifiable signature to this performance, so it came across as a flat performance. 2 out of five stars.

Let me start by saying that I am in full agreement with Samuel T. Mitchell when he says that you have to remember that this is NOT meant to be a tribute album! These bands and artists are NOT trying to copy U2, they're not trying to sound like U2, and they're certinaly not trying to usurp U2's sound, name, or glory. (To be honest, I don't think tribute albums really try to do that either, but that's another discussion...) What these bands/artists ARE trying to do is support U2's cause and mission, which is to help fight AIDs in Africa. They are using U2's songs to do this, and all profits go towards that end. So, that being said, whether or not you absolutely love this CD, you can at least have the relief of donating to a worthwhile cause.

Furthermore, yes, we all know U2 is not a Christian band (I question the validity of a so-called "Christian" music genre altogether, but again, another discussion), but I'm sorry, you cannot deny that sometimes Bono IS talking about Jesus! Here's a line straight out of "Sunday, Bloody Sunday," for example, in case you never paid attention: "To claim the victory that Jesus won." Some reviewers have said that the CCM artists present on this CD are untalented basically solely on the basis of their being Christian. That's a REALLY stupid reason for not liking someone's music. Not to mention doing that means you'd have to hate U2 as well. So what if the cover band/artist happens to be of the Christian faith? OMG, THAT HAS TO BE A REASON NOT TO LISTEN TO THIS CD!!! Please.

So, A Music Fan, Bubba Licious, Thew, and Nate P, and others, take your negative energy elsewhere. Get this CD. The money goes towards a fantastic cause supported and started by Bono himself. Plus, as far as cover songs go, these aren't bad. I've definitely heard much worse! (Cf. The Pussycat Dolls' cover of "Tainted Love"...Just NO!)

While I was interested in this album before I bought it, I also in some respects dreaded listening to it. Sure, the contributions to World Vision make the purchase justifiable (even though Sparrow/EMI is only donating 50 cents to World Vision for each album sold), but I feared that the cover versions of songs from my favorite band would be poor in quality. My fears were groundless. Eleven out of these 13 tracks work, some spectacularly so, and they succeed generally because the artists have usually dared to put their own stamp on the material, whether musically or lyrically.

Let's dispense with the disappointments. Generally, it's probably NOT a good idea to try to stay strictly faithful to a U2 song when covering it. True, you might alienate fans by changing a beloved song, but to stay too close is to invite comparisons with U2 themselves, and few artists can survive such scrutiny. This proves true of Chris Tomlin and "Where the Streets Have No Name," the album closer and a track that adheres remarkably faithfully to the original, Joshua Tree studio track. But Tomlin, naturally, is not Bono, and his vocals just don't convey the emotion required for this song. Another problem here is that "Streets" has evolved over the years in concert to an even better, more emotional tune than the original studio version (witness the Popmart and 2002 Super Bowl versions), and slavishly adhering to the original track now seems like a mistake. The other disappointment is Delirious?' cover of Pride (In the Name of Love). The group does a better job than Tomlin at imitating U2, but it's just a straight cover song with nothing (except for a slightly different opening) to make it Delirious?' own.

Remarkably, though, the rest of the tracks are very good to excellent. You may not like some of them, but they work. In each case, the artist in question has done something different with the song. Several different categories can be noted:

*Radical changes on the musical end ("Love Is Blindness," "All I Want Is You," "With or Without You")

*A less radical intensification on the musical end ("Sunday Bloody Sunday," "Beautiful Day," "Mysterious Ways")

*Different vocal renditions, whether obvious or subtle ("One," "When Love Comes to Town," "40," "Mysterious Ways," "Grace")

*Subtle lyrical shifts ("Mysterious Ways," "Gloria")

The last category is perhaps the most interesting one. Near the end of "Gloria," Audio Adrenaline spells out "Gloria" in a manner similar yet different to Bono as seen in the Rattle and Hum film and some Elevation-era concerts. In those cases, Bono was covering Van Morrison's "Gloria" rather than referencing U2's "Gloria"; I wonder whether Audio Adrenaline intended a homage. At around the same point in the song, someone repeatedly shouts, "Do you believe in Him?", giving an evangelical emphasis to the tune not present in the original.

"Mysterious Ways" is more interesting. In this version, it's "she" and not "Johnny" that is "sliding down" (original lyric: "She's slippy/You're sliding down"; Tobymac version: "She's slippy/She's sliding down"), and instead of raising the question, "Is she going to be there when you hit the ground?," Tobymac asserts confidently, "She's gonna be there when you hit the ground." Furthermore, Tobymac and cohort Sarah Kelly (who provides an incredible, soulful vocal) leave no doubt as to their interpretation of who "she" is, as the line "Spirit moves in mysterious ways" appears early in the song and is repeated multiple times. (In the original U2 version, that line appears only near the end of the song.)

"Mysterious Ways" is one of the three best songs on this album, and "Love Is Blindness" (Sixpence None the Richer, in an ethereal take on the darker original) is the other runner-up. But the best cover on this album belongs to Nichole Nordeman and "Grace." The song is transformed with a female singing the lead vocals from an interesting meditation on theology to a resonant, deeply moving reflection. (It helps that Nordeman's vocals are wonderful.) And while I hesitate to say this, I think that this version actually surpasses the original.

So enjoy "In the Name of Love." Eleven hits and two misses is not a bad ratio.

With every listening, I like this album better and better. As is almost always true, when one loves an artist like U2, as I do, one most often loves their renditions of their songs best. But, by listening to these very different and very wonderful renditions of some of the best U2 songs ever, I now have an even better appreciation for the lyrics and the meanings of these classics. The cover artists chosen for this album are excellent. And, the fact that $.50 of each album goes to World Vision's efforts to fight AIDS in Africa makes this a deeply meaningful and worthwhile musical effort on many levels. I love it!

U2 is considered the biggest rock band in the world, but it turns out the Irish rockers are also a big influence on Christian artists, after all they are considered one of the most spiritually aware bands of recent times. "In The Name Of Love" is both a tribute and interesting charity item, but one worth buying. What we get here is a very good album featuring talented musicians performing some U2 classics but with every purchase 50 cents are donated to World Vision to help fight the AIDS crisis in Africa. As an album it's very impressive and well-produced. Pillar kick things off with a heavy, crunching "Sunday Bloody Sunday" which has a Metallica vibe running through-out. A discovery here is the new band Starfield who deliver an inspiring rendition of "40" with lyrics U2 borrowed from the Pslams. Sixpence None The Richer show off their darker side with a stylish, brilliant "Love Is Blindness" which features some notable vocals by Leigh Nash which are very atmospheric, almost etheral. Some of the artists like Delirious and Chris Tomlin stay pretty much faithful to the U2 sound with their covers of "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" and "Where The Streets Have No Name" while Grits totally remix "With Or Without You" into some kind of R&B tune that has good vocals but doesn't fully deliver. Sanctus Real also disappoint with a Punkish "Beautiful Day," the feeling is that it's a style that doesn't fit with the song. Michael Tait does an excellent "One" that keeps the spirit of the original with Tait adding his own flavors, the same goes for Tobymac's funky "Mysterious Ways." Nichole Nordeman does a truly beautiful job on "Grace," she perfectly captures a sense of real emotion with the song. Audio Adrenaline rip through "Gloria," keeping the almost hymn-like aura but turning it into a scorching rocker. Jars Of Clay tone things down for a bluesy, midnight rendition of "All I Want Is You." What the album exemplifies is how contemporary Christian music is reaching a point where the production quality is getting just as good as what we find in the secular markets. "In The Name Of Love" is a great treat for U2 fans, a wonderful collection for fans of these artists and an interesting revelation for everyone else.